Author on an overloaded surf line train SAN - LAX
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article201587844.html
amtrak endangers children, we must get rid of it altogether!
Joke aside, yes Amtrak could stand to be expanded in some areas and eliminated in others.
Modeling the Cleveland and Pittsburgh during the PennCentral era starting on the Cleveland lakefront and ending in Mingo junction
If Amtrak got rid of the LD trains they could convert the Superliner coaches to corridor service and put them to use where they are needed like this corridor and others. Or is it all not going to matter because California is going to secede from the union soon and they can provide their own trains. (We can only hope.)
runnerdude48 If Amtrak got rid of the LD trains they could convert the Superliner coaches to corridor service and put them to use where they are needed like this corridor and others. Or is it all not going to matter because California is going to secede from the union soon and they can provide their own trains. (We can only hope.)
Sorry, there is no provision for secession in the Constitution of the United States.
Like the Hotel California - you can check in but you can never leave
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Adios America! ( Ann C. is right)
To be fair, isn't at least some of the present overcrowding a direct result of diverting some of the LOSSAN consists to emergency service around Santa Barbara?
JL ChicagoConsidering that California (like most blue states) pay far more in federal taxes than they receive in federal spending, they'd be better off financially leaving the union.
Not really, and you know why? The Environmentalists there have really done a number on the states self-sufficiency. California is now dependent on surrounding states for fuel, electricity and water. Prices of which would escalate if they left the union. Calculations for leaving the union are with horse blinders on and do not include trade or balance of payments if California were to become an indepenedent country and it goes far beyond paying taxes. In fact California would not be able to afford it's current Debt load and would collapse just from increased interest rates on that.......without the U.S. guaranteeing the debt. There would also be a little problem with selling additional bonds.
Also, would not want to live in a state myself where the only means of defense was the California National Guard.....which also has some issues from what I read in the paper.
I heard that California is perioidically selling surplus electricity to Arizona. But don't know how it nets out.
Expanding Amtrak service on the LA-SD corridor is up to the multi-county LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, not Amtrak. Amtrak supplies the 'operational' resources for now.
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
JL ChicagoMight want to check 3 organizations that looked at this issue: Washington Post, Economist Magazine, and Tax Foundation. WaPo is liberal, Economist is a pro business magazine, Tax Foundation a conservative anti tax think tank. So all sides of the political spectrum did studies on this issue and all reached the same conclusion. Blue states overwhelmingly with a few exceptions (Texas also gets shortchanged) support red states. So California buys water, fuel and electricity from other states? And what does California export in return? Technology, movies, engineering, entertainment, math, science, finance, defense, and agricultural products. All of the highest quality and sold around the world. It's the fifth or sixth largest economy in the world. On par with Brazil, Germany, France or U.K.
Texas already had the discussion after the Civil War and I will repeat some of the points of the Texas discussion. Your making way to many presumptions. The biggest being that California will remain unified as a territory if it did split off. Not going to happen and will more than likely split off with the majority of the land mass voting to stay with the United States. Oops! there goes your self-sustaining agriculture, along with a greater loss of your water and part of your tax base. Another presumption is existing trade and other agreements will remain the same once you exit........not going to happen as now your a foriegn competitor to other states. Another, is that California can afford to defend itself from China or other aggressors that would value the position on the Pacific. Yet another is those big companies would stake their Economic Future on staying with California when the remaining U.S. still represents the larger market. Some of them would relocate out of the state. Your economy is large as it is BECAUSE the United States stands as a guarantor of last resort to a lot of your debt as well as bails out the state when Natural Disasters hit.......thats gone once you exit and your interest rates rise.
Also the Economist is not pro-business it is pro-Europe, there is a difference there, never heard of the Tax Foundation but I am sure their analysis was equally superficial..........and we all know about the Washington Post and it's reputation.
If you present a realistic argument for seperation....you do need to be realistic. Texas was realistic when it had it's discussion because it had 10 years experience as a fully independent country to look back at. I think a lot of the base of the argument of California seperating is based on wishful thinking that will never bear out. Really, who cares if you pay in more taxes than you get back. In return your getting over 300 million person market to sell products to, you should be happy about that. Along with a National Defense that no one else can challenge seriously. The California National Guard has to import people from other states because most Californians feel military service is beneath them so California has one of the lowest enlistment rates for the Armed Forces, which does not bode well for the state militia after independence.
With our current politics we are well on our way to be the Divided States of America.
Instead of being 'one for all and all for one' we have become 'what's in it for me and screw you'.
