The most exciting sound
In the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey declares, on hearing the cry of an approaching steam locomotive, that “the three most exciting sounds in the world” are “anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles.” We couldn’t agree more — except that, with due respect to water and air travel, we’d put those train whistles, and all that they imply, first on the list. During the decade or so before Amtrak’s launch — now 50 years ago — it seemed as if train whistles might no longer be a part of the long-distance travel picture. Indeed, the preservation of rail service was arguably not Congress’s main motivation for creating the National Railroad Passenger Corp. Losses from passenger operations were dragging some railroads — notably the biggest…
