I like riding trains, despite the fact that Amtrak can be as unpredictable as driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike or flying US Airways.

You never know what to expect. You never know when you'll get to where you're going.

On July 5, the Capitol Limited departed late from Union Station in Washington, D.C., because someone decided to drug-test the engineer at the last minute. As a result, the train arrived in Pittsburgh three hours behind schedule.

On July 6, the Three Rivers, which originated in New York City, was climbing Cresson Mountain toward Horseshoe Curve near Altoona when a computer indicated a problem with the second locomotive. When the engineer looked back and saw it belching black smoke, he shut down the engine.

When the train was unable to make it up the hill with only one unit, he restarted the engine on the second unit and it caught fire. The local fire department had to be summoned. Train No. 41 limped into Pittsburgh 3 1/2 hours late.

Amtrak is not always at fault for the problems.

Because it shares tracks with freight trains, Amtrak operates at their mercy at a time the railroads are carrying the most cargo in years, overwhelming the capacity of a neglected, scaled-back rail system with signals dating to the 1930s.

At 5:30 a.m. Aug. 8, a Norfolk & Southern freight train derailed in Mifflin County, causing major damage to mainline tracks and affecting the Three Rivers and Pennsylvanian. Eastbound and westbound sets of trains were either rerouted or canceled over a two-day period.

Only last Sunday, the Three Rivers crew and an Amtrak foreman plugged a leak after the Three Rivers struck debris on a track near Akron and lost air pressure on the lead locomotive. The delay was nearly two hours.

Local passenger railroad buffs claim the incidents involving trains that service our region are isolated. They say we are faring well, considering that only 63 percent of Amtrak trains ran on time nationwide last month.

They say the Capitol Limited, Three Rivers and Pennsylvanian are clean and carrying more riders, despite most equipment being old enough to belong in a railroad museum.

The Capitol Limited operates daily between Washington and Chicago; the Three Rivers, between New York City and Chicago; and the Pennsylvanian, between NYC and Pittsburgh.

Nationally, Amtrak carried more than 24 million people last year, a record since it was born in 1971 as a quasi-public agency intended to save the nation's passenger railroads.

"Business class on the Pennsylvanian is as good as you get on the 'club cars' in the Northeast corridor," said Bob Abraham, of Monroeville, regional director of the Keystone Association of Railroad Passengers, an advocacy group. "People still want to travel by rail, more so now that airlines are so unpredictable and cutting back service."

Janie Malloy, who reads "Getting Around" on the Post-Gazette's Web site, e-mailed an Amtrak horror story from her home in Canby, Ore., a town south of Portland.

While Malloy traveled from Dallas to Los Angeles with two young daughters in June, not only was the train delayed 16 hours, but they also witnessed porters screaming and fist-fighting with passengers. The train lost power for eight hours during the night in San Antonio, leaving everyone without food service, operable toilets and air conditioning. There was no security while vagrants cased the train. There were no announcements. Finally, passengers were whisked off the train and put on Greyhound buses to Los Angeles.

"The entire trip was a dangerous nightmare instead of a pleasant adventure," Malloy wrote. "I felt like a hostage. Humane treatment was not part of the service."

She was one of the lucky passengers. Those who boarded the Sunset Limited in New Orleans arrived in L.A. 45 hours late in what Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black admitted was one of the "worst ever" trips in the railroad's history.

Sadly, the nation's passenger rail service is being cast off as a vestige of yesteryear when it could be revived as a convenient, energy-efficient, alternative transportation mode of tomorrow.

Politicos want to spend $1 billion on a high-speed maglev test train, possibly in Pittsburgh, that Germany and now China have given up on.

They want to spend $34 billion on highways next year.

Meanwhile, they're killing Amtrak.

Before Congress recessed for summer and the political conventions, the House Appropriations Committee recommended giving $900 million to Amtrak for next year. President Bush proposed giving $1 billion.

Amtrak is struggling to survive on $1.2 billion this year so, either way, it's not enough money to save intercity passenger rail service, let alone improve it. The nation also will lose David Gunn, the best president in the railroad's history and the last chance to (excuse the pun) put Amtrak on the right track.

You need computer access, but if possible, I encourage you to read Amtrak's five-year plan. It can be found at www.amtrak.com/pdf/strategic05.pdf.

By spending no more extra money than the U.S. Department of Transportation wastes each year, the plan would return Amtrak to a state of good repair and significantly improve operational efficiency and reliability.

Unfortunately, Bush and members of Congress are not likely to read Amtrak's plan or today's column.

The next time I'll write about building bigger and better highways and raising the gas tax. That'll get their attention.

Back to school. Dennis Lynch, of Glenshaw, questions the grammar of people who worded the new signs defining the St. Mary of Assumption school zone on Middle Road at the Indiana-Hampton township line.

Both new signs read: "ENDS SCHOOL ZONE."

"The old-fashioned 'end school zone' and 'school zone ends' make sense, but 'ends school zone'?" he e-mailed. "Can this be stopped before it spreads?"

Dear Dennis:

I hopes so.

Believe it! According to a 2003 study by the Texas Transportation Institute, highway congestion costs motorists $70 billion annually.

Plate du jour. Phil Musick, longtime local media personality, spotted a tiny woman peering through her steering wheel while driving on Route 8 in Richland. The personalized license plate on her car? 2 SHORT.