Sticker shock much?!

The Loess Hills are located little east of the Missouri River between an area north of Sioux City to south of Council Bluffs. The only other land form like this in the world is located in China.Link to Loess Hills.

 

Mike, do you remember when you were on Amtrack was it through northern Iowa or southern Iowa (along the mormon trail)?

 

Yeah, but rail lines tend to follow rivers that have very gradual grades. I always thought Amtrak going through Iowa was a joke. It misses all the major MSAs in the state (except Omaha). SoCal, was there any reason Amtrak decided to bypass the UP lines through Clinton-Cedar Rapids-Ames or the Iowa Interstate lines through Quad Cities-Iowa City-Des Moines, but instead used BNSF through some very small and economically depressed towns in Iowa? No one has ever been able to explain that one to me.

 

It was just a couple of years ago, it's Amtrak's California Zephyr, and it follows the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway through Iowa, not sure about any former trails it goes over. I know the BNSF transcon between LA and Chicago and the route of Amtrak's Southwest Chief follows the old route of the Santa Fe Trail.





Amtrak's California Zephyr

 

Politics I would guess. Also, they try and serve areas that are otherwise underserved by other transportation systems, ie. in Montana, the Empire Builder is the ONLY means of public transport in many of the small towns it serves, that and it serves Glacier National Park. Oh, and please let Mr.Bush know his plan and lack of proper funding for Amtrak will not only gut it, but ruin it's future, write him and your congressman now!

 

The plan is to allow the states more control. I think regionalizing Amtrak is the way to go, especially with the amount this country flys when traveling long distances. Look at the success in the northeast and between LA and SD. I was planning a trip to the east coast, but spending two days in a train when I want to go for a weekend was not feasible. HSR will not likely replace air traffic.

 

Ok so you went threw my home town

 

Bush's plan for Amtrak is nothing more than a shaded Republican effort (not by all though, many Republicans like one lady I can't remember from Texas and Trent Lott from Mississippit are HUGE supporters of Amtrak) to eliminate it, it will NOT help passenger rail nor anybody else. Asking poor states to provide funding for their passenger trains would doom them there. He just wants to pay off his oil buddies and Cheney want to reward his former Haliburton buddies with highway construction projects. I urge all to write Bush and their congressmen and make sure this horrible and short sighted plan DOES NOT happen, we need a balanced transportation system in this nation, and rail has, is and will be a part of that. Freight railroads are booming, and will grow even more in the future, it's time we ensure that passenger rail gets the same.

 

Agree with you 100% Mike
The rail system needs imporovements

 

I think you've really mischaracterized the issue. For the most part, passenger trains are in competition with airlines not passenger vehicles. States already help pay for rail lines for freight, so calling it unfair to have state support the rail industry is a stretch, especially when states pay most of their transportation costs from federal funds anyways. This isn't really a political issue in my mind (no one runs on an Amtrak ticket), but if you have an ax to grind, keep on grinding.

 

Hey you are talking about my home town there

I do agree it should go up through Boone and to the Quad Cites. That route still has more trains than the route threw southern Iowa.

 

I do think that rail is still great for frieght and still have amtrack. I don't think that pooring money into rail for passengers in not smart. We still need Amtrack, and it is competion for airlines for people who want cheaper prices.

 

We took Amtrak from Sacramento, CA to Washington DC and back, and I tell you we made so many friends and saw so much scenery (and trains of course!) it was awesome!! You just can't see that stuff from 30,000 feet or on an Interstate, it's a way of traveling that is unrivaled. Despite what you may think too Iowa, many business people do trips like that, they can sit back, enjoy the time and get a lot of work done before getting to their destination. We can afford to help Amtrak and grow and prosper, that I stand by firmly. Those that would do away with it HAVE NO INTEREST in preserving and building passenger rail, they are just wolves in sheep's clothing.

 

I would like to see rail be more widespread.

 

Don't misunderstand my point, SoCal. I have no problem with increased funding for passenger rail. But because I would like to see passenger rail suceed, I believe regionalization is the answer. I also don't care where the money comes from so long as it's there. If states have to increase their gas tax or create tollways, that is fine because these are policy decisions to be decided by the state. I don't care if passenger rail is government owned, government-business owned, or privately owned with heavy regulations. Taking Amtrak out of the government's hands does not bother me.

