I find myself wondering if the whole Amtrak thing will devolve into equipment replacement or capital rebuild for the long-distance trains (needed; the stuff they're using now is mostly 30+ years old), and otherwise pouring whatever money appears into the NEC pit (which needs it; replacing 100 year old bridges, tunnels, etc.).

My pet peeve: curve fixes, on the NEC and elsewhere. In principle, outside of terminal areas, no curve should be restricted to less than about 70-80% of the speed limit on the line in general. So things like that 50mph curve in Philly (on a 100mph line) or the S-curve on the Port Defiance line (30mph on a 80mph line), or even the kink on BNSF just south of Merced (seems to be about a 50mph curve on a 80mph line) need to be eased. That'll be expensive, because of land purchase and resident relocation need and (in the case of Port Defiance) a big new bridge over the freeway, but things like that can have a payback in travel time (save a few minutes) and safety. "Curve correction" is a common project on highways for the same reasons. PTC is a good band-aid for safety with the existing curves, but "healing" the problem would be better. All it takes is money...