Key will be how he initially interacts with management at UP and CSX. Not much will improve at Amtrak until the trains start arriving on the same day they are expected.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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This fellow is a figurehead who happens to have enough railroad in his resume to appear "legit", but Amtrak will remain "Mr. Laney's railroad" - and I think we all know around here to which end of Pennsylvania Avenue he answers.
And this time, no "popgun" underling is about to upset that
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Well, I'll be at the TXARP meeting in Ft Worth on September 9, so maybe I'll ask all the speakers what their opinions are. Here's the list:
"All Aboard!" Don't miss the keynote presentation by Richard Phelps, General Superintendent of AMTRAK's Southwest Division, at the Texas Association of Railroad Passengers Annual Meeting on Saturday, September 9, 2006, at the Fort Worth Transportation Center, 1006 Jones Street, Fort Worth, TX. Mr. Phelps comments will set the tone for the day as we look at the many facets of passenger rail in Texas.
Other speakers include: Richard Wessler, Director of Passenger Rail Operations for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Ross Milloy from the Austin-San Antonio Inter-Municipal Commuter Rail District, and Laura Fox from the Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation. In addition, Dennis Dunkins will discuss the Baby Crescent and Dallas to Houston initiatives and George Bradley will report on TXDOT activities highlighting west Texas.
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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$4,523 in 2002? That probably won't buy you a cup of coffee with a congressman, much less political patronage job - which is what this is.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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The Wall Street Journal has staff reportage by Daniel Machalaba regarding the appointment. New York Times Matthew Wald has been occupied with the Lexington air transport incident.
At present, I cannot provide a link to the WSJ subscription site as it appears that my ISP has "issues". Oh well, at least my $225/yr print and web subscription gets me the good old fashioned 5AM "thump on the porch" of course.
But at times, I'm led to wonder how many of you younger folk even read a print newspaper anymore?
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I've been reading the reports on Alexander Kummant and I would say that he's a bright and ambitious guy. I'm not too worried about his past at UP or his political contributions. If he were currently working at UP, I'd be very wary; but he moved on to a job with greater responsibilities. That's usually a good sign. The political contributions look like an intra-corporate shakedown scheme where executives of the corporation are expected to donate a portion of their base salary to the corporation's Political Action Committee. If he had a long history of donations to anti-Amtrak politicians I'd be wary, but his donations look to be limited only to UP's PAC. He's also lived and worked in Germany so he must know that passenger rail transportation has evolved beyond a couple of wheezing locomotive pulling a string of Superliners at 30 mph between major cities. The only negative I see is that he may be a bit of a rolling stone--how long will he stay at Amtrak? So I'll cross my fingers and "drink the Kool-Aid" as I read my copy of The New York Times.
Posts: 78 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Beacon Hill: The political contributions look like an intra-corporate shakedown scheme where executives of the corporation are expected to donate a portion of their base salary to the corporation's Political Action Committee.
Much as it disturbs me to note such, the shakedown often goes as far to 'strongly suggest' the amount of contribution the "mark" will make and has been known to "gross up' "the mark's" salary, including adverse tax effects from a non-deductible political contribution, so that one remains "whole' after the "contribution".
This sure seems a cute way to obviate laws prohibiting corporations from donating to candidates for Federal and, in some cases, Local offices. But then, other than carefully timed rhetoric, who is about to do anything about it?
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: But at times, I'm led to wonder how many of you younger folk even read a print newspaper anymore?
Guilty as charged sir.
I cancelled my subscription to the print newspaper five years ago. As I work in education I'm just steps from a library and will sometimes browse the local newspaper during lunch. I do also scan the online version of a favorite out-of-state newspaper each day. My 'other' news source is NPR on my 50 minute each way commute.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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But at times, I'm led to wonder how many of you younger folk even read a print newspaper anymore?
Never, I read all my news online. There's not point to subscribing to print editions of newspapers that will just clutter up my home and I have to bother to throw out/recycle when I can read the The New York Times and Los Angeles Times online. My browser homepage is also set to Google News (http://news.google.com), indexing multiple sources of news from around the world. I don't even bother to watch television news anymore except on rare blue moon ocassions or when there is a large news event...like an election for example. I only subscribe to one Magazine (MacWorld, because it is work related for me) and I subscribe to the magazine electronically using the Zinio Reader (http://www.zinio.com). Easy to keep all issues and never have to have them piling up.
As for reading the paper on the subway (I live in NYC), forget it, I have my iPod and I listen to music, or podcasts or watch video programming on my iPod (Music Videos, TV Shows, Video Podcasts). The one news video podcast I am subscribed to is the BBC Ten O'Clock News' weekly news round up.
Posts: 134 | From: New York, New York USA | Registered: Oct 2001
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At 46 I don't qualify as either a youngster or an old ***, but I just can't live without my local paper spread out on the table by my raisin bran. It has great page formatting, colorful graphics, instant loading, high resolution, lightweight and portable, works when the power goes out, helps ignite logs in the fireplace on chilly nights and makes a great packing material. Much more versatile than a laptop!
