On an 18-day trip, Phil Carta will cross the Rockies four times for the views and to support Amtrak's long-distance railways. He owns his own company, allowing him the luxury to make his own vacation time. He's not your average passenger. A former communications engineer, Phil is fascinated by how trains work. Phil brought a $200 radio scanner from Radio Shack to listen in on the conversations between the engineers and dispatchers. He has learned that the train's three engines are P52 General Electric Genesis Series 1, delivering 4,250 hp each. Attuned even to the language of trains, Phil noted that a train's "truck" are the wheels, that trains don't get "cancelled" they get "annulled," and that trains don't get "clearances" they get "warrants."
