It is like a giving a wrecking ball to your five-year-old. That is the current modus operandi of America’s Republican Congress. My British-born wife keeps asking me to explain life in the nuthouse, but I can’t. Few people can. Still, the explanations come fast and furious, almost with the swiftness of those behind the wrecking ball. Much of the populace is uneducated. Too many people are watching too many screens. Or conversely, too few people bother to talk to each other face-to-face. Honestly, I don’t know, but here’s the latest.

Although America has few trains, the Republicans want to kill what there are. And what is there? Well, beyond an almost modern rail service between Boston, New York and Washington, there are overnight routes, also run by Amtrak (an entity carved out of collapsing train companies half a century ago). How does Amtrak run? Well, quite well, considering that Congress routinely starves it of sufficient funds. One senator has referred to it as “Soviet,” the sort of remark that comes of never having owned a passport…which in our global economy is quite a trick.

Anyway, Amtrak’s long-distance trains always span several American states, and they usually cross several major ecosystems…whole swaths of geography. That they do this fairly slowly…running on track designed to carry goods, not people…is actually quite enjoyable. I have taken two of these trains. One runs north-south through the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington. It rumbles along a hundred miles of ocean cliffs, skirts the base of snowy volcanoes and spends leisurely hours descending a rather frightening gorge on a single track in Southern Oregon. The other train took me from Oakland to Denver, via the Rocky Mountains…including a long and scenic run along the upper Colorado River. Again, this particular Amtrak experience relies on track used by goods trains. So, the overall effect is slow and bumpy, but of course, singularly beautiful.

Many Americans are vaguely aware of that the nation has fallen behind in trains. But it’s an unpleasant thought, and most people quickly put it out of their heads. Still, Amtrak’s big, slow overnight trains persist — an unpleasant reminder of where we are. And where we are includes trains like Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, which averages 40 miles per hour between Seattle and Los Angeles and spends almost 24 hours in California. The trip may delight me, but its backwardness embarrasses others.

Here I’m trying to define a collective vulnerability. The trains are old, so let them go. Actually, the train equipment doesn’t need to be old at all. At one point, the Coast Starlight was a new and shiny wonder, all comfort, food and service. Those days are over. But of course the routes, the scenery and the basic equipment remain.

Will Congress manage to completely shut down the nation’s long-haul trains? Hard to say. Thing is, people rich and poor enjoy riding trains. And the notion of using public money to pay for something the public enjoys…well, it’s almost laughable. Of course, our scenic trains fulfill the same mission as our scenic highways…while getting hundreds of cars off the road. Never mind. Stay tuned.