http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/tracking_amtrak;_ylt=AqYAFzYT_ZOit1tBWRkUAQ.s0NUEABOARD AMTRAK'S LINCOLN SERVICE - The Illinois cornfields whizzing past Mark Hardacre's view from the Amtrak cafe car had nothing on the memorable splendor the Australian had already taken in on his trans-America adventure — the Pacific Ocean so vast and blue off California's coast. The emerald green of the Northwest forests. The majesty of the snowcapped Rockies.
But the cheery man from New South Wales was breathless about seeing a couple of things he'd not seen in his three previous Amtrak treks across this nation's rails over the past two decades — Americans seeming to outnumber tourists, and far fewer empty seats.
"It's good to see the Americans starting to use their trains, because if they don't use them they'll lose them," Hardacre, 53, said recently as Amtrak click-clacked its way from St. Louis to Chicago, just one leg of his monthlong sightseeing trip with his wife, Janice.
To Amtrak, it's proof that despite vexing challenges, it's on the right track.
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