Training Day

It was 11:35 Thursday morning when the train pulled out of Newark's Penn Station. It was 11:55 when I was offered my first Bloody Mary.

Not being a Bloody Mary fan, I passed. But my disdain for the hard stuff (at least before noon) was fairly representative of the mood on this year's Walk to Washington, the annual train ride to the nation's capital shared by Jersey politicians, lawyers, lobbyists, business people, and media folks like me.
 
The ritual ride has been going on for 72 years, but for me, this was the maiden voyage. I took my seat in car 13, which in strange Jersey math, was located between cars 14 and 15. I was advised that the rite of passage is to "walk" the entire train, touching the doors of the first and last cars. Since I was in the penultimate car -- love that word -- I first opted to touch the back of car 15. That was the easy part.
 
It turns out the Walk to Washington is more like a push, shove, and sidle to Washington. As I progressed through the train, it got increasingly crowded. You learn quickly to breathe in deep and make yourself thin. (The Washington Walk weight-loss plan -- a new diet fad?)
 
Of course, it's not just about walking and sidling. It's about stopping to talk and network with fellow passengers. And I did plenty of that. Piles of business cards were exchanged. Distant forests ached from the thought of it.
 
They tell me the crowd was down from years past. The official count from the Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the event, was 1,050. That's off 250 from last year and down even more significantly from previous trips. Just as the attendance was down, so too was the mood. Yes, there was merriment, but the imbibing (I'm told) was far less prominent. And the talk tended to be focused on state's economic woes, which remain unescapable, even on a gleaming, streaming Amtrak train.
 
The word most-often used to describe the ride was "sober." 
 
So, soberly I pressed on through the train, until I came to car 8, where Governor Corzine was holding court. Here the crowd bulged like a python at lunchtime. I made my way to the governor, shared some smallish talk, and moved on with my mission.
 
At car 5, I ran out of steam. (Had I known car 3 was actually the first car, I might have pushed on, but this bit of intelligence did not reach me until hours later.) So, I wimped out. Heading back, I discovered the neat trick of hopping off the train as it made a station stop and running several cars down the platform. That took me past the governor's crowded chariot and well on my way back to car 13, which you'll recall, was located after car 14.
 
The schmoozefest continued in D.C. over dinner, after dinner, and at breakfast. Then at 11:40 Friday morning, it was back on the train. Heading north, the emphasis was on riding, not walking. Washington faded in our rearview; power naps beckoned.
 

|  Print This

Tags: Corzine, Jon | Train | Washington, DC | Chamber of Commerce

Tools: Share | Ask a question