Amtrak. it forces the eradication of poverty.

[NE933]

A picture is worth a thousand words. A parable is worth a thousand pictures.

 

[NE933]

Amtrak can't throw you off the train because they don't like your political T-shirt.

And Congress should not just get rid of rail funding because they don't like Amtrak.

 

[jis]

Amtrak can't throw you off the train because they don't like your political T-shirt.

And Congress should not just get rid of rail funding because they don't like Amtrak.

But they are not! This is a strawman. The discussion needs to focus on the amounts and purpose, and stop being so shrill, for it to be taken seriously IMHO of course.
Also keep in mind that Amtrak is not the entirety of rail funding that comes out of Congress. Indeed the amount of passenger rail funding from the FTA budget is probably much higher than from the FRA budget. And then there are other things like CMAQ that also fund passenger rail quite often. For example the New York - Jersey Shore Express trains being run by NJT this summer are almost exclusively funded from CMAQ.

 

[Groundpounder]

And it plays a role in stopping the extinction of many American populations. That's why we need it to be alive and well, allowed priority, deserves a platform on debates that are socual, political, and governmental. Psychological too. The Civil War killed over half million souls, and this current 2nd Civil War, a conflct not faught with cannons or grenades or atomic bombs, but with misanthropic anti-guidance and policies and interpersonal vitriol. The transport and carriage of populations on rail does more than just move them fro A to B. It calms and civilizes our collective conscious, it exerts a needed push of attention to how things move and work, and works as like a music concert - one that entertains well the lesson of how a nations' success is tethered to an umbillical cord - that is our infastructure, to the sources of commerce and currency.

Freight railroads have to make intimate love with America's passenger RR.... Its leader and all concerned: riders and non-riders alike, must be more maternal to it.

That's my arguement, have fun (or not).

 

[tonys96]

What if dogs ran Amtrak? Would humans be allowed to ride??

 

[haolerider]

NE933: I know you must honestly believe the stuff you write.....and that is just fine with me......but, if you actually intend to try and to make people understand the need for funding of Amtrak, you might want to get rid of your esoteric style of writing and get down to the facts! Remember, most of the Congress is made up of the "tanned and wealthy" people who you seem to dislike! Tone it down a bit and you might get some positive attention, rather than suggestions you have your meds adjusted! Just a suggestion from a former psychiatric social worker!

 

[fillyjonk]

What if dogs ran Amtrak? Would humans be allowed to ride??

Yeah, but the trains would go really slowly, and all the windows would be open, and the humans would be expected to ride with their heads sticking out the window.

 

[VentureForth]

Amtrak could completely go away tomorrow and one of two things (or both) will happen.

1) Something would take it's place - Bus, Air, Taxi, Segway, or perhaps even another incarnation of rail

2) People would adjust their lives around the lack of Amtrak.

To say that Amtrak forces the iradication of poverty is just silly. Perhaps there is economic benefit along its routes in the form of crew base expenditures, tourism, etc., but 42 years on, guess what? There is still poverty in the US - and it has NOTHING to do with the presence or lack of presence of Amtrak.

So, sit back, calm down, turn on Netflix, and enjoy some old episodes of the Twilight Zone...

 

[andersone]

my intent was not to bring on an onslaught of constitutional comments and obviously my humor, as is so often, is misunderstood, alas too much frank zappa and monty python in my youth,, perhaps that is why john prine makes so much sense to me

 

[crescent2]

my intent was not to bring on an onslaught of constitutional comments and obviously my humor, as is so often, is misunderstood, alas too much frank zappa and monty python in my youth,, perhaps that is why john prine makes so much sense to me

Sometimes it doesn't take much!

Rereading part of the Constitution is probably not a bad thing in any case, so no harm/no foul.

 

[Allypet]

I don't see how Amtrak forces the eradication of poverty. If you mean that they employ people, that could be a small contribution in the reduction in the poverty level (like any employer would be), but as long as driving (and air travel in some markets) remains cheaper than train travel, (and it does for most, if not all of the trips I make) then the whole concept remains largely a non sequitur and an excise in futility.

Additionally, railroads themselves have created poverty, especially along their right of way, and even served as dividing lines between different areas of social-economic areas, like when someone says that they are from the wrong side of the tracks.

 

[NE933]

NE933: I know you must honestly believe the stuff you write.....and that is just fine with me......but, if you actually intend to try and to make people understand the need for funding of Amtrak, you might want to get rid of your esoteric style of writing and get down to the facts! Remember, most of the Congress is made up of the "tanned and wealthy" people who you seem to dislike! Tone it down a bit and you might get some positive attention, rather than suggestions you have your meds adjusted! Just a suggestion from a former psychiatric social worker!

Hee hee. Yes I believe it, and put it out there to guage consensus, and finally, what to do about clusters of problems that involve Amtrak and other areas of life. Have you tried to measure the amount of anxiety of members here on AU? Or those of us rail passengers feel like we have a substantial stake and investment in Amtrak.

I am esoteric, I guess. Think of "Our Father, who art in Heaven", "It's not rocket science", or "All men are created equal", should ring a few bells. I know what you're saying: many people don't communicate that way in such broad strokes, and I will have a better chance of Congress hearing me if I come to the dance with Excel spreadsheets and lots and lots of profit and loss statements. But I ain't talking to those fools, I chose to talk here because you, me, and our AU brothers and sisters have way more commen sense, and higher sense, then they do.

The meds thing don't get me down. I put it out there in full transparency: I do take meds and carefully attend the profession you once had, to keep me healthy. Doesn't make be bad, or good. It does make me freakin' creative, and that's another thing in dire shortage in Congress, and the public: finding creative ideas to help the public good. I can't help but think of how many other people in history with radical beliefs and ideas were chastised until death for being different.

Today's been a bad day, two trains crashing into trucks same day. Guess we all have to take the lesson to try and find some smiles, laughter, and happiness each day if possible. Right now, I am tired, and I hope to be asleep in an hour. Good night and bless.

 

[FriskyFL]

Ok, I suppose that Amtrak reduces poverty somewhat in that it employs a few individuals at middle class wages that would otherwise be working at minimum wage dead end jobs? Sorta like the Post Office?

 

[NE933]

If you enjoy your work, feel like it has a purpose, and it provides for your living expenses and you're at least moderately happy, that's not a dead end job. But I realise many in the corporate organization structure within our beloved railroad do feel that way, for good reason. If the claims on here and other forums, about warp speed promotions given to those who know little about the science and people they are supervising; claims of Chicago and Sunnyside messing up badly with cheating on maintenance records, intimidation against those who try to stand up and make it better, then yes, of course that's awful. There's never an easy answer for someting like that, other than keep trying to get the right person's ear, even if you have to go over your boss, and be prepared to cite factual accounts and evidence of it. After that, hope for the best.

Passenger rail helps eradicate poverty at its best when it is healthy. A system of well running trains attracts loyal businesses in the towns they go to, or at least helps to. Students have to get to school, people have to see their loved ones, and we all need to take a vacation break once in awhile. When it runs well indeed the economies it touches are benefited greatly. And to be honest, the same is rightfully said of air and road travel. I'm just demanding our fair share; and that's been a problem since 5/1/71.

 

[jis]

The emphasis on 5/1/71 suggests that we are not considering any passenger rail that is not Amtrak to be of little relevance I suppose? Otherwise why the emphasis on that date?

 

[NE933]

Ok, yes you got me, and here's my reason(s), and I'm trying to not be overly grandeous by most norms:

The NRPC, nicknamed Railpax then later Amtrak, was indeed in my eyes envisioned to be the messiah of the American passenger train, decimated by neglect and torn assunder. By uniting all the passenger lines under one roof, people can travel freely from coast to coast. I can't imagine that those who had hopes for this concept had not understood that whatever monies, blood, sweat, and tears, it took to get this thing afloat and running well shall be done to the best of the abilities by all concerned and so vested. New equipment and track? Yes, spend the damn money on it, as long as it carries the people who pay and/or need it, and we take care of this "rail treasure" with all our hearts. We buy the best for its time and beyond, but not just once, but every so often so that railcars, locomotives, and track and signals work well.

No one knows, does, nor understands that as well as Amtrak -- in spirit. It was the railroad that would inspire others to come out of the mess of the 1970's, and to be a mother (or father) ship, a maternal/paternal entity whose hearbeat gave a rebirth to passenger, as in, human, trains. The concept of a national railroad is a most powerful one. Some people hated the notion of enduring a long uncomfortable seat on a train when they have much more comfortable, luxurious options. The Superliners and Amfleets however, crept up in the consciousness of many and got them thinking twice. That's what happened in the eighties and I know it did because I saw it. Even Congress started taking it seriously. No other concept or group of dedicated workhorses could have pulled that off. All the private railroad companies cowardly got out, and in some cases can't be blamed. Who else would deliberately run to the wolves? And come out bruised but not quite beaten.

