Commenter Wrote:
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> The younger generation is definitely into tattoos
> and various body perforations. If anyone here has
> an offspring that wants to be a doctor, steer them
> into dermatology. There will be a fortune to be
> made when these people start hitting middle age.

A good friend made a similar observation some years ago,
but was referring to doctors who treat people with hearing
problems. Very sad to say, that is a field that is growing
fast. Young people simply refuse to take sensible advice,
and do permanent harm to their hearing from listening to
very loud music, or from playing in rock bands, or both.

Mandatory railroad content:
We rode the "Coast Starlight" a number of years ago when it
had on-board entertainers in the Sightseer Lounge who would
do magic tricks and then go downstairs to the kiddie play room
on the lower level and tell stories. That wonderful addition
to the Starlight was cut -- to save money. Sigh..... Talk
about being short-sighted! We just loved the magic tricks
and the stories!

I think what the OP is asking -- in general -- is why all the
other LD trains do not have the special things the Starlight has.
The answer, IMO, lies in Amtrak's management philosophy, and its
seeming disinterest in spending even one extra penny on anything
that would draw in more passengers, and get them to ride again.

Amtrak's top management seems to be unquestioningly wedded to
cost-cutting everywhere, and does not understand that they need
to spend more money now to attract new passengers and keep past
passengers. And to get the money they need, they have to ask for
it, and do the usual politicking and lobbying , just as do all
large companies that want favors.

Amtrak needs to have many more people like Brian Rosenwald, and
it needs to give full support to their good ideas, instead of
just always going along with the idea that pleasing passengers
is not really that important. They also need to buck the current
business philosophy that only they , the higher-up managers, are
the ones who should ever be allowed to make any decisions. Give
the guys and gals who deal with the passengers in person and
on the phone the authority to do what the passengers need. Then
watch things improve!

One of the biggest problems is that Amtrak really needs new
cars and locomotives, and AFAIK there is no money at all in
their present appropriation for any new LD cars or locomotives.
Heck -- all LD trains should have more coaches and sleepers,
and all LD trains should have TWO Sightseer Lounges, and there
should at least one attendant per car -- two would be perfect,
and each car attendant should have a radio so they can call
or assistance when needed.

And all car-attendants must be trained in how to handle difficult
people. (The post near the top of this page is a perfect example
of how NOT to handle problem people.)

I, too, very much hope that Amtrak will be able to keep the
Pacific Parlour Cars running for a long time. Budd sure
built their cars to last, didn't they? But parts for those
wonderful cars are probably very hard to get these days.
I wonder how long they will be able to run reliably?

There are a lot of things that Amtrak could do to make
the experience of riding their trains much better. As
I do not want to write a long essay or book, I will end
here. Amtrak is more than worth spending a lot more
money on so that all its passengers can have reliably
good experiences while on board and at all their stations.