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April 11, 1973.

Dear Alice:

I confess to being a Francophile.  The French way of doing things sometimes differs from ours, but I usually find on close study that the French way makes more sense.  It therefore saddened me, on my brief trip to Paris with Mary in 1970, to note that the French are becoming more like us.  Some nation ought to retain its sanity in this crazy world.

As one petite difference, the French know how to run a railroad.  At least they did in 1917-18, and I hear that passenger trains still operate in France.  The first thing that struck me as odd about Franch trains was that cars could be coupled or uncoupled quietly.  The train crews somehow managed it without trauma to the passenger's ears or spine.  I have never known an American train to take on or let go a car without a lot of screech, clatter, and violent bumps.  A passenger if seated upright ran the risk of a whiplash injury.  Lying in a berth was reasonably safe if his feet were pointed toward the bump.  But if he were headed in the reverse direction his head would be banged against the woodwork.

I have ridden a lot of American trains.  I still begrudge the weary hours I spent standing in the aisle outside of dining cars, waiting to get in.  I tried just staying in my seat, waiting for the queue to clear away.  That tactic worked only if your train were running through a dry state such as Kansas.  When no drinks can be served in the diner the patrons are not tempted to dawdle.  But if you tried waiting it out at your seat on the run between New York and Washington you would miss your dinner.  The problem existed simply because, at meal times, patrons preferred to drink in the diner rather than the club car.  It gave the bourbon an extra flavor to sip it leisurely while watching the poor slobs standing in the aisle outside.  Once seated, patrons could have a series of drinks over the next hour or two before ordering their meal.  The management allowed them to retain their table, if they chose, until the diner was taken off the train.

That kind of anarchy was not tolerated on French trains.  I have ridden them when they were crowded, but I never had to wait in the aisle outside a diner.  The system was beautifully simple, and I never