Good Train Porn

The number one reason to watch Amtrak: The First 40 Years 1971-2011 are the magnificent shots of various trains. The film does a good job of showing how well trains run in the snow as well as how attractive they are when they do it. Second are the short videos of people speaking about their experiences with the train. Among others, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb speaks. Most of these videos are from interviews, but some are historical. One of the most interesting was one by President Richard Nixon. When he accepted his nomination as the GOP presidential candidate, he talked about how as a child the train represented all the places he might go. He said that he hoped that other children would also be able to be inspired by train whistles to dream of far away places. The train has taken people in my own family to new lives.

Of course he then almost vetoed the creation of Amtrak which would have made the US the largest country without a national passenger rail network. One of the problems that Amtrak had was the poor state of passenger rail service in this country at the time that Amtrak was formed. The companies that kept running passenger trains had a tendency to be the ones with the better equipment. Even though many routes stopped running, Amtrak had a hard time just getting enough decent cars and locomotives for what they did operate. (The video spends a little too much time on equipment.)

For much of the video, the narrator intrudes on the flow of the video. People have a tendency to think that telling people things is more effective than showing them, when the opposite is the case. But the narrator does say one thing that must be said directly. Cutting train service by 50% does not cut costs by 50%. Railroads are an investment. If they are underfunded, than the full potential of that investment cannot be realized.

I especially enjoyed hearing Paul Reistrup, Amtrak President 1974-1978, speak. I would have like to hear more about his backround. He is one who is responsible for much of the equipment that we ride on today. He also made it possible to get heating and air conditioning into all the trains by 1981. He was followed by an Amtrak president who concentrated on training the people who worked for Amtrak.

The third reason to watch this video is to learn about the history of Amtrak, and I would recommend it to anyone who does not know that history. The film also gives a taste of what could be happening in the future by showing how service in North Carolina has improved recently and how the state wants rail to be an ever more important part of our transportation infrastructure.

Fourth, it shows how Amtrak connects communities, especially small towns.

This film could benefit from less of a conservative slant and from a little more edge, and I would have liked to hear from a greater variety of voices, including more women. It is still worth watching.

And you can do so at the next ColoRail meeting:

Saturday, February 25 at 9:30 am
Central Denver Presbyterian Church
1660 Sherman
Bus: 20
The church is within walking distance of Civic Center Station and the free mall shuttle as well as the 15 and 15L.


(Thanks to Richard Luckin, the director and producer, for letting me borrow a copy so that I could write this review.)