LET'S MAKE A PROPER CASE FOR TRAIN SERVICE. Amtrak's Sunset Limited, the United States's only truly transcontinental passenger train, will not operate east of New Orleans for at least the next six months.

The Sunset is a canonical example of what my grandfather called the "try-weakly" train. It goes to Jacksonville and tries weakly to get back. Its advocates are going to have to do better than this.

The stop in Tallahassee was added in 1993 and now accounts for as many as 3,000 passengers a year.

The Floridians spoil more than 3000 presidential ballots per election. To put those loadings in perspective, Metra's Zephyr Corridor (Burlington Northern Santa Fe, if you will) loads as many as 3,000 passengers an hour at Naperville each workday morning and returns them that evening. Timekeeping tends to be better, too.