Passenger Trains > Rally in Raton, NM

With a beautiful blue western sky as the backdrop, Sen. Martin Heinrich addressed a large crowd of Southwest Chief supporters this morning.  Supporters from Albuquerque and southern Colorado joined local community members for the rally.  Sen. Heinrich explained the importance of the SWC as a mode of transportation to the sparely populated route. He was cheered on by the crowd when he mentioned that he and his staff were still in talks with Amtrak over the proposed bus bridge. Others speaking to the crowd included the director of the Philmont Scout Ranch who explained in detail the economic impact the Scout ranch has on Raton and the surrounding area. Likewise, The city manager and a Colfax county commissioner related the history of the upgrades made to the line over the last 5 years through TIGER grants and how this line was to recieve upgrades going forward. The mayor read a brief description of the route of the SWC as it winds from Chicago to LA. It sounded poetic and conjured up visions of the natural beauty of the route. He then disclosed it was taken from the Amtrak websiite. All in all, it shows the grassroot support from across New Mexico and Colorado for retaining this train on its current route.

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Ominous cloud, far right of frame, peeking over mountain. Profile of a face. Male face. Age about sixty. Need better resolution to identify.

Good report.

How many people showed up?

Posted from Android

Looks like a Delta plane flew through that cloud, was Anderson flying it?

Sen. Heinrich is up for re-election this year. While every vote counts, it is interesting that he sees it as a big of enough issue to address (even if he isn't actively campaigning). Should he win re-election, I hope he continues to fight for passenger rail service. I wonder where his opponent stands on the issue, assuming he/she has even addressed the issue at all. 

chrsjrcj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sen. Heinrich is up for re-election this year.
> While every vote counts, it is interesting that he
> sees it as a big of enough issue to address (even
> if he isn't actively campaigning). Should he win
> re-election, I hope he continues to fight for
> passenger rail service. I wonder where his
> opponent stands on the issue, assuming he/she has
> even addressed the issue at all. 
 
http://www.garyjohnsonsenate.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/govgaryjohnson/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/18 20:15 by Lurch_in_ABQ.

Lurch_in_ABQ Wrote:

>  
> http://www.garyjohnsonsenate.com/ 
> https://www.facebook.com/govgaryjohnson/

Odd...I am guessing by your name and the subjects of your posts that you live in New Mexico.  Yet, even though I live far away from New Mexico, I know that Senator Heinrich has two opponents, the other being Mick Rich.  Don't understand why you only listed one opponent.

https://mickrichforsenate.com/
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/18 09:03 by RuleG.

Gary Johnson, former two-term NM Republican governor and 2016 presidential candidate, is running for Senate on the Libertarian ticket. In my opinion he may provide more of a challenge to Heinrich than the Republican candidate.

Sorry that politics has raised its head in this discussion. While I attended, Sen. Heinrich spoke of bipartisan support for the SWC. He complemented the senators from the states of Colorado and Kansas, both Republican and Democrat. He also thanked the city of Raton for its support as well as the Colfax County Commission. I would not know what political flavor any of those local folks are. Bottom line was the support for retaining the current operation of the SWC. It was a get-it-done type of rally. This was grassroots all the way. 

This is probably the best show of bi-partisanship going on in any place in the country. Even a very conservative Senator Moran sees the necessity of a service that does not run at a profit.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> This is probably the best show of bi-partisanship
> going on in any place in the country. Even a very
> conservative Senator Moran sees the necessity of a
> service that does not run at a profit.


Agreed. Now if he can get Amtrak to spend the money it already has, and grants it has been awarded on the SWC...

Posted from Android

The 2008 act needs to be addressed, as passenger trains and dining cars have always lost money, but people usually want them around.  The corruption in the dining cars need to addressed.

There is the matter of PRIIA 210 and 212 (specials, charters, LD performance imnprovement plans). 
Anderson is perfectly fine on trashing those as he sees fit. He only takes laws seriously that fit his agenda. 

