At one time the United States had some of the most luxuriant streamliners in the World. At the end of World War II the streamliner was the means to travel about the United States and Canada.

Something happened that killed rail passenger transportation for good as far as the independent railroads was concerned. By the early seventies, railroad passenger service was gone. Several things happened that killed the independent passenger service.

The airlines became the major transporter of people. The railroads lost the mail service contracts to the airlines and the United States Government interfered with passenger service to such an extent that government medaling almost single handily destroyed passenger service in the United States.

Railroads' losing of the RPO (Railroad Post Office) was a big blow since it subsidized the passenger service. Passenger service is generally not a good money making proposition. In Europe all ground transportation is subsidized. For the United States, the RPO system was that subsidy.

The real killer was the U.S. Government medaling in railroad passenger service. Congressman would force the railroads to stop at some outpost to pick up grandma way off the beaten track. This occurred all over the country. This was killing railroad profit margins and finally broke the Camels back. The railroads could no longer serve the passenger and stay in business.

The railroads informed the government they would no longer operate passenger service in the United States beginning in the fall of 1970. As a side note, my father and brother took the last Union Pacific streamline from Pocatello, Idaho to Seattle in August 1970.

This was a tragedy for this country and her ability to move people around. What we got for it is Amtrak. With Amtrak we got limited service, poor food and scheduling that's never on time. The Amtrak routes are very specific and do not serve the public very well. The line is heavily subsidized by the government yet is always in the red. Passenger cars have improved immensely over time but the issue of getting to where you want to go is very limited. However, if I want to travel to Salt Lake City from Seattle I can't. They dropped that line because they could make money. That may be true however, the effectiveness of Amtrak was abysmal. The early trains were terrible because they were using the old cars from the railroads that had not been maintained. It took years for them to have a real dinning car and food preparation system.

I've ridden Amtrak and it was okay but could not compare to the City of Portland Union Pacific Streamliner. It isn't that the employees are not trying, they are in every way possible. The problem is the government is running the passenger service. This has been a continuous dilemma from the beginning of nationalization of foreign railroads to the creation of Amtrak in the United States..

In England the passenger service was outstanding as far as travel was concerned. The food on the Inter City lines was excellent as was the sleeping accommodations. Now, the railroads in England are going private because the government can't afford to operate them anymore.

On the mainland of Europe trains are all subsidized and are extremely efficient. There is the Chunnel Express between Britain and Europe. This high speed train travels over much of France and is one way so no head on wrecks can occur. This is the way the Chunnel Tunnel operates.

When in the Army I rode over a great deal of Western Europe by train. It is very rare that a train is late. You better be on the right platform or you will not make the train.

Amtrak has an abysmal record for being late. You cannot depend on the train being where it is scheduled to be. Thus your plans revolve around a juggernaut of tardiness. The sad part of this whole fiasco is the United States has the worst transportation system in the World. We are the richest country on Earth yet we can't get any where. It is so bad that even the shipment of goods is in big trouble because of poor management and government interference. United States leadership from a state by state point of view is generally anti-business and is ignoring both human and freight transportation. We are heading for a crises that may bring the country to its knees because no one is paying any attention to our transportation needs. We have more cargo coming in and going out of U.S. ports than ever before yet we cannot handle it. It can be but no one seems to care until it is too late.

The airlines can't cut the mustered. You get to an airport then what does one do' Transportation by road is horrible and very lengthy. Many times it takes longer to get to the airport or to one's home than the flight time. There have been these grandiose propositions by local and state leaders to build light rail to the various suburban townships. It never happens and we just keep digging a bigger hole.

On the other hand Chicago probably has the very best rail transportation system available for interurban rail service in comparison to other rail passenger service in the United States. Chicago bought up the entire railroad right-a-ways entering the city and allows the railroads to bring in and out freight according to Chicago's Metra rules. The Metra system is incredible and very effective and efficient.

Why is it in this country nothing gets done unless there is a major crisis like 9/11?