Small touches of pride and elegance

[wayman]

MrFSS's photo of the Ann Rutledge in its GM&O days gave me a thought...

One simple, not-very-expensive, highly-visible touch Amtrak could add to some of its trains would be an "observation placard". Just make simple, durable approx-3-foot-square placards which can be securely attached (but easily removed and replaced) to the lower-half (below window level) of the end-door. Paint them with the heralds for named trains which already exist (used on those collectible pins they sell at the Amtrak store). Make enough for each trainset of each named train. When a train arrives at one of its termini, add a "remove placard" step to the turning-and-cleaning routine, and a "place placard" step once the new consist is ready to go.

Sure, it's a bit of an expense and a little extra time/labor, but I think those are both fairly minimal. You gain a nice touch of elegance and pride, and the sense that this train has a *name* (and a history). Maybe that doesn't translate directly to "revenue" (or translate at all, ever, into "revenue"), but ... I can't help but think there would be positive intangibles associated with this.

If you wanted to extend this one step further, install small placard-holders next to car doors into which can be slid 2-foot-by-6-inch placards bearing the train name. (The sort of things SEPTA trains have to identify what route they're running.) Those would also be easily interchangable, and you could build into the terminal routine that they are always removed, then replaced (just like the "observation placard") so they don't wind up on the wrong trains. Then passengers boarding the train at every station see the name--it's a subtle reminder, when they board, that they're riding "The Southwest Chief" or "The Silver Meteor", and not just "Amtrak". Small signs in the diner and lounge car might be another, further step.

That adds further expense and increases the potential for screw-ups, but ... again, I just think it would be a nice subtle marketing aid--trains are just nicer, more comfortable, than other modes of travel--in the "can't hurt, might help, and anyway let's be proud we're running a railroad here" vein.

Any other ideas for small, simple, inexpensive touches of pride and elegance Amtrak could add?

 

[MStrain]

I agree! Those photos show some nice touches the passenger lines had back then. I think something inexpensive, yet nice could be attached to the rear of the trains. I actually wish the end cars looked like they did in the previous era...rounded. But that's just not as practical now.

Still, Amtrak needs to make more money or have more appropriated to them for repairs before they could even think of spending it on something like that. Would be a nice touch though! Great idea!!!!!

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I doubt it would cost more than a few thousand a year. Want another simple step? Give the Regionals their names back.

 

[AlanB]

I doubt it would cost more than a few thousand a year. Want another simple step? Give the Regionals their names back.

Only railfans really care about the Regionals having names. Your average Amtrak passenger wants to know nothing more than what time does their train leave.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Sure, but it still gives the trains more of an identity. And why not? Its easier to announce by name, easier to hear by name, and the naming of a train is just nicer.

 

[the_traveler]

Want another simple step? Give the Regionals their names back.

Only railfans really care about the Regionals having names. Your average Amtrak passenger wants to know nothing more than what time does their train leave.

I agree - most only care if it is the 4:15 or 2:47. But at least give back a name to #66 and #67! (Now asking for sleepers - even if they had extra - would be asking for too much! )

 

[AlanB]

Sure, but it still gives the trains more of an identity. And why not? Its easier to announce by name, easier to hear by name, and the naming of a train is just nicer.

Sure it gives them an identity, but it's an identity that at best maybe 5% of those actually riding on it will really care about.

As for it being easier to announce, it's really not. It would just be more word(s) that the announcer has to say. People don't listen for train numbers or train names. They listen for destinations and stops along the way, as well as the departure time, and finally the gate number.

After years of riding Amtrak and writing on BB's, I've learned that many people have no clue that the LD's have names. And when it comes to the corridor trains, half the corridor pax in the Club Acela in NYP on any given day have no clue what train # they're on, they just listen for an announcement telling them that the train to Boston/Washington is boarding.

It might be something that is cheap and easy to impliment, but IMHO it's so far down on the totem pole of things that Amtrak should do, that I rather doubt it will ever see the light of day.

 

[Rafi]

I doubt it would cost more than a few thousand a year. Want another simple step? Give the Regionals their names back.

Only railfans really care about the Regionals having names. Your average Amtrak passenger wants to know nothing more than what time does their train leave.

I agree, although I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "the average Amtrak passenger." The reason I say that, and really, this is just one opinion, is that I get a lot of friends mentioning to me that it would be nice if their train had a name, and it's nothing more than a romantic gesture, really. For example, my father continually wonders whatever happened to the Yankee Clipper, my boss wonders what happened to the Colonial, and so on. The name doesn't help them remember when it leaves, but it gives them something they can identify with, I suppose.

-Rafi

 

[haolerider]

I doubt it would cost more than a few thousand a year. Want another simple step? Give the Regionals their names back.

Only railfans really care about the Regionals having names. Your average Amtrak passenger wants to know nothing more than what time does their train leave.

I agree, although I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "the average Amtrak passenger." The reason I say that, and really, this is just one opinion, is that I get a lot of friends mentioning to me that it would be nice if their train had a name, and it's nothing more than a romantic gesture, really. For example, my father continually wonders whatever happened to the Yankee Clipper, my boss wonders what happened to the Colonial, and so on. The name doesn't help them remember when it leaves, but it gives them something they can identify with, I suppose.

