Taking a Ride on the Fastest Train on Rails

I love taking the train to Montreal even though it takes forever....about five hours....and sometimes even more. But I don't mind. I always travel in Via One, where they ply you with so much food and booze....that the longer the trip.... the more plastered you are when you arrive. Burp.

But that's just because I'm Canadian....so I settle for so little...as long as I can get drunk.

In more modern countries like France you'll soon be able to have breakfast in Paris and have lunch on the Mediterranean ......by just jumping on a bullet train like this one.




A French high-speed train broke the world speed record on rail on Tuesday, reaching 357 miles an hour (574.8 kilometers) in a much publicized test in eastern France, exceeding expectations that it would hit 150 meters a second, or 540 kilometers an hour.

Wow! Imagine.....Toronto to Montreal in about an hour. Wouldn't that be awesome? But I wondered what it must be like to travel on a train that fast...... and now I know. Terrifying.

When we hit 242 mph, it felt like an airplane taking off. The pressure sent pains through my ears ......Outside, the train roared by like a jet, sparks spit from the overhead power lines and a trail of dust sprayed out behind.....

Inside, the pendulum swung widely, and the train shook and roared...I thought we were about to derail.

Hmmm.....how exciting....like an amusement park ride that just goes on and on. But isn't train travel supposed to be relaxing? And besides I'm troubled by a haunting question.

If some yob dropped a boulder from an overpass into the path of the train....as yobs love to do....how many coaches would the rock go through before it came to a stop?

So I decided to check out the video....



Hmmm.....Just as I thought .....all of them...

So maybe I'll stick to the Via Snail after all. It may be old and primitive like so many things in this country. And you may be plastered by the time you get off it.

But at least unlike that fancy smancy Frenchy train...

You don't have to get drunk to get on it....