One of the nice extras for Amtrak sleeping-car passengers is that every morning, you get a newspaper delivered to your room. I recently rode the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago -- and looked forward to reading some small-town journalism.
I found the Arizona Daily Sun under my door when I awoke Saturday morning; the train had stopped briefly in Flagstaff during the night. That was a nice surprise.
The next morning, Sunday, I had hoped that our stop in Kansas City, Mo., would mean a fresh copy of the Kansas City Star, but The New York Times graced my roomette instead. The other passengers I spoke with also agreed that they'd rather read something other than a national or big-city paper.
That's why, when the Chief stopped in La Junta, Colo., I grabbed a couple of freebie papers at the station: The Local Buzz and The Tri-State Exchange. Both publications gave a delightful taste of the communities they serve -- unlike larger newspapers with their cookie-cutter layouts and the pathetic way they ass-sniff "American Idol."
