This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Ghost Rails VIII B&O Northern Sub


bridges: Foxburg and Kinzua bridges 1880-2009. In addition: Foxburg a railroad town and the B&O switchback, one of the last in the nation overlooking the Allegheny River. Plus the little known 6 mile Clarion Branch.


1402 Seminole Circle, Beaver Falls, PA 15010 google: ghost rails


$48 includes shipping to: ColeBooks


312 glossy pages, 16 color, and over 600 photos. Details 174 miles of B&O territory Callery Junction, Butler, Foxburg, Kane to Mt Jewett and the Erie RR’s Kinzua Bridge. Covers early narrow gauge era and Pittsburgh and Western his- tory. History of the Knox and Kane and its forefather railroads 1960- 2008. Plus all the logging railroads like the Tionesta Valley that inter- changed. First time ever over 40 pages detail two world famous


past ten years, as pointed out by chairman Mica. Some 87 per cent of the losses were at- tributable to the long-distance dining cars, IG Alves testified. Several lawmakers cited a 1982 law that


stated Amtrak must break even on its food service. Those of us with long memories re- call what happened immediately after that law was enacted. Long-distance dining cars resorted to serving nothing but microwaved meals on the order of what was served up in the short-corridor Amcafes. Going from New York to Los Angeles? Nothing but sandwich- es for you for three days. Of course, that resulted in howls of


Soo Line #2719 pulls excursion trains from Duluth to Two Harbors in Northeastern Minnesota. All day excursions behind 1923 Alco Pacifi c. Trains depart from the Lake Superior Railroad Museum at the Depot in downtown Duluth on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays, August 10th


-September 9th , 2012.


protest from Amtrak passengers and be- came an object of national ridicule. Ulti- mately, in typical band-aid fashion, Con- gress gave a pass to the idea of solving the politics of the problem without solving the problem. The lawmakers allowed a loosen- ing of green eyeshade standards by stipulat- ing that “breaking even” would factor in con- sideration of how many customers were lured to the dining car. When Amtrak Pres- ident Joseph Boardman cited that unquan- tifiable caveat, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) asked the CEO if he could cite “a legal opin- ion” backing it. Boardman replied that he could not.


How Cheap is Cheap? Of course, one can avoid one extreme with- out going to the other. Rep. Nick Rahall (D- W.Va.) recalled that a former Amtrak CEO said 20 years ago that an effort to make the food cheap could end up making it inedible. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla) who makes


no secret of her public unhappiness at hav- ing to give up the chairman’s gavel when her party lost control of the House, excoriated the majority for even holding a hearing on Amtrak food service when the T&I commit- tee had weightier things to address, such as Positive Train Control (PTC) and a recent near air collision at Reagan National Air- port across the river from the hearing. “This is getting into the [petty] weeds,” the former chairman proclaimed. Respond-


ed the current chairman, Mr. Mica, getting “into the weeds” is sometimes necessary to get handle on what is going on and why.


Vending Machines? Perhaps the most aggressive questions were delivered by defeated lame-duck Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Oh.) who has authored a bill to enforce the letter of the 1982 law. She sug- gested Amtrak might consider reducing its food costs by the use of vending machines. Boardman responded that on shorter dis- tance trains, that might be something to consider. But Schmidt suggested vending machines


might be okay for longer haul trains, as well. For the grey beards in the audience, that might have recalled the days when some railroads were actively trying to chase pas- sengers off their trains. Southern Pacific, under the unapologetically passenger-hos- tile Benjamin Biaggini, yanked the dining car service, and installed vending machines. That was late ’60s, pre-Amtrak. “What makes you think that can’t work on long-dis- tance?” Ms. Schmidt asked in July 2012. The Ohio lawmaker noted that a ham-


burger that sold for $9.50 on Amtrak was ac- tually worth $16. “Must be one hell of the hamburger,” observed Boardman. “If we charged $16 for a hamburger,” he said, Am- trak would get to the point where it couldn’t sell any food unless passengers were suffer- ing from starvation. When Schmidt pursued the matter fur-


ther, Amtrak’s Boardman promised to get her answer in writing.”I didn’t know you were serious [about selling the burger for $16]. I didn’t take you seriously. I apologize for that.” At another point, Corinne Brown (the for-


mer committee chairman) chided the advo- cates of “cashless’ business to avoid theft on Amtrak. “These Republicans with their credit cards,” she muttered. It was left to Boardman, an advocate of the cash option to offer, “Democrats have credit cards too.” Wes Vernon is a Washington-based writer and veteran broadcast journalist.


Canyon Lands and Super Chiefs , the fifth volume in our Santa Fe Series, tch


es , features the final 25 years of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railw ay in the state of Arizona.


Fe in Color Fe R


4 EasyWay 1. ONLINE at www Ways to Order! ays to Ord rd


1. ONLINE at www.mcmillanpublications.com 2.2. CALL Toll Free (800) 344-1106 3.3. MAIL 9968 West 70th Place Ar


Arvada, CO 80004-1622 4. FAX (303) 456-2049 For reservations call the


North Shore Scenic Railroad


1-800-423-1273 www.lsrm.org


18 OCTOBER 2012 • RAILFAN.COM FAX (303) 456-2049


$69.95 $5.00 shipping cover 208 pages,r,, 208 pages,


342 full-color photos. Pr inted in the United States of Amer


he United States of Amer riica


Calendars  books  DVDs  atlases  timetables  and more at: www.mcmillanpublications.com


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