European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse A passenger ferry water taxis and Small Salt loaded boats called Noukas ply the Busy Brahmaputra in Khandpur Bangladesh. National geographic National geographic Brahmaputra is the Indian name for one of the world s great Rivers a waterway that begins As a trickle in Western Tibet and sweeps 1,800 Miles to the Indian Ocean at the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. Its name Means son of Brahma the hindu god of creation. Like a hindu deity the River has Many incarnations changing its name and nature with the myriad cultures and landscapes of China India and Bangladesh. Originating As the Yangbo River in tibetan the great Stream Broadens into the Brahmaputra through India s Assam Valley. It enters Bangladesh As the Jamuna and ends As the Meghna. Politics has combined with geography to limit exploration and exploitation of the River. China and India contest their Border China rejects the Mcmahon line drawn Between Tibet and British India in 1914. India and Bangladesh differ Over control of the subcontinent s strongest River. It showed its strength in september when normally life giving Monsoon floods raged through Bangladesh drowning two thirds of the country and leaving millions of people homeless. No one is known to have travelled the entire run of the River. In 1987, author Jere Van Dyk and photographer Galen Rowell visited its source in the Chemay Ngdung mountains 60 Miles Southeast of sacred mount Kailas. They think they were the first westerners to do so since 1864. At first a cold trickle in Tibet the Brahmaputra River namesake of the hindu god of creation gathers great strength As it surges 1,800 Miles through the myriad cultures and landscapes of China India and Bangladesh. Kailas a 422.028 ii High White peaks Rose around us Van Dyk writes in the National geographic. We passed herds of Yak and sheep Black Wool tents and solitary horsemen whose Long hair blew in the wind. We lived at 15,000 feet and crossed passes of 17,500, where our tibetan companions shouted Victory to the gods in greeting to the beings that protect these the six Man party of americans and tibetans had continual difficulty travelling in Tibet which was conquered by chinese forces in 1950. Ever since it has been a place of great friction Between pragmatic communists who say they have come there to create a world and pious tibetan buddhists whose goal has been to live in Harmony in the world As it is. When the travellers and 14 hitchhiking pilgrims on their Way to mount Kailas first saw the 22,028-foot Peak Center of the universe for hindus buddhists and jains. The tibetans clapped and shouted for Joy writes Van Dyk. Van Dyk had waited months for permission to travel the Brahmaputra in India. Finally he was Given a pass to Kaz Iranga a wildlife Park in Assam Home of More than two thirds of All one horned rhinoceroses in the world. At a tribal Village 200 Yards from the Park his guide told him a Tiger carried off a boy in front of his House last month. Last week an elephant came out of the Jungle and stood in the Road. A Man panicked and crashed his car into a tree. A Tiger killed a dog in front of your at Kur Igram in Bangladesh Van Dyk and his escorts defied reports of dacoits criminals and smugglers and travelled by boat near the Indian Border. An Engineer told him the River there was Miles across and carried 2 million cubic feet of water a second. The relentless Waters of the Brahmaputra affect the lives of two thirds of Bangladesh s 110 million people. Although Brid Geless it is the main traffic artery. It provides fish for the world s most densely populated major country. A devastating torrent during the Monsoon when 80 percent of the year s rain Falls it is also the most reliable dry season irrigator. Page 14 the stars and stripes a train is different by Lisa Belkin York times Britton Mcvey who gives his age As three years and three quarters my birthdays in january did t understand Why he could t Roll Down the window next to his big reclining seat. This in t a car it s a train explained his Mother Margie who was taking him to Dallas to see his grandparents. A train is Britton s confusion was understandable. Texas is automobile country and though freight trains hauling Grain and Cotton Are common sights a passenger train is rare. There Are no subways in this state and no commuter rain lines. In fact this month Marks the first time in nearly 30 years that passengers can travel this train route Between Houston and Dallas. The demand was there and we Felt the time was right Deborah Hale an Amtrak spokesman said of the decision to create the route. The Houston Dallas corridor is a very Busy one for airlines and automobiles and we feel there is a Niche there for train since nov. 15, Amtrak has been trying to fill that Niche with one train leaving Houston for Dallas every sunday tuesday and Friday morning and one leaving Dallas for Houston every monday wednesday and saturday afternoon. The train makes two stops along the Way one in Bryan and one in Corsicana. In Dallas one of the Texas Eagle s cars is connected to another Amtrak train that continues on to Chicago. The trip can Best be described As leisurely. The freight tracks Over which the train travels allow speeds of Only up to 60 Miles an hour which is 15 Miles an hour slower than most passenger trains. As a result the 271-mile trip although Only slightly longer than the the distance Between York and Washington takes 6 hours and 55 minutes. That is about four hours longer than the metro liner and about two hours longer than it would take to drive that same distance. Or. And mrs. Lloyd Dowlearn who were visiting Houston from their Home in Dallas almost missed the Texas Eagle. Their Houston taxi Driver did not know How to find the Amtrak station. He said no one Ever asked to go there mrs. Dowlearn said. He had to Call his dispatcher who told him to look at the they finally located the station a prefabricated one room building within View of the skyscrapers downtown. They joined the double file line of 65 other passengers waiting to Board the 200-seat, three car train. Armed with a novel that could double As weight lifting equipment they settled in for the ride. We re retired mrs. Dowlearn said. We re not in a hurry. We re doing this for Eric Bianco was