The Great Trans-American Train Ride

If you get the feeling that you're in a time capsule while watching this video, you won't be alone. Visually stunning and technically well done, this travelogue seems to be presented for an audience with little knowledge of the vastness of the United States or some of the harsh social realities present in our society. A segment showing subways in New York City presents them as gleaming silver coaches with nary a speck of graffiti or glimpse of suspicious-looking characters aboard. Trips through some of the major cities encountered along the way show sparkling urban paradises with no hint of air pollution or traffic congestion. And all of this is set to a musical score lifted right out of a dentist's office. Doug Jones takes viewers on three separate trains on a journey from New York City to Los Angeles. These trains carry names that evoke a romantic bygone time--the "Broadway Limi­ted", the "California Zephyr", and the "Desert Wind." As well done and as appealing as it is, I never got over the feeling that I was taking an extended trip through Disneyland, munching on cotton candy all the while, and passing people with Prozac smiles having one Kodak moment after another. Still, this is recommended, with reservations, for public libraries, especially those serving large communities of retired persons with lots of time to travel. Aud: P. (J. Carlson)