Wall Street Journal Article on Amtrak and Anderson: A Flight Plan For Amtrak

[R36 Combine Coach]

A good solution would be that the entire NEC is owned by 1 infrastructure company, including land and stations. all employees of towers and maintenance teams are employed by that company. That company can be a public one (with the U.S. government as sole shareholder) or a federal agency in U.S. DOT or administratively placed with Amtrak. And every operator pays the new company a fee for using it's stations, track, workers, and maintenance.

the Us Government manages Independence Hall in Philadelphia and it is dilapidated, money is siphoned off based on politics (to places like yellowstone with far fewer visitors). the cure may be worse than the disease in this case

The government does much better with the Smithsonian facilities and institutions than NPS sites, might be due to having matching private funding and sponsorships.

[Tadman]

Have you been to Air and Space lately? I visited in 2015 and it was darn close to the same place I visited in 1990. The exhibits were similar, many of the photos on display were very 1988-ish and yellowed, and the carpet and benches were a bit worn to say the least. It was a bit distressing as the US was the pioneer in so many ways for air travel and this is seriously interesting history. It is important to be a good custodian of our history, whether private or public funded.

[mtuandrew]

Air & Space is now two years into a multi-year ground-up renovation, including every exhibit and even the outside stone cladding. The worn and dingy appointments will be a thing of the past. I think they’re also seeking LEED Certification but can’t remember for certain. Either way, I can tell you firsthand without getting into specifics that NASM and SI generally is an excellent custodian of our common history.

Also SI has different funding mechanisms than NPS. The Smithsonian is an independent organization with a government-appointed board that isn’t under the purview of the executive at all but has a large amount of Congressional oversight. As stated, it also self-funds about a third of its budget through donations, sales, licensing, and additional-cost programs. The National Park Service is a part of the Department of the Interior and as such is subject to the political football thereof; the National Parks Foundation funds many improvement projects but can’t directly fund employment at NPS.

[mtuandrew]

As for Amtrak, it more closely resembles the Smothsonian Institution’s funding and governance structure than that of NPS. The main exception is that while SI is very broadly viewed as essential to the nation’s cohesion and education on a bipartisan and nonpartisan basis, Amtrak is more broadly regarded as “would be nice to have but not nearly good enough”. Nearly every friend I know who’s ever tried Amtrak has come back with “I’d love to, but never again” due to delays and ill-maintained equipment.

Delays aren’t a regional vs long-distance problem (though LDs do tend to suffer more.) It’s an Amtrak problem, a funding problem, and an American railroad problem.

[Tadman]

Good to hear they are renovating. That museum is some priceless history.

[mtuandrew]

Good to hear they are renovating. That museum is some priceless history.

OT, but the collections are all safe & climate-controlled, and a great deal of them are now at the Udvar-Hazy Center at IAD. Worth checking them out if you have a long layover.