Amtrak, America's Railroad

Eugene E. Harmon, Jeffrey T. Darbee, Geoffrey H. Doughty

Description

Discover the story of Amtrak, America's Railroad, 50 years in the making.

In 1971, in an effort to rescue essential freight railroads, the US government founded Amtrak. In the post–World War II era, aviation and highway development had become the focus of government policy in America. As rail passenger services declined in number and in quality, they were simultaneously driving many railroads toward bankruptcy. Amtrak was intended to be the solution.

In Amtrak, America's Railroad: Transportation's Orphan and Its Struggle for Survival, Geoffrey H. Doughty, Jeffrey T. Darbee, and Eugene E. Harmon explore the fascinating history of this popular institution and tell a tale of a company hindered by its flawed origin and uneven quality of leadership, subjected to political gamesmanship and favoritism, and mired in a perpetual philosophical debate about whether it is a business or a public service. Featuring interviews with former Amtrak presidents, the authors examine the current problems and issues facing Amtrak and their proposed solutions.

Created in the absence of a comprehensive national transportation policy, Amtrak manages to survive despite inherent flaws due to the public's persistent loyalty. Amtrak, America's Railroad is essential reading for those who hope to see another fifty years of America's railroad passenger service, whether they be patrons, commuters, legislators, regulators, and anyone interested in railroads and transportation history.

Sujets

• Railroads
• Transportation
• HISTORY
• General officer
• Rail transport
• History of the Americas
• General
• United States

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 07 septembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253060655
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Railroads Past and Present
H. Roger Grant and Thomas Hoback, editors

This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
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1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
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2021 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, eletronic or mechanical, including photcopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2021
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Doughty, Geoffrey H., author. | Darbee, Jeffrey T., author. | Harmon, Eugene E., author.
Title: Amtrak, America s railroad: transportation s orphan and its struggle for survival / Geoffrey H. Doughty, Jeffrey T. Darbee, and Eugene E. Harmon.
Description: Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, [2021] |
Series: Railroads past and present | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021020580 (print) | LCCN 2021020581 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253060631 (hardback) | ISBN 9780253060648 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Amtrak. | Railroads--United States--History. | Railroads and state--United States--History. | Passenger trains--United States--History.
Classification: LCC HE2791.A563 D68 2021 (print) | LCC HE2791.A563 (ebook) | DDC 385/.220973--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021020580
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021020581
On that first trip, when I was led by the hand into the green sanctuary of a Pullman drawing room and saw spread out for my pleasure its undreamed-of facilities and its opulence and the porter holding the pillow in his mouth while he drew the clean white pillowcase up around it and the ladder to the upper and the three-speed electric fan awaiting my caprice at the control switch and the little hammock slung so cunningly to receive my clothes and the adjoining splendor of the toilet room with its silvery appointments and gushing privacy, I was fairly bowled over with childish admiration and glee, and I fell in love with railroading then and there and have not been the same boy since that night.
E. B. White, The Railroad, Essays of E. B. White

Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Authors Note
Introduction
Part One: This Is What We Had
Part Two: Creating a New National Network
Part Three: Where Do We Go from Here?
Part Four: The Road to the Future
Epilogue
Appendix 1: Tracking Amtrak
Appendix 2: Amtrak Presidents and US Secretaries of Transportation
Bibliography
Index

