05-27-2009, 08:26 AM
Along the Line: By Don Day <for July 07> Passenger service.
Last month I talked about the demise of the passenger station. Well, it’s obvious that’s closely tied to the need to support passenger service. Should we all turn to the airlines and blame them for all this? True, they did step in and push aside that which was the mainstay of our country’s transportation system for over 100 years, but can you blame them? I really doubt it. One thing I learned early in my business career was that a good product could market itself, but sharp salesman could do wonders, even for a bad product. What I really think happened is that the railroads failed to keep their passenger service product attractive, and they lost interest in marketing what little they did offer. The airlines simply seized the opportunity and left the railroads in their dust. Add to that, the increased popularity of the automobile and the results were inevitable. The automobile didn’t move on a pre-set schedule, and it went where you wanted to go. Airplanes, well, they got you there a lot quicker; regardless, there’s always been something attractive about going by train. You were pampered, you could relax the entire trip and you got to see sights that you wouldn’t by traveling any other way. If you had to travel overnight, there was the convenience of sleeping in a Pullman car.
Passenger service began in localized areas in the early 1800’s. I would venture to say that traveling was uncomfortable and dirty at best, but it beat the alternatives of that era. After completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, the west was now accessible. Treks that used to take months were reduced to weeks and eventually days.
Actually, passengers began to decline around 1920 when people were moving about the country in automobiles and more roads were being built to accommodate them. That trend was changed somewhat a few years later when Burlington introduced its modern, sleek Zephyr. This style-setting stainless-steel train boasted such innovations as air conditioned cars and recessed fluorescent lighting. Its diesel locomotive cut the Denver to Chicago trip in half to less then 14 hours. By 1939, there were some 90 streamlined diesel trains operating throughout the country. There was a marked increase in passengers during this period, but it would never again reach the level of the 1920’s. By 1936, the Santa Fe had inaugurated its Super Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago. Dubbed “the train of the stars,” this train had it all and commanded a premium price. A year later, the Super Chief II made the 2227.3-mile trip in less than 40 hours, hitting speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. There were club cars, sleeper cars, dome cars, elegant dining cars and even a barbershop to accommodate the most demanding passenger. This was the beginning of the end. During the war years, passenger service was at a record high, most passenger trains were busy transporting our troops while other forms of transportation were restricted by the unavailability of gasoline and other rationed commodities. An excise tax was added to discourage the public from using train service though. Schedule delays and crowded stations also kept people at home. After the war, the railroads made an effort to upgrade their tired and worn cars, but producing them was slow and passengers just didn’t return in pre-war numbers. By the 1950’s, the decline was evident. Schedules and services were cut, prices increased and there was little advertising to attract customers. The railroads turned to the more lucrative freight service for revenue. In 1962, the government finally eliminated the wartime excise tax, but it was too late. Railroads were duplicating service and competing against each other. There were numerous bankruptcies and mergers, until finally they gave up and turned passenger rail service over to the government. Amtrak was formed in 1972. Now there’s a delightful premise, the federal government would try to succeed where private enterprise could not.
The rest is history. Fewer routes, poor service and little financial incentive fortified most people’s decision to drive or fly. If I wanted to travel by train, I haven’t got a clue where to get a ticket, and if I did, I have to drive over 50 miles to catch a southern route and over 100 to catch one headed to Chicago or Los Angeles; and I live minutes from the sixth largest city in the country. It shouldn’t be this way.
Last month I talked about the demise of the passenger station. Well, it’s obvious that’s closely tied to the need to support passenger service. Should we all turn to the airlines and blame them for all this? True, they did step in and push aside that which was the mainstay of our country’s transportation system for over 100 years, but can you blame them? I really doubt it. One thing I learned early in my business career was that a good product could market itself, but sharp salesman could do wonders, even for a bad product. What I really think happened is that the railroads failed to keep their passenger service product attractive, and they lost interest in marketing what little they did offer. The airlines simply seized the opportunity and left the railroads in their dust. Add to that, the increased popularity of the automobile and the results were inevitable. The automobile didn’t move on a pre-set schedule, and it went where you wanted to go. Airplanes, well, they got you there a lot quicker; regardless, there’s always been something attractive about going by train. You were pampered, you could relax the entire trip and you got to see sights that you wouldn’t by traveling any other way. If you had to travel overnight, there was the convenience of sleeping in a Pullman car.
Passenger service began in localized areas in the early 1800’s. I would venture to say that traveling was uncomfortable and dirty at best, but it beat the alternatives of that era. After completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, the west was now accessible. Treks that used to take months were reduced to weeks and eventually days.
Actually, passengers began to decline around 1920 when people were moving about the country in automobiles and more roads were being built to accommodate them. That trend was changed somewhat a few years later when Burlington introduced its modern, sleek Zephyr. This style-setting stainless-steel train boasted such innovations as air conditioned cars and recessed fluorescent lighting. Its diesel locomotive cut the Denver to Chicago trip in half to less then 14 hours. By 1939, there were some 90 streamlined diesel trains operating throughout the country. There was a marked increase in passengers during this period, but it would never again reach the level of the 1920’s. By 1936, the Santa Fe had inaugurated its Super Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago. Dubbed “the train of the stars,” this train had it all and commanded a premium price. A year later, the Super Chief II made the 2227.3-mile trip in less than 40 hours, hitting speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. There were club cars, sleeper cars, dome cars, elegant dining cars and even a barbershop to accommodate the most demanding passenger. This was the beginning of the end. During the war years, passenger service was at a record high, most passenger trains were busy transporting our troops while other forms of transportation were restricted by the unavailability of gasoline and other rationed commodities. An excise tax was added to discourage the public from using train service though. Schedule delays and crowded stations also kept people at home. After the war, the railroads made an effort to upgrade their tired and worn cars, but producing them was slow and passengers just didn’t return in pre-war numbers. By the 1950’s, the decline was evident. Schedules and services were cut, prices increased and there was little advertising to attract customers. The railroads turned to the more lucrative freight service for revenue. In 1962, the government finally eliminated the wartime excise tax, but it was too late. Railroads were duplicating service and competing against each other. There were numerous bankruptcies and mergers, until finally they gave up and turned passenger rail service over to the government. Amtrak was formed in 1972. Now there’s a delightful premise, the federal government would try to succeed where private enterprise could not.
The rest is history. Fewer routes, poor service and little financial incentive fortified most people’s decision to drive or fly. If I wanted to travel by train, I haven’t got a clue where to get a ticket, and if I did, I have to drive over 50 miles to catch a southern route and over 100 to catch one headed to Chicago or Los Angeles; and I live minutes from the sixth largest city in the country. It shouldn’t be this way.
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD