I want to thank you all.

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Lucifer

Train Attendant
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
35
Wanted to tell you all here on this forum that I appreciate the dialogue you've afforded me and some of the answers I've gotten here. You've all helped me pull my thoughts together over some difficult issues. ^_^ -_-

I need to ask though, and mean no offense by this, but are there alot of Amtrak stock holders here? Or employees? Or conductor academy students? And really, I'm not trying to stir anybody up but it's curious how protective so many people here are of Amtrak, as if the company were family, or even some fragile elderly Aunt, or Grandmother. I'm just trying to understand some of the motivation present on this forum and hope for some insight.
 
I think probably 99%+ of the folks here are simply passionate about passenger rail in general. The only stockholders of Amtrak are the government and the freight railroads, as I understand it. Most of us have watched the mismanagement, the political shenanigans, the attempts to kill Amtrak, while grinding our teeth and wondering what the heck we could do to help passenger rail survive. Fortunately Anthony realized the need, and did something about it, providing a forum for folks that know a lot about Amtrak, folks that ride Amtrak a lot, and the occasional Amtrak employee, and, along the way, that provides (1) an incredibly rich and responsive place for inexperienced, or prospective rail passengers to come and to get their questions answered, and (2) a place for those who are NOT newcomers to share more detailed information, to discuss serious issues, to celebrate and memorialize the richness of rail history, and to try to help and advocate for, passenger rail. A pretty large number of us, while not ever having worked for Amtrak, have ridden it enough, have researched "how it works" and, through hundreds of hours of "chewing the fat" with on-board service personnel, conductors, and, every once in awhile, an engineer, have developed friendships with those folks, and all those conversations, and those friendships, in turn, have given us considerable insight into the organization and things like history of management-employee issues, and the saga of attempts to help or hurt, by Congress and the White House. Quite a few of us are also trying to be environmentalists to one extent or another, and we realize the very significant savings in energy, and reductions in highway and airport congestion, that greatly increased passenger rail could produce.

So, we are NOT stockholders, we are NOT Amtrak PR people, and, percentage-wise, only a tiny number of us are Amtrak employees. We are, first and foremost, representative of the people who ride Amtrak, who need Amtrak, and who want it to continue, to grow, to improve, and to thrive.
 
I think probably 99%+ of the folks here are simply passionate about passenger rail in general. The only stockholders of Amtrak are the government and the freight railroads, as I understand it. Most of us have watched the mismanagement, the political shenanigans, the attempts to kill Amtrak, while grinding our teeth and wondering what the heck we could do to help passenger rail survive. Fortunately Anthony realized the need, and did something about it, providing a forum for folks that know a lot about Amtrak, folks that ride Amtrak a lot, and the occasional Amtrak employee, and, along the way, that provides (1) an incredibly rich and responsive place for inexperienced, or prospective rail passengers to come and to get their questions answered, and (2) a place for those who are NOT newcomers to share more detailed information, to discuss serious issues, to celebrate and memorialize the richness of rail history, and to try to help and advocate for, passenger rail. A pretty large number of us, while not ever having worked for Amtrak, have ridden it enough, have researched "how it works" and, through hundreds of hours of "chewing the fat" with on-board service personnel, conductors, and, every once in awhile, an engineer, have developed friendships with those folks, and all those conversations, and those friendships, in turn, have given us considerable insight into the organization and things like history of management-employee issues, and the saga of attempts to help or hurt, by Congress and the White House. Quite a few of us are also trying to be environmentalists to one extent or another, and we realize the very significant savings in energy, and reductions in highway and airport congestion, that greatly increased passenger rail could produce.So, we are NOT stockholders, we are NOT Amtrak PR people, and, percentage-wise, only a tiny number of us are Amtrak employees. We are, first and foremost, representative of the people who ride Amtrak, who need Amtrak, and who want it to continue, to grow, to improve, and to thrive.
Thank you. These points I completely understand and I applaud your efforts. I appreciate your answer.
 
Lucifer,

I think that WPK summed things up quite nicely overall, but I will expand on one point, that being the stock issue.

Like much of corporate America, there are two type of Amtrak stock. The first, which is owned by some of the freight RR's and I believe a few people who were involved in RR's back in the 60's, is basically worthless. If Amtrak were ever to make a profit, something that we don't believe is possible, then this stock would pay a dividend to those that hold it.

The second, voting stock, is wholly owned by the US Government and is held by the DOT on behalf of the citizens of the US. This is the only stock that matters, since it is the only stock that carries any power over decisions made by Amtrak. So technically every American is a stockholder in Amtrak, but the only way that we can cast a vote to change anything at Amtrak, is by voting our elected official out of office.
 
AmtrakWPK really has distilled the essence of why we're all here typing away. I'd like to amplify here just a bit more.

What I'd like to amplify on here is just how diverse a group of people participate here, and the importance of intercity passenger rail advocacy. The participants here really do come from all parts of the political spectrum. You really shouldn't form a value judgment on someone strictly on the basis of what political party they are affiliated with. Keep in mind some of the largest cuts in Amtrak came from a presidency associated with the 'D' party, and that Amtrak was formed in the first place by a presidency associated with the 'R' party.

Transportation issues truly do cut across party lines, local lines, and state lines. They have been a problem for the American republic since its earliest days. If you don't believe me, take a look at the debate over the National Road circa 1806. The issues raised then are still out there today.

Had intercity passenger train advocates not banded together in the late 1960's, the odds are quite good the USA would have zero intercity passenger trains this day. This forum enables us to swap notes, and stay informed on what's happening on the Amtrak system, so we can better articulate our own concerns.
 
...I'm just trying to understand some of the motivation present on this forum and hope for some insight.
Common sense.

The environmentalists say we're running out of oil. Eventually, they will be proven correct,

it's just a matter of timing. They say sooner, others say some time in the future.

Either way, there's a finite supply.

So, given that, what are the chances we'll be able to build coal-burning aircraft? Or nuclear powered autos?

Therefore, keeping and expanding the passenger rail system is an imperative. Whether it's run by AMTRAK or

some other organization is immaterial, AMTRAK just happens to be the only game in town right now. We need

to encourage investment in the future, and this is one way to do it.
 
I am truly touched. I've been impressed with much on this forum....moderators that really moderate, people with intelligent expressions of their thoughts, and posters that actually apologize when they feel they've gone overboard. I never would have found this board if I hadn't had the problem I had in April on Amtrak (don't worry I'm not going over it all again) but as much as I know I've struck a raw nerve with some of you, I've been really glad to have tapped into this site. :mellow:
 
I've always been an "underdog" guy and sometimes have been months/years ahead on the "next big thing". Do I think Amtrak is the next big thing? No, but I have always looked "outside" the box on things that end up getting my interest. Amtrak is one of those things that I said, "I've always wanted to do that" and I dislike people that always have "good intentions" but always sit on their butts and never do anything. So, I noticed I was guilty of this with Amtrak and I have taken to it quite well. I really like it. It gets some bad press from time to time but like usual, the good things never get covered. Some of my family and friends say that I'm a "leader" but have never looked at myself that way. I'm passionate about the things I like and this is one of them. I share my passions with friends/relatives/customers and they know what I like and don't like. To me Amtrak is the "underdog", with all the help the automobile industry gets and the airline industry, it just kinda takes a backseat and limps along. So I defend it when someone knocks it. When the people around LNK knock it, my first question is: "So when did you ride Amtrak?" And they almost always say, "oh never...thats just what I heard". Then I have a field day! :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top