Of course Amtrak's rival is air. As a mode of transportation, rail offers certain advantages and disadvantages, as does air and highway transportation. People, generally, make transportation decisions based on time and money. For most people, air offers people what they need. As a vacation, the experience becomes an issue, and for a high-speed rail user, time becomes an even more important issue. Now I say this half joking, but if we are really keeping Amtrak so people can "experience" the ride, then Amtrak is a very expensive amusement park that should be taken out of the government sector. I do not think this is the case and I believe there will be a policy shift to more rail in the future. To label this issue as rail versus some oil company is a vast mischaracterization, and I think you know that. Trips that people would take by rail are replaced by air (and only sometimes automobile). Now if you want to break this down politically, it is far more politically deleterious to eliminate Amtrak than it is keep it. But this isn't a political issue. This is a policy issue.

agentHibby, I wasn't trying to knock your hometown, whether it's Creston or Osceola. I have a positive opinion of all Iowa towns, even Vedic City. My point was just that rail should be made available to the largest number of people and to the people who are most likely to use it. Every once in a while you have to dust off that old economic model and use it.

 

Home town is Chariton.
Amtrack quite using the Chariton train station in 1972.
Only change of engineers for frieght trains is the only reason a train stops in Chariton these days at the station.

 

I do agree that only frieght should be going threw my hometown and not Amtrack

Boone to the Quad Cites would I think would help Amtrack more than hurt it

 

Or Chariton. I almost mentioned that in my last reply, but didn't remember Amtrak having a stop there. How is Chariton doing after Hy-Vee moved to West Des Moines? I think the move really hurt Chariton. In good news for small town Iowa, Well's Blue Bunny is staying in Le Mars, Iowa (self-proclaimed "Ice Cream Capital of the World"). This means that 2,400 jobs, including 400 high-paying corporate jobs, will stay in that community.

 

In the first 5 years from what I understand Amtrak got rid of tons of places to stop. So they could compete with airlines and freeways. Only reason why Osceola kept a stop because of the freeway. Creston and Ottumwa were at large cities so they stayed in. back in the 50's it the train stopped in every county seat along that line back in the day. unless Chariton get another 10,000 in population they won't expand the train station in Chariton to have passengers again.

Problem with Chariton is HY-VEE is cancer to the city. Over 2/3rd's of all households in that town have a person affiliated with Hy-vee some way from teenager works there, a family member works for grocery store, distribution centers, or corporate offices (very few do that today). Yes, I do remember many of those corporate guys when they left in 1993-1995. I worked for Hy-vee many years my father has been a butcher for hy-vee for 26 years in Chariton, 30 years total for Hy-vee. When the county first started to fall in the 50's-60's the town put all of its eggs in the hy-vee basket. Hy-vee became the #1 grocery company in the state. By the 80's #1 employer in the state. I remember back in the early 90's it was an obscenity to say anything bad about hy-vee. Many people in the state remembers when in 1985 Wal-Mart was tiring to come into Chariton. City council was 50% Hy-vee workers and other 50% listen to what Hy-vee said. It was a no! Ended up the land they had either has been or will be sold to a church. Since then Wal-Mart went into Des Moines Metro market, Indianola, Knoxville, Centerville. They went around Chariton. People of Chariton thought this was ok are uptown shopping centers will survive. Well they are dieing without any help from Wal-Mart
Some corporate people stayed in Chariton. Most did not. Hy-vee used Chariton as a crutch to get what they needed to become what they are today, at the towns expense. The town every time I comeback is falling apart. Every time I comeback you can see more old brick coming up from the streets. The old mayor when it came to finances was a joke from the start. They can't replace important bridges in 2002 and still haven't. So people have to drive way out of their way to get somewhere sometimes They need to not listen to Hy-Vee and get some new businesses in and lower some taxes and repair things and they will be fine. Will the people do that?? Probably not!

 

The distribution center "Warehouse" won't move to Des Moines or Kansas City for a very long time.
Why?? It would cost Hy-Vee about 90 millions last I knew to move all of that someplace else. To top it off the wages for the workers would have to be higher than it is in Chariton, so it makes no sense to do that for now. Hear any rumors about the rest of Hy-vee moving is probably false.

 

I have been to Waukon once. Little more hilly than my home town