Passenger Trains > When Joe Boardman came to Kansas....

In light of the recent passing of former Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman, I offer these pictures taken as part of a special in hopes of gathering support for the Southwest Chief.

1: The special was not announced to stop in Lawrence, but Depot Redux organized enough people to encourage Joe to do so. Here, Joe presents a "Amtrak Served Community" sign to Carey Maynard-Moody, our Depot Redux chair. Also in this picture is Marci Francisco, State Senator and Depot Redux board member.

2: A bit of a candid moment where Boardman gives a "Thumbs up" to CMM.

3: Carey and Marci got to ride the special to Topeka. I took a car and got this shot of the special stopped at the Topeka station from the 6th Avenue bridge.

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

---

---

---

4: Topeka also got a "Amtrak Served Community" sign. Here, Marc Magliari presents the sign to Topeka city councilwoman Karen Hiller (Thank you mp51w for straightening me out)

5: One of the favorites from that day: Da Boss exchanges greetings with then-Station Agent Jim Woods. To say that Jim had a long day would be an understatement, having been on duty since midnight for #3.

Train 4 was late that morning, making its Lawrence Stop at 0711. It met the Boardman special at De Soto. IIRC, the special went in the hole at De Soto, then made it to Lawrence at 0758. They were in Topeka from about 0840 to 0900.

Photos taken July 11, 2014

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/19 16:01 by route56.

---

---

Very cool. We lost a good man that very few of us appreciated like we should have.  Forget Amtrak for the moment. My prayers are with his family during this hard week. Time can’t replace but eventually time we heal to a point.

That is city councilwoman Karen Hiller who represents the downtown area of Topeka.
How Boardman convinced the Kansas D.O.T. Secretary to contribute to track rehabilitation, while
former Governor Sam Brownback was drastically cutting the KDOT's budget is beyond me!

Flyer92122 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very cool. We lost a good man that very few of us
> appreciated like we should have.  Forget Amtrak
> for the moment. My prayers are with his family
> during this hard week. Time can’t replace but
> eventually time we heal to a point.

In case anyone might like to know the services scheduled for him they can be found at https://barryfuneralhome.frontrunnerpro.com/book-of-memories/3769924/Boardman-Joseph/index.php

mp51w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That is city councilwoman Karen Hiller who  represents the downtown area of Topeka.

Fixed in the original post. Thanks. (I also forgot to give a date for the photos, I added that as well)

> How Boardman convinced the Kansas D.O.T. Secretary to contribute to track rehabilitation, while
> former Governor Sam Brownback was drastically cutting the KDOT's budget is beyond me!

I don't know, but at the Santa Fe station re-dedication in Lawrence , I heard Marc Magliari comment
Assistant City Manager Dianne Stoddard wondering how the city convinced Amtrak to pay for the
new neon signs.

Richie Kennedy
Lawrence, KS
route56.com

Wonderful tribute to Joe Boardman.  He visited Colorado in June 2016 with Amtrak 10001 named Beech Grove.  Train passed Little Gore Canyon in western Colorado 5 June 2016.

2- Amtrak 42 named Joe Boardman was on Amtrak's California Zephyr train 5 at Granby, CO, 18 Jan 2017.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/19 04:26 by cozephyr.

---

---

"Services Friday for retired Amtrak chief Joseph Boardman"
By Eric Anderson Updated 4:35 pm EDT, Thursday, March 14, 2019
https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Former-Amtrak-chief-Joseph-Boardman-dies-13689130.php#photo-7982943