Summer 2009 Update

Here comes summer and it's time for those of us who plan our summer vacation adventures around train travel to fine tune our plans and pack up!   Amtrak updated their schedules in April and May for the peak season, and at Rail Passenger USA we have been busy rebuilding our website to be an even better rail travel companion this summer and throughout the year. So, whether you're planning a journey on the Adirondack, our Train of the Month, or any of Amtrak's other long distance trains, welcome aboard!

Montreal          ---        Adirondack Route Map        ---          New York

This Newsletter

Ray extends a big "Howdy!" to new readers and "Welcome Back!" to those of you who have traveled along and watched our website grow since its inception almost two years ago.  To celebrate our two years on the train and the completion of all of our USA Long Distance Passenger Rail Route Guides, we have changed the format of this newsletter and given it a brand new name. We hope you enjoy the new format along with that of our updated website!

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Our New Website

In March, with the USA Long Distance Route Guides complete, we decided it was time to take another step forward by making www.railpassengerusa.com faster and easier to navigate, and giving it a cosmetic overhaul in the process.

What has not changed? - We've maintained the basic structure of the Route Guide Slide Shows that remain the heart of the site. For those of you who maintain links to our Route Guides, the URLs of the Slide Shows remain unchanged (see our new Site Map)

What is different? - Everything else!! The overall appearance of the site has completely changed as a result of rebuilding the old pages from the bottom up.   So far we've added 24 brand new pages!  You'll now find an individual web page for each USA long distance train, which allows you to easily and quickly "hop on or off the train" at any station stop along the way.  Each of those new pages also includes an overview description of the route sometimes written in "Ramblin' Ray's Route Rhetoric"!

We've also implemented some important "behind the scenes" changes that you won't actually see. We're confident you'll appreciate them, though, because they've greatly enhanced the speed and efficiency of the site. We have constructed all of the new pages using HTML and CSS code that complies with W3C standards for web development. (Go ahead and click on any of the W3C buttons at the bottom of the pages if you wish!) We've checked and double-checked to avoid coding and typographical errors, but if you happen to see any that may have slipped by, please send us an email to let us know and we will correct the error.

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Next Up

While we've taken a major step this month in the development of our website, it doesn't mean that we're finished. Look for Ray on the train this summer as we make a bigger dent in the USA Regional Routes and get going on the Canadian Routes that have yet to be started.

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All Aboard!

If you'd like a sneak preview of your summertime train trip, just go to our site and select the North American Region that you wish to explore from the "Route Guides" pull down menu. You may currently choose from "USA Long Distance", "USA Regional", or "Canada". Once you are in a region, click on the link to the route you wish to follow and enjoy the trip!

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