Posts: 2649 | From: California's Monterey Peninsula | Registered: Dec 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: But at times, I'm led to wonder how many of you younger folk even read a print newspaper anymore?
I quit reading print media over a decade ago. Of course, it helps that Houston no longer has a newspaper ever since the Post closed their doors. I have not found a reasonable substitute. All I find is doom and gloom reporting, by mostly ignorant people. Who needs that...
{Intelligent people in the "journalistic" profession are exceedingly rare.}
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: But at times, I'm led to wonder how many of you younger folk even read a print newspaper anymore?
I quit reading print media over a decade ago. Of course, it helps that Houston no longer has a newspaper ever since the Post closed their doors. I have not found a reasonable substitute. All I find is doom and gloom reporting, by mostly ignorant people. Who needs that...
{Intelligent people in the "journalistic" profession are exceedingly rare.}
I read occasionally, but usually a weekend paper rather than a weekday (travel section and puzzles being biggest at weekends mostly). The rest of the time it's the BBC new website or Google news.
I second both the "doom and gloom reporting" and the "ignorant people" comments! Positive news is so "boring" to journalists, yet I, as a reader, feel it is important to get the balance right.
I'll be interested to see what this new boss does to Amtrak.
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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I guess I should apologize to our unmoderated forum for pulling this discussion off topic. This arose when yesterday I sought to access my paid subscription Wall Street Journal site for their story on the new Amtrak CEO (whoops, it will take time to learn to spell his name) and was unable to do so. That matter still remains unresolved and would appear to be an ISP problem (oh well at least I don't loose my dial up connection every thirty seconds as was the case last evening), and as a result, I was quite thankful for the 5AM "thump on the porch" with my Times and Journal.
Yesterday, the Journal had an article prepared by their transportation staff reporter Daniel Machalaba and I wanted to share a link to the material with the Forum. Surprisingly, the Times has yet to print any staff reportage on the Amtrak appointment, but it would appear their transportation reporter, Matthew L Wald, has been addressing the aircraft incident at Lexington.
But at times, it just seems to me that "no one' reads print newspapers anymore, whereas "back in my day", namely 1970-81 when I was "workin' for the man" , everyone on the BN commuter train was buried in their morning "read". But to illustrate how times have changed, I recall my ride this past June Wash-Stamford on Regional #88. In Business Class, there was a bale of New York Times on a seat, that no one appeared to be touching. Since that "amenity" is a "touch and go" in Corridor Business Class, I had already bought my own. However, walking about the car and even the first Coach to the rear of the Cafe', it seemed like no one was reading the paper and only a few reading books or magazines. However, the at seat 110VAC outlets were doing land office business as it sure seems like enough people were watching movies on lap top computers or otherwise using them for other tasks. When alighting at Stamford, I could not even give away my copy of The Times
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I'm sorry, but the UP ties of the new president/CEO seem like bad news to me.
In my opinion, if both houses of Congress stay in Republican hands after the election (and I think they will), Bush will be able to claim a huge victory (against all predictions) and then go back to doing everything he wants, in which case Amtrak is up s*it's creek without a paddle. I say this not in a strongly partisan way--in fact, I used to be a Republican myself (before the Bushes!)--and I don't think the Democrats will actually try to do all that much to help Amtrak. But if by some small miracle they do take back the House, then I think Bush will continue to seem like something of a loser and Amtrak will continue to limp along. However, as I said, I find the prospects of a Democratic takeback highly unlikely. And I am just saying that when the Republicans hang on to the House against all these current predictions, then the Bush Administration folks will be able to spin the victory into a huge mandate for doing everything they want to do, and clearly they (inc Cheney, ex of UP himself) are enemies of Amtrak.
With regard to newspapers, I rarely read print editions any more, too much money and recycling. I watch C-SPAN a lot, and the Daily Show, which IMO has some of the best news. Also Jim Lehrer (formerly McNeil Lehrer), and too much of stupid CNN/MSNBC "news," and I read news on line. And we do get a local weekly and sometimes a fairly local Sunday paper, but mainly for local news and the TV listings.
I do usually read the newspaper when I get one on the train if I'm traveling in a sleeper, or at a hotel. I always welcome the NY Times (comes on in Syracuse eastbound on the LSL, or in Savannah on the FL trains) and try to do the puzzle (if my eyes can handle it--btw, I recommend the film WORDPLAY), but I find USA Today pretty useless, except for the weather. I was disappointed in the St Louis paper too, which I got on the Texas Eagle, but I did really enjoy the Minot newspaper I got on the Empire Builder last spring! And I think the LA newspaper had TWO crossword puzzles!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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I don't think bush is trying to kill amtrak. This was said since 2001. Nearly 6 years later we still have Amtrak. Bush used bully tactics to try to make changes that had very limited results.
posted
WSJ's stippled portraits are unique and its reporting of news, as well as its beautiful use of the English language is reason enough to buy a print subscription of the paper. The Mossman Solution rocks.
