I've ridden on Amtrak trains many, many times. You are right, the train itself is naturally extremely loud. If you're looking for peace and quiet on a train?? You're insane!The reason libraries are louder is because they serve primarily immigrant populations with children and children are loud. I suspect our author hasn't been to a library in a while; the books are no longer front and center, the community outreach is
This is true. I am becoming increasingly aware of what the modern Library is as my daughter gets older. Although I am not an immigrant, I do take my daughter to the library for story time once a week. There, books are read aloud to children in common areas. Also children sit at computers and play games and watch videos. I find that many people visit the library to get DVDs. While the modern Library is not a loud place, it certainly isn't a place where someone quickly snaps you and mean glance if you're talking. Those days, thankfully, are over.
I love riding the train. On the West Coast it's kind of a patchwork of reasonability, though. Seattle to Portland is $45 and can be done quicker than driving while Seattle to Vancouver is $30 and an absolutely lovely (and quick) ride... so long as BNSF isn't running freight on the rails that day in which case your $30 ticket becomes a bus ticket and I shit you not, our driver got lost on the way to the station once and we had a miniature mutiny as everyone argued about how to get there. On the other hand, LA to Seattle costs more than flying and takes three.fucking.days. LA to Lompoc costs $18 but they only run the train once per day so you can't go up for a launch unless you plan on camping. They're actually quieter than jets, but they aren't quieter than libraries. And, psychoacoustically speaking, "speech" is something that cuts through quite nicely because we're tuned to listen to it. "Typing" on the other hand is background noise and vanishes completely unless you're seeking it out. Libraries are a great place to access multiculturalism. So are community centers. I had no idea how many Russians we had in our neighborhood until I hit the swimming pool...
I love trains too. Check out this piece I wrote about how to take the Empire Builder from Whitefish to Ann Arbor. -It's a 36 hour trip. Wonderful as a college student, perhaps not so much now?