A story planned for Wednesday's Erie Times-News about Amtrak rider numbers dropping 3.8 percent might shock the operators of the train that passes through here in the wee hours of the morning, but they don't surprise me.

I've taken the train out of Erie several times over the past 20 years, and each experience proved more harrowing than the last. This falls under the heading: Take your life to work, which is what we always advise our reporters. Your own personal experiences, and those of your family members, often provide the basis -- or at least the start -- of a good newspaper story.

Anyway, the first time I took the train was in the day before Erie's Union Station was remodeled. Back then, the depot was freezing cold in winter, broiling hot in summer and was best known as a haven for homeless people. My train was due to leave Erie at 5 a.m., but was more than 2 hours late. As I kept checking the board to see if the arrival and departure times had changed, a homeless person finally rolled out from under the sign and said, "Give me a break, will ya? That sign hasn't worked since 1958, and every time you walk by, you wake me up!" He uttered a few final choice words before rolling back under the sign.

The train finally arrived more than 3 hours late, but I still made my connection in Chicago, because that train was 4 hours late.

Until fairly recently, the platform above Union Station, where the trains pull in, looked like something out of Berlin during the final days of World War II. Broken glass and debris was strewn all over the place. It has since been cleaned up, though it hardly resembles the cheerful train platforms or stations in old movies.

For that matter, the train itself has been nothing to write home about. Cluttered, hot and stuffy, it's been neither bright nor appealing. In fact, the ride out of Erie was dismal -- all four times I rode the train.

So, why do I keep trying Amtrak? Because you'd think the train would be a useful alternative to air travel, which also seems to be short on amenities and runs constantly off schedule these days. Plus, you can't help but think that with the right management, train travel could be great again.

I really believe that, though my experience -- to date -- has proven otherwise. I have ridden excellent trains. The one between Chicago and Minnesota is wonderful, and I also enjoyed a great autumn ride several years ago between New York and Boston (though not on the Lake Shore Limited, incidentally).

Erie has a long, rich train tradition, which continues to this day. Hundreds of locomotives will be manufactured at the local General Electric plant this year and sold all over the world. That's a much different operation than Amtrak, however. Everything at the GE follows a rigid schedule.

-- Kevin Cuneo