-Rafi

While this may sound like an easy thing to accomplish, the fact is that for the most part the equipment on most routes is not captive, so the issue of changing signs as equipment moves from route to route is a massive undertaking. Imagine having to have all these signs/placards available at most of the major stations and yards. Not only would it be expensive, but it would be a logistical nightmare. I agree that many people like to refer to the trains by name, expecially the long distance trains, but let's focus on getting good customer service, on time trains and clean trains and then worry about the names later.

 

[wayman]

While this may sound like an easy thing to accomplish, the fact is that for the most part the equipment on most routes is not captive, so the issue of changing signs as equipment moves from route to route is a massive undertaking. Imagine having to have all these signs/placards available at most of the major stations and yards. Not only would it be expensive, but it would be a logistical nightmare. I agree that many people like to refer to the trains by name, expecially the long distance trains, but let's focus on getting good customer service, on time trains and clean trains and then worry about the names later.

But you don't have to have them all available everywhere--a California Zephyr will arrive in Chicago, and a California Zephyr will leave Chicago the next day. A set of placards arrives in Chicago on the arriving train, is taken off, and is put on the departing train. Chicago is only dealing with at most a dozen placards at any given time (assuming we only put these on LD trains), and maybe they have one set of spares. At Emeryville, all they have to do is take the placard off the arriving Zephyr and put it on the departing Zephyr (probably the exact same car, but better to follow a consistent procedure since anything could get bad-ordered or changed unexpectedly).

(That's for the observation placards, and would be basically the same deal for anything in the dining or lounge cars--the LSA would take it off the train along with, presumably, other things they're responsible for taking off the train; and it would get brought onto the new train in the same fashion. The car-side placards, that's a lot more logistics, though in theory the same number of placards are coming in as leaving, and since I imagine someone's got to walk the train on both sides while it's being turned, cleaned, restocked, etc, that's an easy time to remove signs and replace signs. No need to have a stockpile of them at the station.)

I agree, this isn't a big deal, and I agree with Alan and others that corridor passengers are, generally, just listening for "now departing for Boston". But advertise your LD trains through simple fliers sent to travel agencies, to stations along the route, and to passengers with their ticket envelopes and I think you'll gain name-recognition; reinforce that with the train's name appearing on the train. I can easily see a family with kids at 30th St eagerly listening for "Crescent" instead of "19" or "Atlanta"; and that's the sort of thing that builds a positive experience and satisfied customers.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Actually, in today's day and age of relatively inexpensive LCD displays, wouldn't it just work to have the name LCD'd onto the side of the train?

 

[AlanB]

Actually, in today's day and age of relatively inexpensive LCD displays, wouldn't it just work to have the name LCD'd onto the side of the train?

The LCD screen might not be that expensive if you're just buying one. But when you're buying a couple of hundred screens, then have to pay someone to mount them, pay someone else to wire up power, and then provide some sort of computer to control the names being displayed, it get's a whole lot more expensive. And that's not including upkeep and repair work, plus the costs of replacing damaged screens.

I'd much rather see Amtrak spending all of the money for new cushions on Acela and some of the Regionals that need them, than to see a sign flashing the name of my train.

 

[Guest]

"install small placard-holders next to car doors into which can be slid 2-foot-by-6-inch placards "

... and just how many on this board, do you think, would have one in their private collections by the end of the day. ^_^

 

[wayman]

"install small placard-holders next to car doors into which can be slid 2-foot-by-6-inch placards "
... and just how many on this board, do you think, would have one in their private collections by the end of the day. ^_^

I still don't have an R3 Media-Elwyn or R5 Paoli-Thorndale sign (or any signs, but those are the ones I'd most like since they're the ones I've lived on), though I do always keep an eye out for any that might have fallen onto the right-of-way....

I read somewhere that SEPTA 269's "PENNSYLVANIA" letterboards are not original, and were restored for ... an anniversary of some sort, and along with that new PRR placards were installed. Those were stolen in 24 hours. Don't remember where I read that, and it doesn't explain why 218 says "LVANIA"--I'd always thought that both were just cars SEPTA had never gotten around to removing old letterboards from.

Anyway, yeah, stuff walks. Hence, (1) have a "remove", "replace" routine to minimize loss. And (2) *sell replicas*. How many of us would buy one... or several!... given the chance? How many kids would ask their parents for one as a trip souvenir, if they were sold in the cafe on the train?

 

[had8ley]

Heck I've ridden on #19 with #92 numbers all the way from NYP to NOL and a number #22 number board on #59 from Chicago to NOL and #21 on #58 all the way to CUS. All someone has to do is turn a dial and they'll identify the train but finding somebody who cares, let alone their manager, is almost useless.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Actually, in today's day and age of relatively inexpensive LCD displays, wouldn't it just work to have the name LCD'd onto the side of the train?

In the early days of buses switching from mechanical signs to electronic signs (I think this was in the mid-90s when I was living on Oahu), I seem to recall that the electronic signs struck me as harder to read from a distance.

Also, if you're going to argue that LCDs are cheap, maybe we could have an LCD inside each coach, hooked up to a GPS system that shows where the train is? I bet there are more passengers who would enjoy that than there are passengers who care to see a sign on the back or side of the train.

The issue with people just caring about the destination probably gets problematic when a train is running late. I remember being on a northbound Regional last July and a conductor pointing out to some passengers who got on somewhere around New Jersey that their tickets weren't for the time of this particular train. If Amtrak really cares about people getting on the right Regional when it's running late, train names would help people to match themselves up to the right train. PA announcements are sometimes hard to understand, and adding more identifying information improves the chances that the passengers will catch enough information to sort it out.