I also look forward to the familiar 5:30 a.m. thump of the paper in my driveway. I read the paper during my commute from Old Town Albuquerque to my job at the University of New Mexico.
If gas keeps going up in price I suspect that commuting with become more popular and we may see a renaissance of the newspaper.
The sheer volume of media these days has made it difficult for traditional papers to flourish. But fear not, this is only a temporary glitch. The cream will eventually rise to the top again and people will be reading newsprint, and hopefully WSJ again.
As far as the money is concerned, at about $14/month, it seems like a bargain. Since I've gone on a quarterly payment basis, the price per month seems to have plummeted.
-------------------- Please visit "Chucksville" at http://www.chucksville.com and sign my guestbook! Posts: 324 | From: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Good to see your byline again Mr. Reuben. Have you had the opportunity to try Albuquerque's new Rail Runner commuter train yet?
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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One thing I'd like to know about Mr. Kummant is, what is the totality of his Amtrak riding experience? Even though he's worked for Union Pacific, if he's rarely or never ridden on Amtrak, he may have terribly distorted views of what sort of service Amtrak is providing, to what kinds of passengers, for what kinds of reasons. Which in turn means that we may have months or years of misguided public statements and decisions to look forward to.
By the way, on the subject of promoting accurate views of Amtrak, I wish we could avoid exaggerated comments in this forum like notelvis's jibe that "[n]ot much will improve at Amtrak until the trains start arriving on the same day they are expected", or Beacon Hill's description of American intercity rail service as "a couple of wheezing locomotive[s] pulling a string of Superliners at 30 mph between major cities". Those of us who are knowledgeable about American passenger trains understand the deliberate irony of these comments; but we need to remember that a lot of unknowledgeable Internet users come onto this forum looking for a little enlightenment, and they're all too likely to take such comments literally, particularly since the surface content of those comments is similar to what they've been led to believe about Amtrak by many journalists and politicians, and by much ignorant public opinion.
And one observation regarding Mr. Norman's account of few people taking the free New York Times in Business Class on train 88: It's been my observation, over a period of many years, that many Business Class and First Class attendants apparently consider it not worth their while and/or beneath their dignity to bring the existence of these free papers to the passengers' attention, whether by strolling the aisle offering them, making a public announcement, or simply putting them in a conspicuous place. Occasionally they don't even bother to take them out of their plastic baling strips. So it could be that a substantial number of passengers don't take the free papers because they don't know that they're there, or because they aren't sure that they're meant for passengers to take.
Posts: 86 | Registered: Mar 2005
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While I hope the hyperbole of my "wheezing locomotives" post was understood by all, if you'll check this summer's performance of the Coast Starlight you'll see that the statement is far from exaggerated. But I think it's a fair assumption that most Americans don't ride Amtrak regularly and a large percentage of Americans think Amtrak is an expensive and inefficient indulgence for geezers and aviophobes. I will gladly join with the ranks of those willing to promote Amtrak and rail transportation as a potentially effective, efficient and modern means of transport in the 21st Century.
Posts: 78 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jun 2006
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It's certainly regrettable that the Coast Starlight has had poor on-time performance recently, but that doesn't mean that its locomotives wheeze or that any other Amtrak locomotives wheeze. ("Wheeze" means to make a sound like difficult breathing, often with a whistling noise mixed in.) Amtrak's F40PH locomotives running at notch 8 for the head-end power used to make a sound that included a sort of constant whistling shriek, but that's something different. Actually, I've never heard any diesel-electric locomotive make what I'd describe as a wheezing noise. To the extent that the general public has invidious preconceptions about the sound of present-day diesel-electric locomotives, I think it'd be safe to say the most popular one is that they "chug" like the steam engines of yesteryear.
It's true that if the Coast Starlight, which is scheduled for an average speed of about 40 miles per hour over its run, is more than around twelve hours late northbound, or more than around eleven hours late southbound, then its average speed descends to 30 miles per hour. However, your original statement, and your subsequent defense of it, could be read by some readers as indicating that you yourself believe that such 30-mile-per-hour service is close to the best that American intercity passenger trains, or at least the Superliner-equipped ones, have to offer. Even among Amtrak's worst and most misinformed detractors, I think few would believe that; but that doesn't mean that a certain number of naive laypersons can't be induced to believe it if it's stated with apparent seriousness on a forum like this one. (As you may know, most of the Superliner trains actually have overall average speeds in the 40's and 50's.) To the extent that such statements are just hyperbole, one might hope that they'll be "understood by all"; but I think it's a near-certainty that they won't be!
Posts: 86 | Registered: Mar 2005
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