Five Finalists Selected in MISSOURI Name the Train Contest
Voting Begins Today and Runs Through January 23, 2009
JEFFERSON CITY and ST. LOUIS – One of five finalist names will soon provide the moniker for Amtrak®’s passenger rail service between St. Louis and Kansas City. Those names are Missouri Rail Blazer, Missouri River Runner, River Cities Corridor, ShowMeMO and Truman Service. Online voting begins today and goes through January 23, 2009.
Contest judges selected five finalist names from a pool of more than 8,300 name submissions. In cases where duplicate names were submitted, a random drawing was held to choose a finalist. The finalists are:
· Missouri Rail Blazer – Betty Crancer of Sunset Hills
· Missouri River Runner – Keith Kohler of Glendale
· River Cities Corridor – Richard A. Chenault of Webster Groves
· ShowMeMO – Kerry Simmons of Independence
· Truman Service – John Fernandez of St. Louis
Each of these individuals will receive two round-trip coach tickets to any Amtrak destination in Missouri and a gift basket from one of five participating cities located on the passenger rail line. The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, the Washington Chamber of Commerce, the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association are providing the gift baskets.
You can cast your vote online at www.morail.org or mail your favorite finalist name, along with your name and address to MoDOT, Name the Train Contest, P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Only one vote per person will be accepted. To be counted, a vote must be received online or in the mail by 4 p.m. January 23, 2009. The new name will be announced by January 30, 2009.
“I am amazed and owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the people of Missouri and others all over the country who submitted names for the contest,” said Rod Massman, MoDOT’s administrator of railroads. “The sheer amount of name submissions went far beyond our expectations. Furthermore, the breadth of names related to Missouri – from Lewis and Clark to Harry Truman to Laura Ingalls Wilder and beyond – showed a great amount of interest in the train service and its future.”
The Missouri Department of Transportation and Amtrak® are sponsoring the “Name the Train” contest in celebration of 30 years of state-supported passenger rail across Missouri, as well as major service improvements in the works.
About the Missouri Department of Transportation
Our mission is to provide a world-class transportation experience that delights our customers and promotes a prosperous Missouri. For more information, visit www.modot.org or call 888-ASK-MODOT (within Missouri).
About Amtrak
Amtrak has posted six consecutive years of growth in ridership and revenue, carrying more than 28.7 million passengers in the last fiscal year. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.
# # #
Judy McFarland Member # 4435
posted
ShowMeMO - I love it!
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
posted
Hmph! Not to be contrary, Ms. McFarland, but to me "ShoMeMO" sounds like one of those stupid made-up names a marketing company comes up with after spending $1 million on focus groups more interested in free food and drink than in the task before them.
"The Show Me State Route" would have been a great name for a train service.
I guess I'm just feeling cranky this morning.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
posted
While "two a day" hardly constitute a Corridor, "Service" seems to be a "tag' for routes having multiple frequencies. On that point "River Cities Service' would be appropriate.
But even if not the most descriptive, the one I enjoy most is "Truman Service". Lest we forget, the 33rd POTUS left office with about the same esteem as will the 43rd. In fact Harry Truman (there was "title for life' then as there is today) left Wash Jan 20, 1953 aboard the B&O National Limited IN LINE SPACE; after "serving the People', he simply went home to live with his own people (I'm not sure how much if any Secret Service protection he had after leaving office). The days of a Former President becoming a rock star and hauling in some $200M (WJC's estimated earnings; GWB will not likely fair quite as well but he'll do OK) after leaving office had not yet arrived.
Such would be a fitting memory for a President who has over the years become considered by historians as "Near Great' (last time I saw one of these ratings, Lincoln was deemed "the greatest'; his immediate predecessor Buchanan, deemed the worst. Prediction: GWB will check in, with 10th percentile the best, within the 70th).
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
posted
It also ought to be pointed out that Truman has gone down in history as a honest and upright President despite his origins in politics with the corrupt Pendergast machine in Kansas City. But we're getting off subject (as we often do).
By the way, GBN, if there have been just 44 presidents so far, how can one be in the 70th percentile? Doesn't that depend on 100 presidents? I admit I slept through algebra but . . .
train lady Member # 3920
posted
I think the name show me mo is the silliest one I have seen in a long time. This is a serious (well usually) business and not Disneyland.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
posted
Ms. Train Lady, lest we forget and silly as it sounds, Show Me State is Missouri's recognized nickname.
Mr. Kisor, "percentile' addresses the universe established, which in the case of POTUS is now 43.
Therefore, GWB I think checks in at about "30th best'.
We HAVE had worse Presidents. As I noted earlier most historians give James Buchanan (15th POTUS) the "booby prize".
Finally, remember that these ratings are quite "fluid' and change, particularly for the most recent POTUS, as world events evolve. If we exit Iraq at least "not loosing", and when the recovery takes hold and the FRB is able to sell on the open market, the distressed paper it has bought under TARP at a profit, then GWB could see a rise in the polls. If not, 43 and 15 could become quite synonymous
train lady Member # 3920
posted
Gil, I do know the motto of the state. It is on their license plates where it is appropriate. But to me a train named that is silly.
train lady Member # 3920
posted
Gil, I do know the motto of the state. It is on their license plates where it is appropriate. But to me a train named that is silly.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
posted
"River Cities Flyer" woulda been a good un. It's trainish. But it's too late for that. And I don't live in Missouri anyway.
GBN, you said Harry Truman went home "in line space." Does this mean ordinary accommodations, the usual Pullman sleeper?
notelvis Member # 3071
posted
GWB 30th best? Presumably checking in ahead of Millard Fillmore?
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
posted
Notelvis, when Truman left office he was being called the worst President in history, mainly for having relieved St. Douglas MacArthur from his throne. Harry's stock has only gone up (and how!) since then.
I suspect Bush's won't, but only time will tell.
There's a good discussion of presidential rankings at:
posted
That's right Mr. Kisor, Line Space is the customary railroad term for space available for sale to the public.
It had been my understanding that President Truman traveled in line space Wash to StL, and that the MP, however, did provide a Business Car (PV) for their use on the Eagle, StL to Independence. However, a review of the following Times articles (hope you can access them, but no promises) I believe that thought on my part is mistaken.
While it would appear that some around here have likely acquired this little novelty, I will continue to hold that GWB is at about #30 on the "Top 43 Charts", but that the manner in which our withdrawal from Iraq moves forth (it could be with a "Mission Accomplished" banner or it could be analogous to the 1975 "Fall of Saigon") and the outcome of the financial crisis will impact that ranking.
Finally, even though written before the financial crisis became known to Main Street (to Wall Street, it was UXO - unexploded ordnance), this "brief passage" from a New York Times Magazine article quite succinctly sets forth the enigma of GWB:
Bush’s place in history depends on alternate narratives that are hard to reconcile. To critics, he is the man who misled the country into a disastrous war, ruined U.S. relations around the world, wrecked the economy, squandered a budget surplus to give tax cuts to fat-cat friends, played the guitar while New Orleans drowned, politicized the Justice Department, cozied up to oil companies and betrayed American values by promoting torture, warrantless eavesdropping and a modern-day gulag at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for people never even charged with a crime. To admirers, he is the man who freed 60 million people from tyranny in Afghanistan and Iraq and planted a seed that may yet spread democracy in a vital region, while at home he reduced taxes, introduced more accountability to public schools through No Child Left Behind, expanded Medicare to cover prescription drugs, installed two new conservative Supreme Court justices and, most of all, kept America safe after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
posted