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Hello everyone. I'm new to this board. Though I don't get to travel the rails much I am a strong supporter of passenger rail service.
Back in the '70s I rode Amtrak's Coast Starlight regularly, but the last time I took that was in 1984. My first trip since then was last August on the California Zephyr from Emeryville to Denver and back. Wow, it was great to be back on board. Overall it was a great experience. With a couple of minor exceptions the on-board service was exceptional, and the crew had a relaxed folksy style unlike any other customer service I've encountered. Overall it was a great improvement over what I experienced in the '70s. The food was also quite good, but a little inconsistent in quality. (I have to say the food was actually better in the '70s.)
But it was also evident that Amtrak has some service issues to deal with. We had filthy windows and bad air conditioning on one train (but our attendant, bless her, arranged for refunds on the spot for our discomfort before anyone had asked). Our checked baggage was very dusty when we claimed it in Denver, and on the return it took a whole hour to get our bags in Emeryville. And, of course we were late both ways.
I very much want Amtrak to succeed, but I don't see how it can given the limited resources available, the hostility in Congress, and the difficulty of competing with highways and airways which enjoy the benefits of a government subsidized infrastructure.
I'm still learning about all the issues involved. But I'd like to become active, if only in a small way, in supporting all forms of passenger rail service in this country, including planned service to my own community. I want to learn about the history or rail service, including the pre-Amtrak days. I want to learn more about how the current systems are run. If anyone can point me in the right direction to books, periodicals, etc. I would certainly appreciate it.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Well, there aren't exactly a lot of books or periodicals on the subject... I guess you could try reading misc.transport.rail.americas on Usenet, but for all I know they are completely dead right now. There are lots of sites on the Internet that could probably tell you a lot, including trainweb.
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Mr. Toy, There is an organization called the Rail Passenger Association of California (RailPAC) that is active in promoting awareness in and improvements to rail passenger service. Their web address is www.trainweb.com/railpac and their monthly publication is the Western Rail Passenger Review. MP
Posts: 874 | From: South Bay (LA County), Calif, USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Mr. Toy, there is also the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) which a watchdog and lobbying group for public rail transportation.
Posts: 62 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Mr. Toy: I would recommend writing your Congress critters about Amtrak. I've fired off letters to Senator Gramm and Hutchison lately. I reminded them that they have a Congressional mandate to provide for the general welfare of our Nation. This includes transportation. It is in our Nation's best interest and it's general welfare to have dependable transportation for our citizens and their goods. This includes air, rail, roads, and water.
Amtrak is an intergal part of our Nation's transportation and should be fully funded and augmented with new equipment and expanded coverage.
Hopefully, this will help.
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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Mike, I did write to my Congressman and Senators last year. I expect to again when the HSRIA is reintroduced this year. However, I am thinking of going beyond that and writing an opinion piece for our local newspaper. But since I'm still kind of new to this rail advocacy stuff I want to make sure I've got my facts straight before I put my words before the public.
There are still quite a few things I'm not clear on: 1. Do the freight railroads have to pay property taxes on the right of way they own? 2.Why exactly are so many memebers of Congress hostile towards Amtrak? After all, they created it, didn't they?
3.I read that in the 1950s they taxed the railroads to pay for the interstate highway system. Is that true?
4.What is the poitical philosophy of those who oppose Amtrak. It doesn't seem to divide along traditional right-left political lines. Public transportation is traditionally a left-wing issue, but two of Amtrak's biggest supporters are Trent Lott and Tommy Thompson, who are prominent hard line right-wingers.
I'd really like to read a good history book on passenger service after WWII to get a good grip on these issues. I recently saw a title called Twilight of the Great Trains on Amazon.com. Is that a good one? The customer reviews seemed to think so.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Mr. Toy, you might also want to consider fuel taxes paid on diesel fuel used by the Railroads (including Amtrak and commuter rail) that the highway lobby claims as its own. (The claim is that fuel taxes pay for the highways so it's really not a net user of taxes. Never mind that fuel taxes in the "highway trust fund" includes taxes paid by diesel fuel used by trains, tugboats, and yes, even cruise ships tanking up in Miami.) By the way, I have Twilight of the Great Trains, and it is very good. However, it goes more into the philosophies of 11 different railroads and their attitude towards passenger trains than the economic issues. The book finishes at 1971, so doesn't go into any description at all of Southern's operation of the Southern Crescent from 1971-1979, to my disappointment, but it does describe why Southern did this (despite its overall hostility to passenger trains throughout the '60s) and how come other, more passenger-friendly roads such as Santa Fe and Seaboard Coast Line did not.
Posts: 72 | Registered: Jul 2000
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The railroads and AMTRAK do not pay taxes on thier diesel fuel which goes into the highway trust fund.
Posts: 62 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Fuel taxes are paid at the federal, state, and local level. The "official" Highway Trust Fund is from the Federal taxes collected from sales of fuel for motor vehicles. These are not paid on fuel used for other purposes, such as railroads. However, state and local taxes ARE collected from diesel fuel sales regardless of purpose, including rail and marine applications. Highway lobbyists often will use numbers which include all fuel taxes in arguments in support of more federal funding for highways and less for rail improvements (Amtrak, commuter, or otherwise.) I apologize for the error in my previous post, and I hope this clarifies the point.
Posts: 72 | Registered: Jul 2000
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