Mr. Wheel, having been there on A-Day (with the MILW as a Management Trainee) the LD system was "sold" to the industry as an "ease the pain" stopgap. It was to have been gone starting somewhere during '76, or when roads declining to join Amtrak, would have been free to seek discontinuance of their trains. It appeared to me that the '79 Carter Cuts "got the ball rolling". But politicians had discovered that LD's represented an inexpensive "rolling pork barrel", and that was the end of that. The subsequent Clinton Cuts and Bush(43) prunings, simply addressed services added subsequent to RPSA70.
Admittedly, you won't find this in writing, but the Washroom Walls that once were in the now gutted upper floors of CUS (planned to be a hotel, but somehow I think that "fell through") were witness to comments heard to the effect of "We're going to be stuck with those trains for the next thirty years" after the Superliner order became known.
OK let's all acknowledge that the only reason the LD's survive today is political pressure; even the most avid enthusiast cannot dispute that point. But let us note, many of those Congressmembers who thought of "rolling pork" as a delicacy are either "six feet..", defeated, or cashed in for K Street, so the support for Amtrak to that its needed Corridor services will continue, and hopefully thrive, is sufficient without them.
Further let us note that the more the investor owned railroad industry becomes indoctrinated by "The Gospel According to Saint Elwood" (PSR), the more difficult it will be to move a scheduled passenger train over the road on its schedule. While hardly very much the case around here, at some "advocacy" sites that delight in referring to the managements of certain Class I's as "criminals" because they do not welcome passenger trains on their roads, is simply immature to me.
I have long contended that when signing up to join Amtrak, the industry signed "the Faustian pact with the Devil". But even Faust, or at least in Marlowe's version, eventually was "cleansed". The LD's by no measurement, can be considered "sustainable", so it could be time to consider the exit strategy. That is why I think the possible acquisition of Greyhound by Amtrak could be the opening to continue offering commercial surface transportation to "the little Lady from Sanderson" who needs to see her doctor in San Antonio. That little lady brings her own food, could care less about a Sightseer Lounge, and is not about to find out what a Sleeping Car is all about.
Last edited by Gilbert B Norman on Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:21 pm, edited 3 times in total.