Seaboard92
Engineer
I was discussing the best ways to grow Amtrak with a friend today when I remembered something from my last few German Vacations.
In Germany the group BahnNostalgie Thüringen rosters an incredible 2-8-2 Steam locomotive but doesn't have cars.
The group partners with Deutsche Bahn the state owned railway to provide rolling stock for their trips which is where it gets interesting. Deutsche Bahn owns and maintains the rolling stock but it is in a special subfleet that is only for excursion service as the Nostalgia Zug (Zug Meaning train in German) that is painted in the livery of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DDR) from the 70s and 80s when steam was still in regular service.
Now what makes this interesting the group likes to run some longer trips from an outlying city to their home base meaning they have to deadhead the locomotive and equipment to and fro. What Deutsche Bahn and the Group do that I think should be copied by Amtrak is their solution to this problem.
They offer a one way excursion on the train marketed at schools, daycares, and families with school aged children (Elementary school). It departs around 9:30 AM and usually is about a two to three hour trip with multiple intermediate stops (yes you can board and detrain at these stations).
The schedule is designed in a way to connect with the other Deutsche Bahn trains on the route so that school groups, and other people taking the trip can connect to the excursion in order to arrive or leave from the excursion.
Here is a cross platform connection with a DB Regio Train at Jena from the family friendly excursion at an intermediate station.
On board the train if you didn't know the power was a steam engine you wouldn't really know it was a steam excursion but you could tell it was a special event. Deutsche Bahn conductors lift all of the tickets, and they will sell you a ticket back to your origination point from your destination. Once the tickets have been lifted the Deutsche Bahn conductors come around the train with a basket of candy. It is not regular candy however because every item has the Deutsche Bahn logo on it either on the package, or stamped into the chocolate. Shortly after that the conductors come back by with Deutsche Bahn gifts for the families and children (DB Crayons, coloring books, hats, disposable sunglasses) just basic relatively cheap things that make a lasting memory. The most important part is the DB logo is on each item given out which is giving them brand awareness.
A DB Conductor looking to see if any passengers are boarding at an intermediate point.
There are four Deutsche Bahn conductors in this photo that were assigned to work on this trip. All are in the latest uniform, all give excellent customer service, and all are helpful.
At some point on this trip Deutsche Bahn has recruited characters and magicians to do story telling for all the kids. However these are the older style passenger cars that are all compartment cars so the entertainers have to come to each room. By the time the trip ends you know it was a Deutsche Bahn program because you should have at least six DB items in your hands, and you've seen half a dozen different DB employees on board.
Most importantly the trip leads a lasting impression in everyone who rides regardless of age.
Now imagine if Amtrak would do something like this over here. In Germany everyone knows the train is an option for traveling whereas in small town America a lot of people are surprised when they even see a passenger train much less find out it stops in their town daily. If Amtrak were to operate these trains they could potentially reach a whole new generation of rail riders. The most important marketing Amtrak can do is to put butts in seats because when people realize how much legroom is in coach, or the fact you can walk around the train you make lifelong riders. You take something that people don't see as an option and turn it into an option. In college I took multiple groups of people on the Piedmont from Charlotte to Salisbury and back which is an 80 mile round trip and I made lifelong Amtrak riders out of that.
The first comment was always about "My god this is better than first class on an airplane" and that was in coach. If Amtrak were to offer trips like this you would get a market who are looking for an experience, or to do something fun with their children and turn them into future passengers. It is a form of marketing that while a bit unconventional is very effective.
This photo demonstrates that the excursions can coexist without delaying the regularly scheduled services relatively easily. You don't have to reinvent the wheel to run these trains.
Now that the brand new Venture Cars are arriving in the midwest and displacing the Horizon fleet a good move for Amtrak to retain an eight car fleet of coaches (DBs is six) and set them aside for charters and excursions. One it grows that business market and at one time there was a plan high up in Amtrak from what I've heard to set aside some Amfleets and restore a few F40s before the last auction got rid of the remaining ones and make that the charter train. Unfortunately Richard Anderson got rid of that program before it started. And with the P42s getting ready for retirement why not keep a small fleet ready to be used as power for these trips.
