On Fri, 6 Jan 2017 11:05:28 -0800 (PST), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

>On Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 12:02:52 PM UTC-5, Clark F Morris wrote:
>
>> Read some of Don Phillips' columns.  They may be available online at
>> Trains web-site.  While the Republican opposition is definitely there,
>> Boardman had a number of things under his control including trying to
>> get the crash worthiness specifications to match European ones so that
>> Amtrak equipment wasn't so heavy.  In the first two years of the Obama
>> administration there were opportunities that would not have been
>> blocked by the Republicans.  One of the main things Amtrak does is
>> connect the smaller centers with larger ones and finding routes where
>> this could be done on a frequent basis (at least every other hour
>> between 6 and midnight) economically would have built support in
>> Republican areas.
>
>I usually don't agree with Don Phillips.
>
>I have seen televised Congressional hearings on Amtrak and they have
>NOTHING to do with logic or service quality or efficiency.  NOTHING.
>They are about a particular congressman or senator scoring points
>with his electorate.

In the first two years Obama had a democratic congress.  While the
hearings normally provide meat for the convinced, people like Claytor
and Gunn were able to get quite a bit done despite the obstacles.
>
>As mentioned, it is a Republican Party article of faith that Amtrak
>is responsible for the Federal Deficit among many other evils.  People
>have actually gone to the trouble to set up an anti-Amtrak website,
>filled with false propaganda.
>
>Railfans usually don't help, since they keep comparing Amtrak to
>trains like the 20th Century Limited or Super Chief when those trains
>were in their peak years.  Railfans ignore that trains in the 1960s
>were mostly crap and railroads lost tons of money on them.

Having ridden several of the major trains while they were still decent
such as the Capitol Limited in 1964 and the 20th Century Limited in
1964 or 5, they probably are beside the point today.  I believe that
the major need is usable service so that the smaller communities are
connected with each other and with major centers on the line.  This
means shorter trains and a lot more of them so same day round trips
can be made.  Based on trends in Europe, I wonder how much food
service, if any, is required on most trains and how much viability
there is in sleeping car service given the relatively few people per
car.  Properly described, the Madison - Milwaukee - Chicago service
made sense although the trains may have had too much capacity for the
Madison - Milwaukee stretch.  The Cincinnati - Columbus - Cleveland
train was too slow and infrequent to pass the smell test.  Going back
to old Official Guides, I was surprised at how slow the NYC service
was.

Clark Morris
>
>As mentioned, Trump spoke positively about Amtrak and about
>infrastructure repair.  Whether he will continue with that theme
>or what his underlings will do remains to be seen.  But, so far,
>it seems the incoming Administration and congressional leadership
>is loaded with far-right-wing conservatives who have an ideological
>viewpoint that is anti-Amtrak.

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