In Amtrak's 40th anniversary display train’s dust, observations on the exhibits, glassy-eyed fans, Amtrak’s young bucks, and a question about the future

on Monday, October 17, 2011

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Uniforms, posters, models, china, and more fill out Amtrak's 40th anniversary display train. Jim Wrinn photo

MILWAUKEE – Amtrak’s 40th anniversary display train spent last weekend at the downtown Milwaukee depot at the corner of St. Paul and Fifth. The railroad opened the train to the public, and TRAINS and other organizations set up a table inside the Milwaukee Intermodal Station (it also houses buses) as part of the event. Several of us from work attended a reception Friday afternoon and got a good look at the exhibits inside three former Santa Fe baggage cars turned display cars. Some mental notes and observations from the weekend on this Monday, as anniversary train deadheads west today on the Empire Builder for Seattle, its next stop:

•If you haven’t seen this exhibit train, be sure to catch it. Even if you’re not an ardent Amtrak fan and still long for the days of unhomogenized passenger trains, the national passenger carrier has been around for two generations now. The display train does a good job of capturing Amtrak’s history, mostly in timetables, promotional posters and TV commercials, dining car china, employee uniforms, and seating. The HO scale models that Walthers provided kick in a bit more of the sense of what a train was like during different eras in Amtrak’s history. Absent: the budget battles that seem to be part of Amtrak’s annual routine, and have cost it dearly in routes in 1979 and in the early 1990s. The two standout displays are the air horns and the catenary. The air horns display consists of the warning devices that Amtrak developed and tells you who created them, the musical chords that comprise each, and what units carried which horns. Best of all, you can press a button and hear each one!
·Standing adopt a bridge overlooking the display train, with P40 No. 822 and NPCU (ex-F40) No. 406 shining in the sun below, it made me wonder if Amtrak isn’t developing its own cadre of glassy-eyed railfans. As I stood on the bridge to take in the scene, I was astounded to see fans jockeying for position to get good angles of the two units in a cramped spot. Amtrak’s history has been one of an outfit strained to the max to do what it does in spite of tremendous obstacles. But, maybe, just maybe, Amtrak has become part of the American culture that creates excitement and prompts respect.
·Amtrak sent several familiar faces to shepherd the train. Among them were several young bucks, guys who are early in their careers, in management positions, and excited about what they’re doing. I sense that from spending time with guys like Charlie Monte Verde in government affairs and Matt Donnelly in product development (and the genius behind the hands-on air horn exhibit) that they can accomplish a lot and are eager to see the railroad make strides. I hope the organizational structure and the budget allows them to do so!
·Lastly, I heard an exchange between two visitors that is worth repeating. Said one man: “Great displays; I wonder what they will do with this train once it is done with its tour?” Reply from his friend: “Maybe they will keep it for the 50th birthday … if Amtrak is still around.”