BaltACD With our current politics we are well on our way to be the Divided States of America. Instead of being 'one for all and all for one' we have become 'what's in it for me and screw you'.
Amen!
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
blue streak 1 Author on an overloaded surf line train SAN - LAX
I just returned from a four day trip to California.
I rode the Pacific Surfliner from Santa Barbara to San Diego. At the last minute I decided to change my business class reservation to an earlier train. No problem!
Over the entire trip no more than 50 percent of the seats in the business class car were occupied. Moreover, when I walked through the quite car, which was next to the business class car, as well as the coach section of the cafe car, they appeared to have plenty of seats.
I also took the train from San Diego to Oceanside and back. I bought a roundtrip Coaster ticket, which is good on select Amtrak trains, and rode Amtrak to Oceanside, but I returned on a Coaster. I did not have any difficulty getting a ticket for the trip to and from Oceanside. There were plenty of seats on both trains.
My trips were on Wednesday and Friday. The loads probably are higher on the weekend, but the reports of people standing in the aisles appear to be the exception.
According to Amtrak's January 2018 Monthly Operating Report, the average load factor on the Pacific Surfliners in January 2018 was was 28 percent. The average load factor for FY17 was 30 percent.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
Hope this does not mean the USA is becoming like the Balkans before WW-1 ? Too close to that political situation. Remember the archduke !
blue streak 1Hope this does not mean the USA is becoming like the Balkans before WW-1 ? Too close to that political situation. Remember the archduke !
And remember what happened to Yogoslavia when it came apart in the 90's. I don't want that here.
Electroliner 1935 blue streak 1 Hope this does not mean the USA is becoming like the Balkans before WW-1 ? Too close to that political situation. Remember the archduke ! And remember what happened to Yogoslavia when it came apart in the 90's. I don't want that here.
blue streak 1 Hope this does not mean the USA is becoming like the Balkans before WW-1 ? Too close to that political situation. Remember the archduke !
With the rhetoric that is being spouted by various factions I harbor fears! As a country we have always looked to our leaders to lead us and pull many factions togeteher - that isn't happening. I have my fears!
BaltACDWith our current politics we are well on our way to be the Divided States of America. Instead of being 'one for all and all for one' we have become 'what's in it for me and screw you'.
Nah, I think we are going through a period of change here. I think there will be bumps in the road here and there but overall the change will turn out for the better for the country. Amongst the changes or precedent we have just established is..........you no longer have to be a career politician to run for President and that by itself has motivated a LOT of higher quality people to run for office. We have not seen this since JFK's time in office. It's about time, in my view.
BTW, if one of you guys were on this Surfliner train, would you let your kids go to the Snack Car without an adult? I have issues with that. I think I would have taken the whole family off the train at the next stop to get something to eat, then reboard the next train and continue the journey. We are not talking a huge hit to the wallet and they would probably eat better at a normal restaurant than in the Cafe Car.
CMStPnP BaltACD With our current politics we are well on our way to be the Divided States of America. Instead of being 'one for all and all for one' we have become 'what's in it for me and screw you'. Nah, I think we are going through a period of change here. I think there will be bumps in the road here and there but overall the change will turn out for the better for the country. Amongst the changes or precedent we have just established is..........you no longer have to be a career politician to run for President and that by itself has motivated a LOT of higher quality people to run for office. We have not seen this since JFK's time in office. It's about time, in my view.
The bar for the Presidency has been lowered so far that Otis the town drunk from Mayberry would be a excellent candidate.
We all have seen the changes that were made in the 60's - what we see now is that not that kind of change.
CMStPnP........you no longer have to be a career politician to run for President and that by itself has motivated a LOT of higher quality people to run for office. We have not seen this since JFK's time in office. It's about time, in my view.
Maybe some day someone of higher quality *will* run.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
zugmann CMStPnP ........you no longer have to be a career politician to run for President and that by itself has motivated a LOT of higher quality people to run for office. We have not seen this since JFK's time in office. It's about time, in my view. Maybe some day someone of higher quality *will* run.
CMStPnP ........you no longer have to be a career politician to run for President and that by itself has motivated a LOT of higher quality people to run for office. We have not seen this since JFK's time in office. It's about time, in my view.
A thread displaying a lot of contrafactual statements.
On the verge of locking this one down because it's gotten a long way from the original topic. Thoughts? Objections?
David Lassen On the verge of locking this one down because it's gotten a long way from the original topic. Thoughts? Objections? Do it Dave.
Do it Dave.
Everything that needed to be said has probably been said.
And a whole lot of things that didn't.
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