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The SCL and ACL ran trains because they were mandated to by the federal government, they didn't make any money off of them. Railroads made there profit off the express (LTL) business not the people and that disappeared when they were no longer the fastest mode of transportaion.

I think there was probably a moment in time when L&N and SAL made money solely off their passenger revenues. It may have been a long time ago, but I would venture to say that it probably did happen. Shortly after they were constructed, most railroads found it very worth their while to operate passenger service. There are very few railroads that were built with freight-only status and always remained that way.

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How much do you think the fuel alone for one round trip between Las Vegas and Los Angeles would be? That would be two locomotives not one. The Desert Wind and Pioneer never made any money and it wasn't soley because of UP's poor dispatching.

Well, first of all, we should probably get it out of our minds that Amtrak can operate at a profit. It probably can’t, any more than a public school, fire department or police department can operate at a profit. If you stripped away the subsidies and had to cover all the costs associated with driving your car, you wouldn’t be able to afford to do that either. Airlines lose a tremendous amount of money and require enormous subsidies, but I’ve noticed that most everyone brushes all that aside and only “picks” on Amtrak to turn a profit. Can you explain to me why that is? Why the double-standard? Check out this report from ABC News about a pork barrel airport in Pennsylvania that is located in the Congressional district of the late senator John Murtha. The report was filed before his death.

[abcnews.go.com]

Personally, if given a choice, I’d rather have my tax dollars going to support **yes, shudder the thought** non-profitable inter-city rail passenger service rather than a lot of other areas where taxpayer dollars “wasted.” For example, one of the most ludicrous examples of taxpayer dollars being spent unwisely is enhancements to detention centers where illegal aliens are housed prior to deportation. Under this new proposal, detainees will be treated to more variety in their dining hall menus and have self-serve beverage and fresh vegetable bars. They will enjoy movie nights, bingo, arts and crafts, dance and cooking classes, tutoring and computer training.

Source:
[www.chron.com]

In short, supporting Amtrak is money well spent when compared to the above example. And that example is just one of thousands that are equally absurd.

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Where is your customer base? For example the Pioneer: Seattle to Salt Lake City. Your largest customer base is going to be between Seattle and Portland, Boise is a small town so your next major urban center is what? SLC the end of the line.

You’re forgetting that The Pioneer interfaced with the California Zephyr at Salt Lake City and furnished through cars from Seattle to Chicago. Boise and all the other towns and cities along the OWR&NCo and OSL would probably embrace Amtrak service, particularly since Greyhound and other bus companies have made service cutbacks. The service would be especially valuable in the winter months when driving conditions are undesirable and best and dangerous at worst.

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There is not really much between Portland and SLC and the trip takes you about 20 hours if you are on time. I could drive that in twevle for cheaper than what Amtrak charged or would charge and I would have a vehicle to use when I reached my destination.

You’re going on the assumption that everyone in our society owns and operates a car and enjoys driving, just like you do. That is not the case. As you say, you can drive it cheaper than Amtrak. That situation may change, especially when we’re doing stupid things like what’s currently happening in the Gulf of Mexico. Very little of that oil will be able to be salvaged and recycled. What a waste. On so many levels.

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I could fly and be there in less than 12 hours from the time I leave my doorstep to the time I reach my destination.

Yes, but, by all means, please remember to tell us that your airline flight is heavily subsidized and whatever profit the airline may or many not show most certainly appears as an illusion on the balance sheet because of the massive taxpayer support. Please review the ABC News piece cited above.

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You've already killed your profit with the cost of labor because your train crew doesn't work for free and you don't have any money left over for fuel or to maintain your train, stations, etc...

Again, you’re going to have to re-educate yourself into thinking that a train that loses money isn’t any more “sinful” than an airplane that loses money. Remember, too, that Interstate highways do not operate at a profit and the highway trust fund and gasoline taxes do not come anywhere near covering the cost of maintaining the nation’s highway infrastructure.
Since you appear to be such a libertarian, I guess it’s safe to assume that you’ve sent your children to private schools, you protect your home with privately funded police and fire protection and that, if you’re a senior citizen, you do not rely on taxpayer-subsidized Medicare coverage. Those things are just way too socialistic ---- and, horror of horrors, they don’t operate at a profit.

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Lets raise taxes so we can all ride trains because your not going to pay for them any other way.

Here’s another idea: Let’s eliminate the taxpayer subsidies to airports such as the one profiled in the above ABC News report and let’s eliminate the perks being extended to illegal aliens being held in detention centers. Let’s shut down public schools and fire and police protection. Let’s charge water consumers the TRUE cost of their water. Do you have any idea how many taxpayer dollars were used to build the California Aqueduct and the Tennessee Valley Authority dams? I don’t know whether or not they operate at a profit. If they do, it may be a little while before any revenues come anywhere near covering their enormous construction and start-up costs. Where was private enterprise when it came time to build Oroville Dam? If the Government did it, isn’t that a little socialistic? My Gawd! That’s almost as un-American as socialized medicine!

If you’re going to implement draconian cuts, don’t just pick on Amtrak.

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The Vancouver to Eugene corridor is a good example of a good corridor (which I have ridden many tiems) with good ridership, but you know what? With all that traffic on I-5 it is still faster to drive and it always will be until that speed limit is raised to over 100mph.

Well, I believe you more or less stated in an earlier post that ANY rail corridor is stupid and a waste of investment if it turns out that you, personally, can drive the distance faster.
And I don't know about you, but I try to obey the law and drive at the speed limit. Judging by the morons tooling down the highways these days, I think I'm definitely in the minority.