Group,
I was reading the latest issue of Trains abd there was a good article written by an Australian fellow about the formation of Amtrak. I was surpirsed to know that many railroads thought that Amtrak was to be a kind of subsidy program at first. In other words, Uncle Sam would pay the roads to operate their own passenger trains, makling up the difference where losses were concerned. What are the group's thoughts on this? I believe it sets up some wonderful what-if scenarios where some of the great trains of the past were able to live on. Up until the May 1971 start date of Amtrak, some roads thought it was important to give decent passenger service. I imagine that would have continued. If the losses on passenger service were covered, I feel the over all obligation of the government would have been less than the current Amtrak situation today. Any comments?
Gene DiGennaro Baltimore, Md.