It was never a problem for me, either, but what about an elderly person or one with a handicap? Or are wheelchairs available? I never had to change trains there but did use the station frequently on trips to and from Pittsburgh, often on the Steel City, if my memory is correct the overnight NY -Pittsburgh sleeper train.
Good question. I would assume (bad idea?) that if one had a disabling condition that Amtrak would have to respond appropriately since they are on the federal dole. I know that at CHI people are shuttled back and forth by small vehicles and Red Caps are available and busy helping. I guess a call to Amtrak would be the only way to know for sure.
iron mountain Good question. I would assume (bad idea?) that if one had a disabling condition that Amtrak would have to respond appropriately since they are on the federal dole. I know that at CHI people are shuttled back and forth by small vehicles and Red Caps are available and busy helping. I guess a call to Amtrak would be the only way to know for sure.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Schlimm,
I certainly don't classify you with the tea party. I have no idea what your politics are and no desire to find out. Certainly it is possible to discuss improving Amtrak in a non political way and you do.
Personally, I am not as much pro Amtrak as I am pro rail passenger service. While Amtrak is not the only game in town there is no other entity that does what Amtrak does. Amtrak isn't perfect but I would not get rid of it until something better comes along.
John
Iron,
Amtrak is committed to serving people with disabilities. Day coaches have handicapped rest rooms big enough for wheel chairs and wheel chair securements. Sleeping cars have accommodations for people who use wheel chairs. Staff members have all been trained in serving people with disabilities. However, throughout the Federal Government the number of people who perform direct customer service has been reduced to a bare bones minimum and finding the right person can be a problem. I would strongly suggest that anyone who requires special assistance (such as a ride in a motorized cart) should call or e mail ahead of time with the request so Amtrak will be notified in advance. That should be all that is needed but it does need to be done.
John WR schlimmGood question. I would assume (bad idea?) that if one had a disabling condition that Amtrak would have to respond appropriately since they are on the federal dole. I know that at CHI people are shuttled back and forth by small vehicles and Red Caps are available and busy helping. I guess a call to Amtrak would be the only way to know for sure. Iron, Amtrak is committed to serving people with disabilities. Day coaches have handicapped rest rooms big enough for wheel chairs and wheel chair securements. Sleeping cars have accommodations for people who use wheel chairs. Staff members have all been trained in serving people with disabilities. However, throughout the Federal Government the number of people who perform direct customer service has been reduced to a bare bones minimum and finding the right person can be a problem. I would strongly suggest that anyone who requires special assistance (such as a ride in a motorized cart) should call or e mail ahead of time with the request so Amtrak will be notified in advance. That should be all that is needed but it does need to be done. John
schlimmGood question. I would assume (bad idea?) that if one had a disabling condition that Amtrak would have to respond appropriately since they are on the federal dole. I know that at CHI people are shuttled back and forth by small vehicles and Red Caps are available and busy helping. I guess a call to Amtrak would be the only way to know for sure.
John: Can you please correctly attribute quotes? I did not say Amtrak was on the federal dole. It was iron mtn. who used that derogatory term in reference to people with disabilities. I corrected his misunderstanding.
I apologize. I went back to my post and deleted the reference to you. John
Mr. Schlimm,
I must have hit a nerve. Don't know why or how. Let's clear things up. First a little edification from Webster: dole - 1. a giving out of money 2. that which is given out 3. anything given out sparingly 4. a form of payment by the government.
You made the point that the ADA covers all public accomodations. That was my point. Since Amtrak obviously is subject to the provsions of ADA it would have to comply. ???
Since it appeared that Mr. Dave K had a legitimate concern about the ease or difficulty of boarding the Pennsylvainan at PGH I thought that my comment was appropriate about Amtrak's responsibilities in light of their public status, which is directly linked to the money source.
And Mr. JWR I do not consider my comment in any way one of a derogatory nature. I am well aware of the ADA issues from both a professional perspective and a personal one.
Mr. Mountain: The portion of your comment which I found derogatory in tone was not concerning the disabled. Not at all. I see my comment to JohnWR was unclear.. However, you implied that the reason Amtrak had to make provisions for the disabled was that it receives federal funds. That is not the reason. Any accommodation or transportation service, whether government funded or not, must comply with the ADA..
There is more to correct usage than merely looking up a definition in a dictionary. The use of the phrase "on the dole" is an idiom and is quite derogatory in American English usage. It means "receiving welfare money" according to the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American idioms. The neutral term would be something along the lines of "receiving federal funding" or recipient of a governmental grant."
iron mountainAnd Mr. JWR I do not consider my comment in any way one of a derogatory nature. I am well aware of the ADA issues from both a professional perspective and a personal one.
As a personal practice I don't comment on the language other people use. Your language is your own. However, I deleted the section of my post with your words because it did look like it was Schlimm's words. I don't want to miss-represent anything that anyone else is saying.
