Looking for Amtrak crew

[Henry Kisor]

I'm doing a little "crowdsourcing" (as they call asking for help from the public) for the upcoming revised e-book version of my 1994 book "Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America."

Specifically I'm looking for crew members, present or former, who were in the book almost 20 years ago, to update their stories. I've found some, but the following are so far missing. At the time they were based out of Chicago and most probably still are, if they are still with Amtrak.

Wally Prince, engineer

Mike Kemp, assistant conductor

John Davis, chef

Reggie Howard, train chief (I understand he returned to SCA service when the chiefs program ended)

Noel Prell, lounge car attendant (he was living in New Orleans at the time and commuting to the Chicago base)

Bob Pimm, conductor (he was based out of Oakland)

Alfredo Gomez, dining car service attendant (I hear he moved up at Amtrak)

If you have encountered any of these or if you do, please let me know! Or tell them I'm looking for them and that my email address is h.kisor - at - comcast.net.

Thanks a million.

 

[bobnabq]

"crowdsourcing"

 

That's a new term to me, so I had to look it up.

What Is Crowdsourcing?

Despite the jargony name, crowdsourcing is a very real and important business idea. Definitions and terms vary, but the basic idea is to tap into the collective intelligence of the public at large to complete business-related tasks that a company would normally either perform itself or outsource to a third-party provider. Yet free labor is only a narrow part of crowdsourcing's appeal. More importantly, it enables managers to expand the size of their talent pool while also gaining deeper insight into what customers really want.

 

[Henry Kisor]

I've also heard "crowdsourcing" called "consulting Peoplepedia." Whatever the term, forums like this do contain a valuable collective intelligence.

 

[trainman74]

Would the Amtrak PR department be willing to help with this (at least with current employees)?

 

[guest]

Alfredo Gomez is involved with the training of new hires now.