Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 31, 1993                   TAG: 9306010224
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WHY MUST ROANOKE BE OFF BEATEN TRACK?

Where is Roanoke? It looks like Tour Detour DuPont is going to be Tour Detour Amtrak next.

Have you at the newspaper or any Amtrak officials ever tried to take the train from Washington, D.C., to Roanoke? It runs westbound every other day and makes a stop in Clifton Forge, 60 miles up the highway.

With Richmond, the state-capital home to various legislators from Southwestern Virginia, there must be enough untapped ridership to warrant rail service between Richmond and Roanoke.

Years ago, the Pennsylvania ran an excursion fare to New York City as a ladies' day special from Philadelphia, a two-hour ride at a reduced fare. That was a weekly trip, but why couldn't at least a monthly trip from Roanoke be started? This trip was always a blast with a lot of happy riders going to the city for a day.

Tourism seems to be the buzzword in Roanoke these days. Shouldn't City Council, neighboring town councils and the Tourism Bureau get busy on rectifying this exclusionary routing?

MRS. RICHARD SKINNER\ ROANOKE