Foreword
The public need for transportation such as that provided by Amtrak is a given, and by learning and respecting the past, we can only strengthen future outcomes in meeting that need. Policy is a leading and key ingredient for moving public transportation forward and for formulating ongoing policy. Up to the creation of Amtrak, government s policy was to allow the free market to provide for passenger transportation by road, rail, and air. This changed with the collapsing rail network in the Northeast in the 1960s, forcing a shift in thinking about government s role.
The debate about Amtrak continues: Is public funding justified? Money is not about how much is spent but how wisely it is spent. Proving the wisdom of expenditure can be very challenging for an organization that exists more in a state of flux than in one of stability and is influenced by political opinion and erratic financial support. One must always recognize the realities of the transportation business-safety cannot be bought. Human and material assets require ongoing maintenance and eventual renewal, and both are immune to, and cannot be invalidated by, the influences that have always affected Amtrak.
Organization and culture are derived and formulated from what leadership experiences, so as you read this book you can draw your own conclusions about the presence or absence of value in an environment of ongoing change. Raw truths without self-serving agendas are expressed throughout. The authors have done an excellent job of describing and evaluating the reality of Amtrak s 50-year life-something I conclude should be called lessons learned.
Ronald L. Batory,
Administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration, retired.
Journeys have value in themselves and are not just a device for saving time.
E. B. White, The Railroad, Essays of E. B. White
Preface
Until the mid 1950s, most people still traveled long distances by rail. Railroads ran all across America, reaching almost every city and town of importance and many that were not. People often had relatives employed by a railroad or knew someone who was. As children they put pennies on the tracks (despite parental warnings that this would cause a wreck) and waved at engineers who waved back. Passenger trains took them to camp in the summer and to distant towns and cities to visit relatives. For generations people often associated train travel with a happier and simpler period of life, and in the fullness of time, passenger trains became embedded in the national psyche. These were the days when arrival of a train was an exciting event and every little boy was going to be an engineer. 1 No other form of public transportation has such a following.
Train travel also offered young people the benefit of socialization. Parents confidently launched their offspring on a trip in the custody of a Pullman conductor who would deliver his charges safely to their destinations; a solo journey on a train was often a rite of passage to adulthood. As essayist E. B. White observed about occupying a Pullman car s upper berth: The old act of drawing one s pants on and off while in a horizontal position did much to keep Man in a mood of decent humility. To tuck in the tails of a shirt while supine demanded a certain persistence, a certain virtuosity, wholly healthful and character-building. 2
Business and industry depended upon passenger trains and enjoyed their comfort and sophistication, enhanced by prestigious names such as 20th Century Limited, Broadway Limited, Capitol Limited, Denver Zephyr, Super Chief, and City of San Francisco. Vacation and leisure travelers, too, were drawn to trains such as the California Zephyr, Empire Builder, North Coast Limited, and Silver Meteor. It was a time when railroads took pride in their trains, courting passengers with safe, clean, comfortable cars staffed by friendly and courteous employees dedicated to their careers.

Dining aboard a train was treated as a special occasion-initialed tablecloth, china, and silverware were standard, hallmarks of a railroad s pride of service.
NYC photos, Geoffrey H. Doughty Collection

Overnight train travel frequently included an eagerly anticipated dinner in a rolling restaurant featuring a generous menu. Railroads saw dining cars as both an obligation and an important part of their public image. Tables were set with elegant monogrammed china, silverware, glassware, and linens, carefully arranged on a white tablecloth typically punctuated by a floral arrangement. Traveling aboard such a conveyance could be counted on as relaxing, reliable, and enjoyable. Trains transported us beyond the borders of our own worlds and were memorable in part because they were a great way to meet other people. Perhaps this is why so many of the older generation have fond memories of passenger trains.
Two generations and part of a third have grown up never having experienced the pleasure of the well-run privately operated passenger train. To these generations, Amtrak is the standard of passenger rail travel, and what the traveler finds today is by no means all bad. Amtrak has its problems, but its people are doing their best, often in difficult circumstances, and more often than not rise to the occasion and deliver a superior product. Still, this book has been written with a sense of regret about Amtrak s continuous struggle for survival. It will be abundantly clear that the authors think Amtrak, flaws and all, must survive as part of our national transportation system.
As your grade school report card might have once said of you, Amtrak needs improvement. A nation s strength is often measured by its transportation resources, including its railroad passenger services, and while our society has generally improved its standard of living, our standards of comfortable travel have not kept pace. Amtrak got off to a difficult start mostly because of how it was conceived, the tepid support it received from the rail industry, and the seriously flawed leadership it was given. This book offers insights into the problems Amtrak faced then and still faces, but it starts by exploring the unstoppable post-World War II travel trends that forced the creation of a nationalized railroad passenger system. That history illuminates the need for a balanced national transportation policy that heretofore has been lacking.
As the reader will soon realize, the book is also about leadership and explores steps that could be taken to strengthen Amtrak and ensure its long-term survival. These recommendations go well beyond just more money and are set forth in Part Four. The story of Amtrak is much like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that at first glance do not seem to fit together. But they do fit and make a complete picture. They are important in understanding where Amtrak came from, what it became, and what it might be. Although it is unrealistic to expect a return to the glories of trains past, surely we can find a way to make better the trains we have.
While serving as the Burlington Route s president between 1932 and 1949, Ralph Budd said