Anderson doesn't want to run this service.  He clearly views Amtrak's future role differently than most:  perhaps a combination of the NEC, corridor trains with funding partners, and Rocky Mountaineer-type trains with enthusiastic crew members and limited operations.

He may decide to run it if it is adequately funded, as defined by Anderson, not by politicians.

It is not Anderson's call as to whether there will be a national network or not. He's been given the money and cannot squander it or give it to the NEC. 

As you have been told numerous times, the Rocky Mountaineer model FAILED: Their Montana subsidiary is gone, American Orient Expres is gone, and Ed Eliss's Pullman operations are gone. There is also no indication that your beloved Anderson has any interest in running such things at the rate he is pulling off PPC, dining cars, about-to-be-closed Chicago Legacy Lounge, or any other frill. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/18 13:09 by joemvcnj.

Anderson can decide that the money provided is not enough.

He can also tell them to keep their money, that he doesn't want or need it.

It's a little unusual, but not impossible.

If he says he doesn't want the money, he also runs the risk of turning back money for the beloved NEC. Congress decides how to divi up National Network and NEC accounts, not Anderson.
Don't expect these 6 Senators to defend the NEC if they lose this train. They can tell him to go grovel at the 8 NEC staes, not the federal goverment. They in turn will give him nothing more..

Anderson has already proven himself a liar by first saying he needs $30 - 50 million to bring up to state of good repair, then says $100 million 4 months later.
Add to that the $3 million in TIGER grans he refuses to spend, which locks up $16 million more granted to Colfax County New Mexico, while he puts out hs tin cup saying there is no funding plan. 

He already lost it with his shouting match with these Senators 2 months ago.
The Emporer has no clothes and no credibility.

I wonder how many of the people present at the rally have ridden the SWC in the past year?

WJEX Wrote:
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> I wonder how many of the people present at the
> rally have ridden the SWC in the past year?


Likely answer: 2 or 3.

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> WJEX Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I wonder how many of the people present at the
> > rally have ridden the SWC in the past year?
>
>
> Likely answer: 2 or 3.

I was going to respond with a similar sarcastic remark after seeing the folks at the rally......

However, Raton is the transfer point for people between Denver and Pueblo (front range). The Boy Scouts are patons within this vicinity. 

The SWC line is also the fastest way to get from Chicago/Kansas City/Midwest to souther California. It may have some lightly patronized stops in the middle of its route, but the east and west end of the route produces a nice corridor train (Kansas City to Chicago, Flagstaff to LA). Offers a gateway to get to the Grand Canyon and southwest. The route shuttles equipment the fastest between Midwest and West Coast. Gets people and equipment to the West Coast quicker than via Denver. Train turns over its passenger count pretty well while enroute.

In terms of its capacity, supply has actually been REDUCED for this train - both in sleeper class and coach class - but I don't think the demand for the train has necessarily gone away, except this year due to the Boy Scouts, which was hopefully a one-time season occurrence. No control over it. Train has been running with at least three coaches, four most at times, which is healthy. Sleeper class seems very well patronized. This is the ONLY train out of the three main transcons that does not get a THIRD sleeper line anymore in Peak Season or around the Holidays. The CA Zephyr and Empire Builder, with longer routes, do get the third line sleeper. It did and could probably still use it, but Amtrak has backed off. When the Superliner Trans/Dorms were first being deployed, Amtrak operated them as full revenue roomettes on the SWC route and sold them as such to keep up with demand. Course Amtrak's advertising and marketing was also better back then too. It was something unique and special for this route only.

With the lack of Boy Scouts this year, perfect time for Amtrak to build the story that the train is lightly patronized, but that's only a partial effect on this train. Very little marketing effort on any of Amtrak's long distance trains, but the SWC likely needs a little bit more of a push than the others. I think there are more positives for operating this train than discontinuing it or trying to restructure it, and more positives for having feeder routes brought in to join with it (Denver to Pueblo to Raton). Yes, there's an incremental cost now faced to operate it, but that seemed to be funded......