No use reminiscing about the good old days. When I was 11, I took the Coast Daylight from LA to SF. My father put me on the train at LA, and an adult friend of the family met me at SF. But even if you say that Amtrak is stuffy to draw the line at 16, there is some point -- 12? 11? -- where you have to draw the line. And, once you do, some nutty parent is going to try to skirt it.

The problem was that, once the UM got on the train, the conductor should not have put her off. What kind of a solution is that? Amtrak becomes the temporary guardian, malgre lui, of the UM. If Amtrak has confidence in its conductors (hollow laughter) it should give them discretion to waive the requirement if the UM seems to be handling the situation. If not, the conductor gets all possible information from the UM of who the guilty parent or guardian is, files a report, and then if Amtrak has sufficient funds (hollow laughter) it goes to court and asks for a fine of, say, $1,000.00 to cover Amtrak's costs of dealing with the situation. A few of those fines should wake parents up.