Overlaying all this, a soundtrack: choo-k-choo-k-choo-k-choo-k-choo-k–the metronomic rhythm of an Amtrak train rolling down the line to California, a sound that called to mind an old camera reel moving frames of images along a linear track, telling a story.” (excerpt from ‘Riding the Rails’) “At the next table a woman stuck her nose in a novel a college kid pecked at a laptop.