Not sure if this has been posted somewhere already...but.... I have a friend who works for Amtrak and is an Attendant on the Empire Builder. This is part of a converrsation we had this morning.... Amtrak decided not to carry private cars or to run excursions anymore. So all the excursions that were run in the US were run under our authority. That includes traffic rights on the freight railroads and our liability insurance. 8:28 AM So there won't be any more excursions in the US. So all the steam engines that were operating in the US won't run again, unless they were running on a tourist short line. 8:31 AM Our new president Richard Anderson came from Delta Airlines. The railfans are calling him airplane boy. Some co-workers are calling him Delta Dick. 8:33 AM The end of the excursions has made us a villain in the railfanning community. It'll be interesting to see if it hurts ridership. 8:38 AM Some things I've read think this might be the start of the end. There's a thought that he might just be stripping down to the core service and working at that and then adding things back as we go. I know we'll get sued by the private car owners. We force them to make costly upgrades and then we pull the rug out from under them. 8:47 AM I've also read that people should call their legislators to have them urge Amtrak to not cut out the private car transports and the excursions. I haven't called yet but I guess I need to. I should probably get going. It's a bit of a walk to the crew base.
He sounds like yet another of the far, FAR too many of these rape and run/slash and burn type business leaders we suffer today. Their abject failures are numerous and costly. Not a one of those past ATK leaders was able to make it all come together, completely, financially- even the most well known of names. This guy has started out by stubbing his toe so hard, his foot may be broken, painfully. I hope he limps the rest of his life.
I have to wonder about the "8:28." I have a suspicion that folks at UP, and probably others, might have something to say about that.
Maybe Amtrak's new CEO will depart as fast as he arrived. I'm reminded on an old Dilbert cartoon featuring the Bungee Boss: http://dilbert.com/strip/1994-09-07
My point was that there are a lot of folks outside Amtrak who would have something to say about "all the steam engines" ceasing operation.
If Amtrak refuses to provide insurance coverage for steam operations on mainlines, it will be over. There is another thread on this subject and I added a post the other day that stated that the guys in Portland reacted to this by running the 4449 out the Columbia River Gorge to Wishram. Some of my heroes were involved, Doyle McCormack and Rollin Bredenberg, retired BNSF exec. They are doing IMAX filming, and I have to assume BNSF is providing insurance coverage. It is not a passenger excursion, no tickets were sold.
Policies like this remind me that our beloved government never take risks, or do anything outside of the CYA envelope. Remember, Amtrak is a government corporation, ultimately controlled by our "nannies" in Congress. The Congressional act that created Amtrak 47 years ago, stated that the Company would make a profit after 5 years or be disbanded. Sadly, there are still those in our government who believe that and try annually to exercise that clause.
It's never pass legal muster, but I'd like to see two classes of fantrip tickets sold: * Full Liability Coverage @ $500 Seat * No Liability Coverage @ $50 Seat
