Of late, we continue to read how the new C.E.O. Mr. Richard Anderson, has put forth a 'NEW" 5 Year PLan. Predicting,AMTRAK will be 'Financially Sound by 2023'.
Of Course, the paying Public is going to HAVE TO Suffer 'the slings and arrows' of 'drastic' Service Reductions [drastic is my word]. This seems to be the way that the airline industry does such things....find the points where they can ignore the whimpering public...Chop everything that seems to be an "enhancement"...
At least for the present, they have not instituted, yet...the B.C.S.'s that someone undergoes, before reporting to their prison cell....Pack the public in, shoulder to shoulder, back to belly button, and a 'one cheek seat' to ride in, in 'steerage' class... Only giving glimpses of the super premium classes available for a ransom of the passenger's first born. Have them sit of hours in an unventilated 'aluminum tube' while the 'Traffic' which is so congested that the flight times cannot be met...Do not run the engines to provide power, because they have figured the aircraft's fuel load so closely; they would have no fuel to get to the destination... Sell air travel as convenient, and safe, and luxurious..one bag of goobers per passenger, and restroom unavailable until it get airborn. One has to wonder, will they still carry the 'passengers' in the cabin? Unlike the WWII German parachute regiments that rode out to battle, on the wings of their aircraft.
THAT might be Anderson's NEXT ENHANCEMENT.....Ya gotta love it!
Now, we have imported one of those airline management types, who has transferred to "SAVE" AMTRAK! After having saved DELTA AIRLINES.
The only thing they, AMTRAK has NOT announced is gondola cars for sleepers, [ air conditioned! ]. Remember, Thomas Edison, got his first job as a 'news & candy butcher' on the Grand Trunk RR... That was Civil War era, and what they head for food service at the times. Coming to AMTRAK?
While on the topic of AMTRAK Here is a clip from an article in the NYTimes:
" Save the Montrealer!" By JAMES M.S. ULLMAN FEB. 18, 1979
And that clip is:''...The justification, according to Secretary Adams. for the elimination of so many trains is in the saving of money. The saving, over five years, would be $1.5 billion. At this time, the nation is spending $100 billion on the military budget a year, $30 billion annually on highways, or more, and $50 billion on foreign oil.
The truth is that all forms of transportation are subsidized. Buses and trucks, for example, run on a nationalized system of highways. To my knowledge, there is no private money in the Federal Interstate system.
I submit that we have to recognize that the railroad is another form of highway and has to be sustained as a highway. It is a national resource we cannot afford to lose. And we cannot afford to have the Amtrak system decimated. We must save the Montrealer!.."
Agree
samfp1943 I had to chuckle to myself when I read about Edison being
a "news & candy butcher." While riding #1 from New Orleans to San Antonio
April 16th the "hostess" in our coach came through about 11 AM
offering a lunch special for 10 bucks of a sandwich, chips, and water.
About 4 PM she offered a hot meal dinner special for $12. Now the
meals where not served from a cart, but both were brought to our
seats & both meals were very good!
Amtrak may have been doing this on #1 for awhile, I don't know, but it
was a nice alternative to going to the snack lounge or diner!
GeoffS a nice service, airline style. Would they be nonunion or just a different job and pay scale? samfp1943 I had to chuckle to myself when I read about Edison being a "news & candy butcher." While riding #1 from New Orleans to San Antonio April 16th the "hostess" in our coach came through about 11 AM offering a lunch special for 10 bucks of a sandwich, chips, and water. About 4 PM she offered a hot meal dinner special for $12. Now the meals where not served from a cart, but both were brought to our seats & both meals were very good! Amtrak may have been doing this on #1 for awhile, I don't know, but it was a nice alternative to going to the snack lounge or diner!
AH HA! Didn't give it a thought at the time - it's airline style!!
If it ads to the experience & the diner is still there then I guess
it's a good thing. The jury I hope is a long way from a decision.
I would also hope she would have her current job & pay scale.
The airlines give the public what they really want---CHEAP fares. If you want more, you pay more. People who reminisce about the way that air travel used to be don't really remember. Back then, only the rich could afford it. There were more plane crashes because the planes and ATC weren't as reliable. People smoked onboard. There weren't any personal entertainment systems. What people want and what they'll pay for are two different things.
BackshopThe airlines give the public what they really want---CHEAP fares. If you want more, you pay more.
samfp1943 One has to wonder, will they still carry the 'passengers' in the cabin? Unlike the WWII German parachute regiments that rode out to battle, on the wings of their aircraft.
Could you provide a link to a reputable source for that claim? The Fallschirmjäger did not make many drops (Crete, Eben Emael the primary ones) in WWII often landing in gliders such as the Gotha or used as elite ground troops. When they were dropped, it was from the doors, not the wings of the old workhorse JU 52s. There is a YouTube video and a photo of Russian paratroopers dropping off the wing of a Tupolev TB-3 (design influenced by Junkers) with corrugated wings in the 1930s.
Correct, it was the Russians.
charlie hebdo samfp1943 One has to wonder, will they still carry the 'passengers' in the cabin? Unlike the WWII German parachute regiments that rode out to battle, on the wings of their aircraft. Could you provide a link to a reputable source for that claim? The Fallschirmjäger did not make many drops (Crete, Eben Emael the primary ones) in WWII often landing in gliders such as the Gotha or used as elite ground troops. When they were dropped, it was from the doors, not the wings of the old workhorse JU 52s. There is a YouTube video and a photo of Russian paratroopers dropping off the wing of a Tupolev TB-3 (design influenced by Junkers) with corrugated wings in the 1930s.
I think that had more to do with the design of the TB-3. Big wing, with the exit door in the middle of it. I don't think they stood on the wing the entire flight.
If you examine the top picture carefully, the Russian parachutists seem to be emerging from an opening in the top of the fuselage, then proceeding out onto the wing. There is no evidence they rode the wings. The previous poster was likely repeating some erroneous apocrypha.
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