Where does self-described “transportation geek” Gerald Neily go for his summer vacation? The better question — when it comes to this former Baltimore city transportation planner and Brew contributor — is not “Where?” but “How?”

The answer? A 7,000 mile train trip, of course, from Baltimore to the San Francisco Bay area, down to Los Angelos, and back. This includes six nights trying to sleep in an Amtrak coach seat.

The hypnotic, addictive nature of rail travel, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s sleep-ins, ecotouristic hypocracy, Bono, the Red Line as a gateway drug….

You’ll share all these ruminations and hear the clackety-clack and feel that crick in your neck from too many nights in that train seat, as you read Neily’s post here. (on his blog, Baltimore Inner Space.)