And send it registered mail with a return receipt attached, so you know they’ve got it.
That way Amtrak’s legal department can’t lie or stonewall, “Well, we never got any letter…”
Many years back, an industry outside the railroad industry was renting the old M&StL diesel shop buildings at Marshalltown IA. GE or EMD, I forget which because both have used the buildings at times over the years, was looking for a place to do warranty work on their line of engines. The railroad wanted to break the lease to the outside firm and then lease them to whichever builder needed the location back then.
The outside firm didn’t want to leave, wanted to stay for the entire term. The railroad tried many ways to induce them to leave. Even to the point that the railroad said it hadn’t been receiving the monthly lease payments due. The firm was able to produce the registered receipts that the railroad had indeed been receiving the payments, even if they hadn’t been cashing them.
Eventually, they were able to get them to leave and lease the property to the builder. I’m guessing a monetary inducement was eventually offered that was too tempting to pass up.
Jeff
There are three entities that concerns about Amtrak safety can be presented to:
Euclid: You make a great deal of sense to me with this posting!
Yes, I agree until you got to the book idea. But contacting key congressional folks (House transportation committee, chair) with a succinct presentation, not of just the need, but enough specificity about your plans to be convincing.
Thanks Dave. I think that taking it to congress is fine if it gets the job done. A lof of foot dragging in Congress could drag out the project for years with no result at all. I agree that more specificity is needed, along with the developlent of a commanding presentation, and many variations and detail elaborations of that presentation. If you took that to its fullest measure, it would fill a book. So why not make it a book for informing everyone including the public and Congress.
I have found that if you present a neighborhood issue to your City Council, on your own, they feel no fear and they patronize you with no intention of considering your proposal. So what you do is take the message to your neighbors, and then all of them will go down to the Council meeting with you, and the Council will listen because they feel fear.
So while Congress has the authority to fix the problem with Amtrak, the public has the ability to push them into action if need be. And the riders of Amtrak are the natural constituency to absorb the message and take it to their representatives.
Thank you for the advice and suggestions. However if Congress failed to enact adequate legislation after Sandy Hook, where the victims were young children, and the other mass shootings how can I hope for them to enact adequate legislation to protect the public from Amtrak’s dangerous hiring and training procedures?
It seems futile.
Sadly, that is true. 60% of the current Senate comes from states representing only 36% of our people. Mostly Great Plains, mountains and some of the south. I share your pessimism and sadness.
With enacting legislation due to Sandy Hook, there is great controversy in that the legislation might disarm people who want to own guns in order to protect themselves from gun violence. Those people naturally suspect that gun violence is being used as an agenda by people who simply want to cancel the right to own guns. So, even though Sandy Hook is a powerful motivator of change, it naturally invokes a strong pushback to that change.
With improving the safety of Amtrak, there is no strong justification for pushback other than simple resistance to changing the system. The only thing holding back a transformation in Amtrak safety is Amtrak management culture and the fact that nobody understands the safety problem that Amtrak culture has created.
You understand it and have even been determined enough to bring it to the attention of Amtrak and Congress. If you continue that until Congress understands the problem, who is going to push back? The only one who will is Amt
Bring lots of money for “campaign contributions.”
Gentlemen, I do NOT want to turn this into a gun-control discussion, but if you’re going to bring up Sandyhook PLEASE remember where the real blame lies.
Nancy Lanza, the mother of the shooter, who purchased the guns LEGALLY after going through ALL the background checks the state of Connecticutt required, and then stupidly brought them into a home she shared with a mentally disturbed son. Just as you don’t smoke around gasolene common sense tells you it’s worse than foolish to bring weapons into a home with a resident who’s “Not quite right in the head!”
Stupid woman! Well, she paid for it with her life, and the lives of too many others. I’m not surprised at all the father of Adam Lanza and Adam’s brother walked away from the situation in that house, Mom either could not, or would not, admit to herself just how dangerous her son could be.
And that’s all I’m going to say on that subject. it’s way [#offtopic]
Then why say anyting about it? It was only mentioned in a passing reference as an analogy to getting Congress to take action on Amtrak safety.
This letter was sent THREE times via registered mail return receipt requested. After the third time it was ignored I rescinded my offer of confidentiality.
file:///E:/Amtrak%20%232/Letter%20to%20Boardman%20.pdf
Why would Congress want any ideas on how to improve Amtrak? A good many of them want to shut it down.
Now, if you were to send a letter detailing how to get rid of Amtrak, I’m sure you’d get a warm reception.
Here is some coverage of the actual Amtrak engineer training facility by a Philadelphia-area station:
This appears to have been cut from what may be a much longer and better-detailed interview and coverage – including some interviews with trainees and graduates, and details of what things Amtrak looks for in its engineer candidates.
From 1:30 on is particularly ironic if, as the comments indicate, this story was prepared just before the accident with 188…
I would be interested in obtaining Mr. Reaves’ resume.
Which should be available via a FOIA, should it not?
I’d be still more interested in learning Mr. Reaves’ criteria for assessing candidates prior to training, and his priorities for training improvement.
It might not be available without a whole bunch of redactions to protect personally identifiable information.
Would not his resume indicate his qualification to assess candidates for positions in the operating department?
In view of the Amtrak’s issues has had since this video was originally shot - I would be interested in learning what Mr. Reaves current position, if any, is with Amtrak.
The video references operating on the Interstate system in a motor vehicle for comparative values. Interstates, for the most part, are adequately marked for successful operation by all motor vehicle operators - consistant with the turning and braking abilities of the vehicles using the system without the need for prior experience in operating over any particular route.
It has been my contention for years, that railroad rights of way are not adequately marked. Operation over railroad territories REQUIRES prior intimate knowledge of the route for successful operation, as that knowledge is required because of the extended braking distances as well as slack control for the trains being operated.
If the rights of way were marked in a manner to WARN of upcoming characteristics along the right of way it would be possible for a engineer qualified on ‘train operation’ to be able to operate successfully on virtually any territory.
I don’t know how detailed the ‘approaching territory’ screens are on PTC equipped locomotives are on the territories where PTC is in effect - but those screens are a step in