One by having the charter fleet you can target larger group travel with customizable trips, but also you can do these "Marketing Trips" to schools, daycares, and weekend family trips. You have the added benefit that one could also teach good rail safety on board while you have a captive audience on board. For schools especially elementary schools a train ride is a very educational thing from the laws of motion to proper safety around a train. It would be a fun field trip students wouldn't soon forget.
For the class ones if you are doing it with the railroad safety and educational motive it could potentially be written off as a tax deduction as a public service. It behooves them as well because they could just as easily slap their logos on some of the materials given out on board giving them positive brand recognition.
Lastly it would help groups like the Friends of the 261, Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, the Oregon Railroad Heritage Foundation, among others because it would allow them an opportunity to run their engines, while having a corporative partner in Amtrak. It also would allow those groups to run trips further away from their base of operation by using those one way deadheads as a potential money making trip.
I'm not saying Amtrak should provide these trains for free. They should definitely charge a small fare to ride these trips. It shouldn't be something outrageous like North American Excursions tend to be, but more along the lines of $20 which is what DB and their steam operator charge for their trips. In this country we have enough school buses it wouldn't be hard for the students to be bussed to the train station, have some sort of tour of the train station. And while the kids are touring the station and riding the train the school bus could go up to the next station along the line to pick them back up. It really is not that hard of a concept and would prove to be really good marketing for Amtrak.
It is a marketing campaign that wouldn't cost Amtrak much because they would be charging a small fare causing some cost recovery, but would potentially create thousands of new riders in the future if they did them regularly all over the country.
It would cost Amtrak little and create a large amount of positive brand recognition all over the country.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this.
Here are some other photos from that trip as well.
The train with one of the costumed characters taking a photo next to the engine.
The train standing at the Gera Hauptbahnhof.
In Germany the group BahnNostalgie Thüringen rosters an incredible 2-8-2 Steam locomotive but doesn't have cars.
The group partners with Deutsche Bahn the state owned railway to provide rolling stock for their trips which is where it gets interesting. Deutsche Bahn owns and maintains the rolling stock but it is in a special subfleet that is only for excursion service as the Nostalgia Zug (Zug Meaning train in German) that is painted in the livery of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DDR) from the 70s and 80s when steam was still in regular service.
Now what makes this interesting the group likes to run some longer trips from an outlying city to their home base meaning they have to deadhead the locomotive and equipment to and fro. What Deutsche Bahn and the Group do that I think should be copied by Amtrak is their solution to this problem.
They offer a one way excursion on the train marketed at schools, daycares, and families with school aged children (Elementary school). It departs around 9:30 AM and usually is about a two to three hour trip with multiple intermediate stops (yes you can board and detrain at these stations).
The schedule is designed in a way to connect with the other Deutsche Bahn trains on the route so that school groups, and other people taking the trip can connect to the excursion in order to arrive or leave from the excursion.
Here is a cross platform connection with a DB Regio Train at Jena from the family friendly excursion at an intermediate station.
On board the train if you didn't know the power was a steam engine you wouldn't really know it was a steam excursion but you could tell it was a special event. Deutsche Bahn conductors lift all of the tickets, and they will sell you a ticket back to your origination point from your destination. Once the tickets have been lifted the Deutsche Bahn conductors come around the train with a basket of candy. It is not regular candy however because every item has the Deutsche Bahn logo on it either on the package, or stamped into the chocolate. Shortly after that the conductors come back by with Deutsche Bahn gifts for the families and children (DB Crayons, coloring books, hats, disposable sunglasses) just basic relatively cheap things that make a lasting memory. The most important part is the DB logo is on each item given out which is giving them brand awareness.
