All Aboard For Interesting Facts About Trains

by Kevin Burton    My dream vacation is to accompany my bride on a long, interrupted train ride along the Mississippi River.    The plan is to ride the City of New Orleans train on Amtrak – the one that Arlo Guthrie sang about – from Chicago to Memphis, get off and explore that town …

Driver Saves Children From Schoolbus Fire

by Kevin Burton    Kia Rousseve’s job change came under fire. But not to worry. This is a happy ending.    And she is being called a hero.    Some other heroes in England are saving food from being wasted and feeding hungry people. These are our two happy stories today, from reporter Andy Corbley …

Where Does Lost Airline Luggage Go?

by Melanie Peeples National Public Radio    The Transportation Security Administration screened 30 million people over the recent Thanksgiving holiday.    That’s a lot of suitcases for airlines to keep track of, and unfortunately, some are bound to get lost. So where does all that lost luggage end up? In a store called Unclaimed Baggage, in …

A Taboo Subject: The Mental Health Of Pilots

by Catherine Ho San Francisco Chronicle    An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot’s attempt to shut down the engines on a San Francisco-bound commercial flight last month has drawn renewed attention to airline pilot mental health — a topic long considered taboo in the industry but one that has generated more scrutiny in recent years since the …

Coast To Coast: Billy Joel’s “Stop In Nevada”

by Kevin Burton    On the Billy Joel portion of our rock and roll road trip you could have reasonably expected “New York State of Mind” or even “Allentown.” Instead we swing west to look at “Stop In Nevada.”     This song fits very well into our road-trip theme.    Today’s tale includes one of …

How Horse Logic Rules The Whole World

by Kevin Burton    You have to wonder sometimes, why things are the way they are. Who exactly is running the asylum?    Not sure who first came up with the quip that status quo is Latin for “the mess we’s in.”    Later in life I have learned to not ask certain things. If …

Volvo’s Unselfish Act Saved Millions Of Lives

by Douglas Bell Forbes Magazine    Volvo proudly proclaims that: “few people have saved as many lives as Nils Bohlin.” And they are right.     Nils Bohlin  is the little-known Volvo engineer who invented the V-type three-point safety belt in 1959, and saw his innovation through to universal adoption across the motor industry. His new …

“Memphis” And The Poetry Of Chuck Berry

by Kevin Burton    You knew any rock and roll road trip would have to stop by Memphis, right?  Well, we are using a Chuck Berry vehicle to get there.    We’re going Coast to Coast this summer, talking rock and roll history by means of songs with a state or city in the title. …

Why Are Highway Signs Always Green?

by Kevin Burton   They guide, they inform, they update and welcome. They ease the monotony.    At once neutral and friendly, they are ubiquitous comforting company on the road.    And they are green, always green, always the same shade of green.    I’m talking about the signs along American highways.  I love the …

Let’s Rock Coast To Coast This Summer

by Kevin Burton    We are well into summer now; what do you say we go on a road trip?  How about a rock and roll road trip?    My wife and I had two mini vacations in late May and into June.  The time on the road got my blood pumping. Could be another …