Finally, I have one request. Please don't call me "Mr." John will do quite nicely. But I you insist on calling me "Mr." I shall have to start calling you "Mr. Mountain." Whether we agree or disagree I prefer to do it on a first name basis.
With best regards, John.
John, I use(d) the title "Mr." to be respectful. If you are not comfortable with that that is OK with me. No offense intended. I think folks should be addressed as they wish. I have been addressed as "Mr. Mountain" and did not find it offensive at all. In fact, I found to be amusing. But, in any event, "John" it will be. And feel free to address me as you wish.
Thanks for your answer. I would never be offended by anyone who intends to show respect. It's just that Mr. reminds me of how old I am.
Bill, Interesting idea. I had to get the atlas out to get the picture in my mind. It seems one issue is the redundancy of the LSL and CL between CHI and Cleveland. Is that correct? You would have the CL take a more SEasterly route out of CHI to Fort Wayne and then to Butler and on to to Toledo? Would the purpose be to provide a connection between the LSL and CL there? Then the CL would arrive at a more marketable time in PGH and drop off through coach and sleeper service? I wanted to make sure I understood the strategy. If, and that is a big if, the Pennsylvainan is continued I would think combining it with the CL would be a good thing to do. But I can only assume that there would be hurdles, as there always are, when trying to make some major changes.
I looked at the CL's timetable it seemed that the segment between Cleveland and South Bend was the most difficult area to schedule for if the CL's arrivals EB and WB were more customer friendly in PGH. arrival times were implemented.
The former PRR main through Fort Wayne is not what it used to be and that is one of the reasons that Amtrak moved off of that line in the 1990's. I believe that it currently falls somewhere between a glorified branch line and a secondary main, operated by G&W subsidiary Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern.
Good sense of humor John. Good humor is one of those things we need more of. Thanks.
Just for the record perhaps I should share why I chose "Iron Mountain" for my name. I don't think I have elaborated on this before. I am very interested in history in general, and the part railroads have played in our nation's development, specifically. Being that my roots are in SE, MO the Iron Mountain RR held a special interest for me. It was eventually absorbed by MO PAC. But at one time it served much of Missouri in the eastern southeastern and southern parts of the state. It had expanded into part of Illinois and Arkansas also. It was vital to agriculture, mineral mining (coal and iron) and timber. It was an important consideration as to civil war strategy in the area. The battle of Pilot Knob was, in part, an attempt to secure control of the RR by the confederates. Don't hold me to the specifics on dates but I believe that the Iron Mountain was an independent RR into the early part of the 20th century. Part of the RR's lore is the ballad of the "Iron Mountain Baby". It is a true story. Finally, there is an Iron Mountain Lake, Iron Mountain town, and a large iron mountain mining complex not too far from my house. So the name is simply an association and interest that I have in my geographical area, state's history, and family's history.
Whoops, I just realized that maybe I should have put in a different thread. Sorry if so. I am still somewhat of a neophyte as a blogger. I guess everyting has its protocols. Takes time to learn. And talking about feeling old. Much of the new communication technology is baffling to me.
iron mountain Bill, Interesting idea. I had to get the atlas out to get the picture in my mind. It seems one issue is the redundancy of the LSL and CL between CHI and Cleveland. Is that correct? You would have the CL take a more SEasterly route out of CHI to Fort Wayne and then to Butler and on to to Toledo? Would the purpose be to provide a connection between the LSL and CL there? Then the CL would arrive at a more marketable time in PGH and drop off through coach and sleeper service? I wanted to make sure I understood the strategy. If, and that is a big if, the Pennsylvainan is continued I would think combining it with the CL would be a good thing to do. But I can only assume that there would be hurdles, as there always are, when trying to make some major changes. I looked at the CL's timetable it seemed that the segment between Cleveland and South Bend was the most difficult area to schedule for if the CL's arrivals EB and WB were more customer friendly in PGH. arrival times were implemented.
The best solution might be to reroute the CL through Harrisburg and Philadelphia to DC as a single level train with a cross platform connection in Phila. Make the LSL a Superliner train to Boston with cross-platform connection at Rensselaer.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
My suggestion revolves around running Chicago-Fort Wayne on the NS (ex-NKP) and Fort Wayne-Butler on the NS (ex-Wabash).
Your thoughts are accurate as to my suggestions. The bottom line is that with resources that are currently available (and under utilized) the combined CAPITOL/PENNSYLVANIAN can become a strong compliment to the LSL by serving most major markets with decent train times. Service would remain on the NS which may even welcome one less set of trains on its busy Toledo-Chicago main line.
iron mountain So the name is simply an association and interest that I have in my geographical area, state's history, and family's history.
I lost track of your post. However, I find your story fascinating. My own belief is that railroads are a much much more important part of our history than is generally realized. In many ways it is our railroads that created the country we live in today and gave us a culture that many in the world envy.
I find Jay Gould interesting. The Missouri Pacific was an important part of his empire.
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