A DB Conductor looking to see if any passengers are boarding at an intermediate point.
There are four Deutsche Bahn conductors in this photo that were assigned to work on this trip. All are in the latest uniform, all give excellent customer service, and all are helpful.
At some point on this trip Deutsche Bahn has recruited characters and magicians to do story telling for all the kids. However these are the older style passenger cars that are all compartment cars so the entertainers have to come to each room. By the time the trip ends you know it was a Deutsche Bahn program because you should have at least six DB items in your hands, and you've seen half a dozen different DB employees on board.
Most importantly the trip leads a lasting impression in everyone who rides regardless of age.
Now imagine if Amtrak would do something like this over here. In Germany everyone knows the train is an option for traveling whereas in small town America a lot of people are surprised when they even see a passenger train much less find out it stops in their town daily. If Amtrak were to operate these trains they could potentially reach a whole new generation of rail riders. The most important marketing Amtrak can do is to put butts in seats because when people realize how much legroom is in coach, or the fact you can walk around the train you make lifelong riders. You take something that people don't see as an option and turn it into an option. In college I took multiple groups of people on the Piedmont from Charlotte to Salisbury and back which is an 80 mile round trip and I made lifelong Amtrak riders out of that.
The first comment was always about "My god this is better than first class on an airplane" and that was in coach. If Amtrak were to offer trips like this you would get a market who are looking for an experience, or to do something fun with their children and turn them into future passengers. It is a form of marketing that while a bit unconventional is very effective.
This photo demonstrates that the excursions can coexist without delaying the regularly scheduled services relatively easily. You don't have to reinvent the wheel to run these trains.
Now that the brand new Venture Cars are arriving in the midwest and displacing the Horizon fleet a good move for Amtrak to retain an eight car fleet of coaches (DBs is six) and set them aside for charters and excursions. One it grows that business market and at one time there was a plan high up in Amtrak from what I've heard to set aside some Amfleets and restore a few F40s before the last auction got rid of the remaining ones and make that the charter train. Unfortunately Richard Anderson got rid of that program before it started. And with the P42s getting ready for retirement why not keep a small fleet ready to be used as power for these trips.
One by having the charter fleet you can target larger group travel with customizable trips, but also you can do these "Marketing Trips" to schools, daycares, and weekend family trips. You have the added benefit that one could also teach good rail safety on board while you have a captive audience on board. For schools especially elementary schools a train ride is a very educational thing from the laws of motion to proper safety around a train. It would be a fun field trip students wouldn't soon forget.
For the class ones if you are doing it with the railroad safety and educational motive it could potentially be written off as a tax deduction as a public service. It behooves them as well because they could just as easily slap their logos on some of the materials given out on board giving them positive brand recognition.
Lastly it would help groups like the Friends of the 261, Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, the Oregon Railroad Heritage Foundation, among others because it would allow them an opportunity to run their engines, while having a corporative partner in Amtrak. It also would allow those groups to run trips further away from their base of operation by using those one way deadheads as a potential money making trip.
I'm not saying Amtrak should provide these trains for free. They should definitely charge a small fare to ride these trips. It shouldn't be something outrageous like North American Excursions tend to be, but more along the lines of $20 which is what DB and their steam operator charge for their trips. In this country we have enough school buses it wouldn't be hard for the students to be bussed to the train station, have some sort of tour of the train station. And while the kids are touring the station and riding the train the school bus could go up to the next station along the line to pick them back up. It really is not that hard of a concept and would prove to be really good marketing for Amtrak.
It is a marketing campaign that wouldn't cost Amtrak much because they would be charging a small fare causing some cost recovery, but would potentially create thousands of new riders in the future if they did them regularly all over the country.
It would cost Amtrak little and create a large amount of positive brand recognition all over the country.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this.
Here are some other photos from that trip as well.
The train with one of the costumed characters taking a photo next to the engine.
The train standing at the Gera Hauptbahnhof.
