All aboard for Pyongyang
A train bound from South Korea heads to Jejin Station in Goseong County in Gangwon Province in May 2007 after passing the military demarcation line that divides South and North Korea during a test of the connecting section between Gyeongui Line and Donghae Line. YonhapBy Donald KirkWASHINGTON ― Rail travel has a special fascination for me. My home in New Jersey was near the tracks of the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad, about 45 minutes from New York. I remember watching the trains roar by as a kid, counting the number of cars on the long freight trains with names of different railroad lines painted on the side, waving at people staring out the windows of the passenger trains. A lot of them waved back, leading me to wave longer, as if bidding farewell to friends and relatives.The trains are still running, but the “Pennsy” is long gone. Now the passenger trains are run by Amtrak, an amorphous quasi-national corporation, an acronym from the words America and track, carrying passengers all over the U.S. and into Canada. The freight are owned by an amalgam of huge carriers. So v