The people who ran it and provided support back then are true saints. The essential transportation Amtrak provides WHEN IT RUNS LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED (Joseph B., please take note of that) is essential and no one else ever did do it as well. How unfortunate of the many populations who can't sing so highly of it because the trains don't go to them, or, the trains are a quarter of a day late while running three times a week. Cardinal and Sunset Limited and now, even the flagship Empire Builder is becoming the thrown away.

I wonder if the people in 60 Mass. Ave. truly feel this spirit like me. Oh, I know they're there, but age is inevitable and they are retiring or deceasing. The bold and brave, revolutionary Amtrak we know took its chances on curious machines like the French Turboliners, but hell, at least they tried something. Whether the current pool of talent can cary that hot and heavy torch, is unknown. Whether our government will come to its senses and spend its resource on the best and brightest (a lesson from my parents: if it costs extra but is better quality, buy that and it should last longer) adds another angle to an already growing mess of things.

Let me, and us, know what you think.

 

[VentureForth]

Can you name a successful company that doesn't reward it's management?

 

[Ispolkom]

Ok, yes you got me, and here's my reason(s), and I'm trying to not be overly grandeous by most norms:

The NRPC, nicknamed Railpax then later Amtrak, was indeed in my eyes envisioned to be the messiah of the American passenger train, decimated by neglect and torn assunder.

Now, I was under the impression that Amtrak was a way of folding up long-distance passenger trains in an orderly manner.

The Nixon administration and many Washington insiders viewed the NRPC as a politically expedient way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains a "last hurrah" as demanded by the public. They expected Amtrak to quietly disappear as public interest waned.

Only the 73-74 oil crisis, various politicians, and bureaucratic inertia led to its survival for more than 40 years. I'm reasonably sure I never saw the word "messianic" in the text of the Rail Passenger Service Act.

 

[NE933]

The equation is reversed in my eyes: beaurocratic inertia has been strangling it for more than 40 years, and hard work from believers kept it going and have authored many a successful life story. I hear what the crews say when we talk in private, and I observe well what is on forums like this one. Both of us know sometimes what is official is not the de facto. Half of those who wrote and crafted the Rail Passenger Service Act would intend to use it as the sewer line to dispose freight railroads of all the decrepit passenger trains they were burdoned with, a doing of pro highway and oil interests. The other half saw it as a potential savior, or at least hoped it would stay around long enough to become that. Some members of that second half were the traveling public, who indeed responded favorably, as so evidenced in the ridership numbers. What was birthed, in part, is a mixture of things. It has been, and can still be, a formidible competitor which provides superior transportation for a variety (not all) of needs. It also has been misused for personal gain and other harmful agendas. What faction wins depends we do in the journey.

 

[Ispolkom]

Half of those who wrote and crafted the Rail Passenger Service Act would intend to use it as the sewer line to dispose freight railroads of all the decrepit passenger trains they were burdoned with, a doing of pro highway and oil interests. The other half saw it as a potential savior, or at least hoped it would stay around long enough to become that.

Cite?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

That point is a well known aspect, Mr. Ispolkom

 

[Ispolkom]

That point is a well known aspect, Mr. Ispolkom

Not by me. Was it really 50-50? Not 55-45? Not 75-25? All I ask is a pointer. Claims require evidence. Evidence talks, nonsense walks. Having worked in Washington, I'll bet it was 90-10 in favor of quick elimination of passenger travel.

Oh, and Ispolkom (or Исполком if you're formal) doesn't take a gendered honorific. After all, on the Internet, no one knows your sex, or if you're a dog.

Woof!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

It does because you refer to your wife as Mrs. Ispolkom. And in this America of imprecision, half and half does not intrinsically imply 50/50.

 

[VentureForth]

That point is a well known aspect, Mr. Ispolkom

I would argue that it is a well assumed aspect. Without citation, it can't be well known.

 

[FriskyFL]

Does Wikipedia count as a source?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RailPax

Quote: "Nearly everyone involved expected the experiment to be short-lived. The Nixon administration and many Washington insiders viewed the NRPC as a politically expedient way for the President and Congress to give passenger trains a "last hurrah" as demanded by the public. They expected Amtrak to quietly disappear as public interest waned.[28] "