Katerina: Hey, Joel. Have you ever traveled by train?
Joel: Only once, and that was a long time ago when I lived in Orlando. I’m not even sure where the train station is in this city. Why do you ask?
Katerina: I need to go to San Francisco at the end of May for a friend’s wedding, and I’m thinking about taking a train instead of flying.
Joel: That’s a long trip from Chicago, with a lot of stops. How many days does it take to get there?
Katerina: I just printed out the timetable. Let me see...It looks like it’ll take about four-and- a-half days. I would depart, say, on Tuesday morning and arrive on Saturday afternoon.
Joel: Can I see that? It looks like there are good on-board services, with a dining car and a lounge car on each train.
Katerina: Yeah, I like that. I don’t know if I should go coach or business class. I suppose that’ll depend on the fare. I’ve heard that the sleeping cars are pretty comfortable, too, so I’m glad about that.
Joel: What day of the week do you have to leave?
Katerina: Let me look at the days of operation. This service runs daily, so that’s convenient. I’m going to look online to see how much it’ll cost. It’ll be nice to take a train for a change.
Joel: Let me know what you find out and what you decide. Maybe I’ll look into it for my trip to Washington in September.
