Another Drip. And Another Trip.

President Trump has nominated Lynn Westmoreland, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, to fill a vacancy on the Amtrak Board of Directors. (Amtrak board members are nominated by the president and subject to approval by the U.S. Senate.)
 
NARP’s staff in Washington is busy gathering information about Westmoreland and, once that has been completed, a decision will be made as to the association’s position on this appointment. So far, our staff has reviewed Westmoreland’s voting record while a member of Congress, specifically on issues affecting Amtrak. They found that he voted AGAINST bills important to Amtrak 100 percent of the time.
 
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What the hell motivates this guy to be on the Amtrak board?
 

I’m off the Chicago in a couple of days to attend the annual Fall meeting of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. NARP was founded 50 years ago and that will be commemorated in Chicago where it all began. More than 200 NARP members will be gathering there and among the lineup of distinguished speakers will be the new co-president/CEO of Amtrak, Richard Anderson.
 
There have been a lot of changes since NARP’s early days, the most recent of which is the shortening of the organization’s original and undeniably cumbersome name to simply Rail Passengers Association . . . which says what needs saying nicely and does it quite adequately in 22 letters and 9 syllables compared to the complete name with its 39 letters and 14 syllables. We’re getting a new, clean, modern “look”, too.
 
I will do my best to post reports as time and Wi-Fi access along the way permit. There’s nothing special about the routing this time. I’m flying to Los Angeles and taking the Southwest Chief directly to Chicago. My return will be Chicago to Davis, California, on the Zephyr, and the Coast Starlight back to L.A. from there. Yes, yes … it is out of my way, but it’s a scenic ride and access to the Pacific Parlour Car plus three dining car meals included in the fare make the cost of a roomette from Davis to L.A. the best bargain in the entire Amtrak system.