WARNING! Amtrak is Dead.

[Modelcar]

...The budget resolution is working it's way through congress now...and we'll soon see if the President is going to get his cost cutting way which includes, in effect the elimination of Amtrak....If it somehow does survive and money is appropriated, I agree, rebuilding our fleet would be the way to go. Amtrak does have the facilities to do such rebuilding and look at the continued employment it provides...unless that too has to be outsourced...! Lots of good opinions in above posts and I happen to be one that believes there is probably no one available as knowledgeable as Mr. Gunn to do the job of running the Amtrak system.

[Anonymous]

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAAH!!!!!!!!!


I LOVE IT!!

here we go again, Right Vs. Left.

That solves a lot of problems. Instead of Debating the actual issue, we come short and insult each other because somebody doesn't believe the exact same thing you do.

GOLD! this is GOLD!

KEEP IT UP~!! popcorn is almost done!

[Anonymous]

A car don't cost $50 million, its more like a million or two. On top of this is the fact that Amtrak sold all its assets in the previous management in a futile attempt to run a profit one year, and now leases all of its equipment. Why you would continue to lease 50 year old cars and not lease a new one for the same price is beyond me? What is truly a sad statement, is that there isn't any new equipment to lease....and why....

Old equipment costs more to operate, as little things need repair.... I don't see 50 year old city police cars or ambulances..... I wonder why? Most of the equipment Amtrak operates run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.... So when the old plumbing or the old air conditioners or the old diner's stoves, refrigerators and freezers fail, Amtrak has to pay more to keep old equipment operating.... Burying your head in the sand and not repairing damaged cars won't let the old problem disappear....

Today's modern hotels and cruise ships have independent air conditioners, allowing people to smoke in their rooms and set the temperature for their use.... Amtrak's sleepers don't have the above, the whole car is one air conditioner, the only control is the air flow.... Most of Amtrak's sleepers don't have independent showers either, while today's new cruise ships do. Other items on today's cruise ships are individual coffee makers, hair dryers, and DVD players plus TVs in the individual cabins. None of the above is noticed in any Amtrak sleeper..... In fact, Amtrak Superliner lounges still have VHS players....in a world where DVDs have replaced VHS tapes. Its already getting harder to find VHS at Blockbuster.

In just a couple of years, America will join the likes of the United Kingdom and move on to HDTV, maybe Amtrak should invest in HDTV widescreen TVs(16x9)....already most of the TV stations in America are already simulcasting analog with digital television. Most of the cruise ships and many airliners have internet cafes, why don't Amtrak lounges have computers for the web or even for video games? Yes, there is a lot Amtrak can improve upon to modernize into the 21st century.....cheap, common, everyday things....things common on cruise ships and airliners and motels......

Of course, if Amtrak moved quickly to develop HSR, it wouldn't need sleepers. However, it wouldn't hurt Amtrak to provide HDTV TVs showing movies in their coaches and lounges....and provide for an internet cafe in their lounges....

And why not develop a buffet car to widen the choice of dining onboard a train? While the diner restaurant is very nice, the cafe microwave sandwiches aren't.....

[oltmannd]

I rode the Crescent overnight last spring and was amazed at the number of people watching DVDs on the laptops or portable DVD players.

I like the WiFi idea. I'll bet you could find a vendor to do it for little or nothing.

I'll bet Amtrak's equipment leases "walk and talk" a lot like ownership - much like a new locomotive lease.

I thought the Viewliners did have modular interiors, but the execution was so poor that the modules are now premanent.

But, the overall structure of the car which is stainless steel, unless damaged, will last indefinitely.

Why no 50 year old police cars? Automotive technology has kept advancing over the years. Older cars become obsolete. You DO see 15 year old police cars in taxi service, though....


Passenger car technology (at lest for 100 mph equipment) is completely mature.

[Modelcar]

Kevin....Where's the insult...?

[RudyRockvilleMD]

The time not to worry about Amtrak is when the administration submits its budget to Congress. The time to worry about Amtrak is when the budget goes through the reconciliation process where the various authorizing committees are directed to either make cuts, or find additional funds somewhere. Like Amtrak and everything else the Administation proposes, and Congress disposes.

Assuming the FY 06 budget goes the way budgets for previous fiscal years have gone in the past years Amtrak may not get as much money as it wants so cuts will have to be be made. The point is it does little good to complain about the lack of resources; you do the best you can wiith what you have.

There is an old Wall street saying. "Bulls get something, bears get something, but pigs get slaughtered. And that's equally applicable to Amtrak as any other government entity.

