Four out of the five recent board members are advancing to the Senate floor with hopes to approve them before the end of term. David Capozzi who will be the first ADA advocate (position was created a decade ago but never filled), Ron Battory who will replace Christopher R Beall, Elaine Clegg who will replace Yvonne Burke, and Lanhee Chen who will replace Jeffrey Moreland. Samuel Lathem did not make the cut due to accusations of him visiting Venezuela that got brought up during hearings. Credit to Ted Cruz who agreed to push the four non controversial ones forward.
Amtrak board members advance
- Thread starter Tom C
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Last night the Senate confirmed the four nominees to the Amtrak Board. As I stated before the nominees were advanced out of the Commerce committee through a deal between Chair Maria Cantwell and Ranking Member Ted Cruz to advance the two Republican nominees Ron Battory and Lanhee Chen and two of the three Democratic nominees. David Capozzi and Elaine Clegg were selected to advance - Samuel Lathem who was tripped by a controversial overseas trip was withheld. The agreement was made in light of the election result and to allow incoming President-elect Trump an opportunity to appoint the remaining seat.
Batory will fill a vacant seat last held by Christopher R Beall whose term expired. Clegg will replace current term expired board member Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, and Chen will replace current vice chair Jeffrey Moreland who is also term expired. Capozzi will fill a seat that was created for ADA advocacy during an earlier FAST act authorization during the Obama administration but never filled.
The remaining vacant seat that will be filled by the next administration is supposed to be a representative from the organized labor community
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/202...ate-confirmation-of-amtrak-board-of-directors
Batory will fill a vacant seat last held by Christopher R Beall whose term expired. Clegg will replace current term expired board member Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, and Chen will replace current vice chair Jeffrey Moreland who is also term expired. Capozzi will fill a seat that was created for ADA advocacy during an earlier FAST act authorization during the Obama administration but never filled.
The remaining vacant seat that will be filled by the next administration is supposed to be a representative from the organized labor community
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/202...ate-confirmation-of-amtrak-board-of-directors
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Those of us in the Northwest are very pleased to see that the Amtrak board will now be significantly more geographically diverse. I have had the good fortune to work with Elaine Clegg in our rail advocacy efforts, and I know that she will be a great asset to the Amtrak board.
For those of us looking for someone who understands the rail industry and can work on behalf of Amtrak with the railroads and the government, Ron Battory is more than qualified. I suspect he's something of a railfan too as he's on the board of the East Broad Top Railroad Foundation, as is Wick Moorman. Here's his testimony for his Amtrak board nomination.
It probably won't have an immediate effect, but she can be a voice to keep things moving along. For example: new equipment orders.
hlcteacher
Service Attendant
my favorite route of all time!!!!!
Siegmund
OBS Chief
It is good for the national network in general, to have people who aren't in a commuter corridor on the board.
It's not going to magically re-lay the rails that were lifted east of Boise, nor make the Salt Lake Express bus competition go away. Let alone make Idaho government supportive of...well... anything other than tax cuts for business.
'In a conversation this week with News Wire, [Elaine Clegg] says, “I don’t have any silver bullets yet, but I think we need to do what we can to ignite new manufacturing while using remanufactured equipment in the near term for new routes. We could move forward more quickly than waiting for all new equipment.”
'About her confirmation, Clegg says she is “thankful that a lot of people leaned in. I’m committed to be effective in expanding service both where it isn’t today and representing westerners who haven’t historically been represented on the board. For me, it proves that if you are a hard-working public servant trying to get the job done, partisanship doesn’t play a role.”'https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...ard-members-ready-for-the-challenge-analysis/
What rails were these?
Similar to Phoenix situation, the route thru Boise was bypassed as a main freight line, and the portion East of Boise was abandoned, leaving Boise accessible only from the West (Nampa)..
A couple of differences -- it's only 26 miles from Boise to Orchard and I believe it's owned by the city of Boise. Also, last time I was there, the junction at Nampa had a wye, meaning worst case could be a change of direction at Boise.
2008 - junction named Orchard
Siegmund
OBS Chief
I don't think there was ever a wye on the Boise Branch junction - but there is a wye, sort of, about a mile farther west, where the long-since-lifted branch to Emmett, now an industrial lead about 5 miles long, comes in. One leg of the wye looks very decrepit and disused, but not posted Exempt or removed yet in the Google Street View.
It'd be a heck of a reverse move, 20 miles on an industrial branch, but Via would do it
I suppose Amtrak might too, if Tampa is any indication. But I shudder to think about a schedule that's 2 hours longer just to get to downtown Boise; really better to just put a station in Nampa and run a shuttle bus.The Tampa reverse move is only 2 miles, not 20.It'd be a heck of a reverse move, 20 miles on an industrial branch, but Via would do it
Maybe counting from Lakeland?
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
I have met Ron Battory. He is very knowledgeable about railroads, even of the passenger kind, and is overall very good.
One solution may be to run the train with power top and tail. Makes the reverse move become a forward move, and also improves performance if not already double headed. Requires train line of course, unless locotrol remote control is used to control the loco at the other end.It'd be a heck of a reverse move, 20 miles on an industrial branch, but Via would do it
I mean isn't that what engineers able to control the engine from a cabcar?
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