in a Little More of a hurry. Seven hours is a Long time he said noting that of All the cities he had visited in his five week train trek across the nation Houston was the Only place where he had to wait a Day to make a connection. I got in yesterday afternoon and there were no trains until this morning he said. I just Hope that Dallas is Worth he spent half the ride watching his Battery operated Palm size television set. The other half was spent playing cribbage and dominoes with Wilma Hansen who was travelling to Dallas with four friends to have lunch at Neiman Marcus and shop the Sale at Foley s. Though Hansen is a Veteran of train travel her friends had not been on a train in decades. Mary Long for instance had not Ridden a train for 45 years since the Day she took her 3-year-old daughter from Houston to san Angelo. I kept telling her not to touch anything she said. It was so sooty and dirty then. This is All much Hale said business on the line had been Good and that the train was sold out in its first week probably because of the Novelty and the thanksgiving Holiday. She said the passengers Are people who like the Price $31 round trip who have the time and who think a Long train ride might be different and fun. I m not suggesting we re going to make a lot of Money on this train she said. I m suggesting we re going to cover our costs. This is not going to attract the business traveler. It is for another kind of traveler a traveler like Larry Jones perhaps who used to live in Westchester county n.y., where he made the daily train trip to grand Central station. This time he and his wife Jean were taking another kind of train trip. It was in the couples words a in York i was cursing the train All the time Jones said. I hated it. I would have been Happy if i never had to ride a train again. Now Here we Are thinking of it As a passengers Board Amtrak s Texas Eagle in Houston fora seven hour ride to Dallas. Not Florida s 1stcommuter rail line Florida . Tri county commuter rail Palm Beach county Atlantic Jeave. Yamato re. Florida s take. A Lussoro blvd Broward county West Palm each Hollywood by vial. Cou a Glades it Tyft . 79th St. Llama let l Airport Cypress Bra Ward by. Griffin by Jeffrey Schmalz York times hat Symbol of the Northern suburbs the commuter rail line has come to South Florida. But getting the track and the trains was easy. Now comes the hard part getting people to ride it. People keep coming up to me and saying the same thing said de Kennedy chairman of the Tri county commuter rail organization in fort Lauderdale. They say gee the trains Are great. I Hope everybody uses them. It Means i la have More room for my car onl-95. " about 25,000 passengers Rode the line when it opened to the Public recently for the first time. But the Day was not a True test trains made Only Short round trip hops out of the station in fort Lauderdale to give people a look at the service. It remained to be seen How Many of those 25,000 people would show up regularly for the daily service on the 67.7-mile line that runs a few Miles from the Atlantic Ocean from West Palm Beach to Miami. South Florida like most of the Sun Belt is car country and other Sun Belt cities have not fared Well in persuading commuters to give up their cars. In fact right Here in Florida in Miami a $1 billion elevated rail line a modernized version of the old elevated rail lines in York has failed to attract Many riders. But operators of the commuter rail line argue that theirs is special. And Federal officials agree. The line Marks the first time that the Federal government seeking to provide an alternative route while construction is under Way on a major interstate Highway has put Money into creating rail service rather than building or expanding other roads. Interstate 95, the main North South route in South Florida is facing More than five years of construction and disruption As 46 Miles of the mostly six Lane Highway is widened to 10, 12, and 15 lanes to accommodate the area s Boom in population and cars. Federal officials first talked of building another Road to divert some traffic. Then they noticed that an Amtrak line ran alongside i-95 and with a push from local officials they decided instead to develop it As a commuter line. The state bought the track and right of Way for $275 million. Of the $118 million needed to buy the five diesel locomotives and 18 coaches and to run the line for the duration of the i-95 construction the Federal government is paying 90 percent with the rest left to the state and counties. Amtrak will continue to operate its trains on the track As Well and two of the 15 stations along the commuter route will be shared with Amtrak passengers. The Florida plan is the most ambitious of several around the country including one to link Northern Virginia to Washington that involve putting underused Amtrak or freight tracks to work As commuter lines. And Federal officials Are watching the Florida line closely to see How successful such efforts can be. Their main attraction is financial a rail line for millions of dollars instead of billions to build a rail line from scratch. This is like found Money said Alfred b. Dellibovi the administrator of the Federal Urban mass transportation administration. What Florida is doing May be the Way to the commuter lines of the 90s." still there Are problems some of them embarrassing. The $800,000 station near the Airport Here May have to be torn Down because it was built in a zone considered at High risk of plane crashes. The stations along the line have few parking spaces. There is no major transportation system in place to get people to and from the stations. The Florida line will operate Only monday through Friday and even then Only during morning and evening Rush hours. The last train out of Miami at night is at 7 14. And while i-95 promises to be a snarl for five years there Are other roadways Drivers can take. They Are not automatically forced to the train. But the reaction of passengers on saturday was favourable. The track has been welded to make for a smooth ride. The fare will be Only $2 each Way no matter How Long the trip. And the passenger cars built in Canada at $975,000 apiece Are comfortable each with three Levels connected front and rear by stairs. Saturday february 11,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15