Neither Amtrak nor any other passenger rail entity is entirely dead at present.

[gfjwilmde]

Sorry it took me a while to respond to some of you. As far as religion is concerned, I'm Christian myself. Yet, if you look at the political landscape, you'll see where those states that voted for Bush are also those states considered the 'Bible Belt'. Plus, this past election was overshadowed by 'morality' issues, not the real issues of substance like: education, welfare, real homeland security(the list goes on)... I was once a soldier in this country's army and I was discharged(honorably) not because I was a messed up person, but because congress wanted to save a buck! So now, here I'm stuck with an ex-wife and kids to support and I'm traveling up and the eastern half of the country looking for work...fast! Luckily, I land a machinist job at Amtrak after being unemployed for only four months, while some of my fellow soldiers whom also were discharged months earlier, were still looking for work. Now...does anyone think after putting twelve years into something i enjoy, that I don't have the right to be p/o'd by the actions of supreme idiots sitting at the seat of our nation government??!! WELL??!! I'm proud of what I do, but I think it's unfair for someone who doesn't have a clue as to what the railroad is about to tell me how to do my job better and be more productive!! That's like me having no understanding of how to build a car, but I'm going to walk into a car manufacturing plant with some college business degree and tell you how to build it. I'm not saying that there needs to be restructuring at Amtrak, but that restructuring needs to done at the top, not the bottom. The craft(union) employees are the one's that are getting the work done...not the managers. We, the craft employees, have been working without a contract for nearly six years, while managers have been getting raises and bonuses every year. If any reforms need to be done, it's to fire every manager between the general foremen to Mr. Gunn, because I can tell you truthfully, alot of them are a waste of space...worthless protoplasm. So, can anyone understand why I react to any depressing news concerning Amtrak. I've devoted a great deal of my life in the defense of our country and got shafted. Now, I'm in the same scenario all over again. I've work many long hours, just like some of you railroaders out there, with very little thanks(although sometimes the overtime pay wasn't bad) from the supervisors and the public. So if someone out there feels my reactions are wrong, then please by all means tell me. Yet, before you do...work my job...walk in my shoes...see what I see...then see if you'll still feel the same as you were before. It's easy to have an opinion when you don't have to be the one in that situation. Railfanning is one thing, working the railroad is something entirely different. I thought that way before I started working it, and now I've realized, some things I was wrong about. I envy those of us who have to work those jobs out in the rain, the snow, the heat, the cold, the busy mainlines and the even more busy yards...I APPLAUD YOU ALL!! As for the rest of you...STOP WEARING BLINDERS!!!!!!!!!


GLENN
A R E A L AND D E V O T E D RAILROADER!!!
A R E A L AND D E V O T E D AMTRAKER!!!
A R E A L L Y A N G R Y AND P U R E L Y D I S G U S T E D AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gfjwilmde]

In addition, to anyone who thinks that I'm unAmerican because of my viewpoints, need to come to the Wilmington, De. locomotive shop and get some input from the guys I work with. You'll be very suprised. I'm probably a small group of people that believes in a true and real democratic government. Not the one some of you believe in, that's corrupted by the sins of money, greed and hippocracy. If you think it's better to spend more money overseas, rebuilding the infastructures of foriegn countries, than to rebuild the ones in your country, then you need a 'check up from the neck up'. If you feel it's better to support job growth overseas, than in your own backyard...you have issues!! So don't blame anyone but yourselves when your unemployed(because YOUR job got sent overseas or the corporation(s) bring in 'scab' labor to replace you) because YOU thought Bush was such a great and righteous human being. Enough said...enjoy the farce.


GLENN
A R E A L AND D E V O T E D RAILROADER!!!!
A R E A L AND D E V O T E D AMTRAKER!!!!

[Modelcar]

....I'm one that looks forward to the possibility congress WILL find the money from some specific location in the budget to fund our rail transportation system....and also one who is disgusted with the continued and increasing spending of our money overseas trying to control the vast part of it....and rebuilding others systems...
Here in Indiana we have Beechgrove facilities of Amtrak and it employees about 1000 workers and even our {new}, Governor {Daniels}, declared he's not suporting any effort to keep the facilities....."a waist of good Money" paraphrasing his comments.

[spbed]

As I see it at this moments the rights are in control of things so the outcome this year maybe more favorable to the tax cutters over the tax spenders. [:o)]

Originally posted by kevinstheRRman

Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR  Austin TX Sub

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