Archive
Archive for 2005
Vol. 2, No. 10 – May 13, 2005
- Stop that, right now! Once again, Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn, the third of the Transit Trio of Tom Downs, George Warrington, and Mr. Gunn, has appeared on Capitol Hill in front of a Senate appropriations committee and either blatantly or obliquely used the “bankruptcy” word. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 9 – April 26, 2005
- Oh, the humanity of it all. The Northeast Corridor somehow seems to continue to lurch along without the assistance of spiffy Wondertrains, otherwise known as Acelas. Some think a crisis is still brewing, since the return date for Acela service keeps getting moved further and further into the future. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 8 – April 19, 2005
- There is again crisis in the land, but only if you’re an Amtrak senior manager or sycophant Amtrak apologist and cultist. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 7 – April 13, 2005
- This Week at Amtrak is back, after an enforced absence due to some annoying and inconvenient health problems. Many thanks to those who inquired about the author’s status.
- Here we go, again. This is an abridged story (the local angles are omitted) from the Camden, South Carolina Chronicle Independent, along the route of Amtrak’s Silver Star. Many readers of this will clearly remember last December, when the Red Cross was called in to assist stranded passengers on the Coast Starlight (sigh). This story is about the unhappy plight of passengers on the northbound Silver Star. For all of the unhappiness by the passengers, one can only wonder how thrilled CSX was to have its main line blocked by an errant Amtrak train for this long. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 6 – February 28, 2005
- That great liberal icon and foreign affairs visionary of the 20th Century, Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, trying to soothe a frightened nation, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” That lesson apparently has been forgotten by Amtrak cultists and their ilk and other normally rational people when it comes to discussion of the Northeast Corridor. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 5 – February 22, 2005
- Andrew Selden, URPA Vice President of Law and Policy and President of the Minnesota Association of Rail Passengers offers this commentary on Amtrak current affairs: Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 4 – February 14, 2005
- Enough is enough. It’s time for Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn to leave the company, preferably as soon as possible. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 3 – February 04, 2005
- The late Bill Johnson, URPA contributor and Amtrak consultant for five years used to say, “never hope for something too much or you might just get it.” He did, and he learned the hard way by starting with the assignment to increase ridership on the east end of the Sunset Limited in 1996. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 2 – January 31, 2005
- We collectively grieve at the loss of Amtrak Conductor Thomas Ormiston, who was aboard Metrolink train 901 involved in the wholly tragic and unnecessary accident in Southern California on January 26th. Included in the death toll of 11 were two Union Pacific train crew members as well. Railroading has always been, and always will be a dangerous profession. We applaud those who provide this vital service to our nation at their own personal risk. Read more…
Vol. 2, No. 1 – January 19, 2005
- The passenger and freight railroad publishing industry sadly lost one of its pioneers last week with the passing of Paul Carleton, co-founder of P. & D. Carleton Railbooks. Read more…
