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New Amtrak locomotive honors past president
Bless David Gunn! Of course, you always fire a guy who is doing a great job!
Cool! Very nice and well deserved!
Why don’t they have Mr. Gunn come back to clean things up at Amtrak; Boardman is a horses’ ass
If they are going to put HIS name on a locomotive, then they should put W. Graham Claytor, Jr.'s name on one also. I would suggest No. 611!
It’s too bad the Dubya sacked David Gunn and installed this do nothing Joe Boardman. The reason was obvious.
that man was a real RAILROADER and not some damn college boy ! not like we have today !
Harold, not a bad idea, but Claytor pissed off a lot of employees during his time .
I agree, W. Graham Claytor Jr.'s name needs to be on a locomotive as well. Both presidents are responsible for Amtrak’s existance today, and are well known for their profound leadership and reorganization.
Class act!
Graham Claytor has his name on the side of a Superliner, no?
Wasn’t Alex Kummant, from the Union Pacific, in between Gunn and Boardman in terms of the Amtrak Presidency?
Zach is correct. Alex Kummant was hired as the permanent replacement for Gunn, but later left over disagreements with Amtrak’s Board of Directors. The “Bush/Republican” board then appointed Joseph Boardman as Acting President until the “Obama/Democratic” board could take over about three months later. Obama was the one who “installed” Boardman as the permanent President. As Obama is often touted as the smartest guy in any room, and it perceived that he himself believe he is never wrong on the issues, Boardman is probably going to stay until Obama leaves. To fire Boardman is to admit it was a mistake to keep him as President.
As a Bush supporter, I remain disappointed in his stewardship of Amtrak. David Gunn had a good plan and knew what he was doing. David Laney, board chairman, was the man in the middle, trying to satisfy the Bush White House and buy time for Amtrak to get better.
President Obama and Vice President Biden should put their talking about Amtrak into additional funding action via a presidential mandate just like they are planning to do with immigration today. David Gunn, we need more like him. Maybe someone like Joseph Biden when he is replaced in 2017.
Congratulations to David Gunn, he was the right person at the right time to manage Amtrak. I wished he could have stayed longer on the job but the truth was too much for some people.
It always seems that Amtrak does best with a professional railroader at the top. Mr. Gunn did well, as did Graham .Claytor and Paul Reistrup
@Harold Castleman. Brilliant Idea. I like it.
That’s great they finally recogognized Mr. Gunn. He was the best thing since Graham Claytor. Now… Let’s see a befitting monument to Boardman… Perhaps a bad-order ballast hopper??
No offence to Mr Gunn, but I think Amtrak needs to get its priorities in line. Buying new equipment is a great first step. I recently took an Amtrak base excursion to VA and really enjoyed the comfortable coach I was in. The restrooms were not so great. It was like being in a port a potty, smelly. The company definitely needs an outside set of eyes to help with a ongoing problem, and you may want to hold your nose, because something really stinks.
It is always a nice touch to recognize someone’s contribution and in the case of David Gunn well deserved. The challenge now is to see further work done on bringing Amtrak up to a state of good repair with a prime challenge the Portal Bridge. Likewise the national network must not only be preserved but expanded in markets where there is a critical need.