What famous people have you seen on Amtrak?

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AAARGH!

AAARGH!

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Going along with another thread about who you would like to see on Amtrak...

What famous (or infamous) people have you seen on Amtrak?

Terrence Howard (from the movie Iron Man and several other movies) sat behind me on an Acela last month.

Non-Amtrak, I sat next to Teller of Penn & Teller on a Southwest flight a few years back.
 
Now retired Congressman Richard Gephard from Missouri and his wife were on an Acela Express that I took from New York to Washington in the summer of 2002. He talked about how he would like to see Acela type trains running on high speed rail lines all over the US. If he had had his way, what the Obama administration is doing to get things started would have happened a long time ago. I was also on the Broadway Limited when Dean Martin's private railroad car was hooked on the end in Philly and ran through to Chicago. The conductor mentioned it when I was in the lounge car. We did not see Dean or any of his guests as they had everything they needed in the car.
 
Once on the Southwest Chief, I had a 30 year career dining car attendant who told of serving Lena Horne, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnez, Bob Hope and so many others.

He also spoke of serving freshly cooked catfish that was purchased from river fisherman along the way. That was the most interesting dinner on a train ever. He was a very colorful story teller.

His name was Larry. Here he is with my son back in 2003. http://i39.tinypic.com/mkb3tf.jpg
 
PetalumaLoco said:
AAARGH said:
Non-Amtrak, I sat next to Teller of Penn & Teller on a Southwest flight a few years back.
Click to expand...
Did he have much anything to say?
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Yes, he does talk. I spoke to him briefly about why he was on a Southwest (Las Vegas to Burbank) instead of flying first class. They had a last minute press conference in LA and could not get other arrangements. This was to intorduce their new show on FX. When he started reading a book, I left him alone.

Penn Gillette is a BIG guy. I'm glad he didn't sit next to me. His head bumped the aircraft ceiling.
 
AAARGH said:
PetalumaLoco said:
AAARGH said:
Non-Amtrak, I sat next to Teller of Penn & Teller on a Southwest flight a few years back.
Click to expand...
Did he have much anything to say?
Click to expand...
Yes, he does talk. I spoke to him briefly about why he was on a Southwest (Las Vegas to Burbank) instead of flying first class. They had a last minute press conference in LA and could not get other arrangements. This was to intorduce their new show on FX. When he started reading a book, I left him alone.

Penn Gillette is a BIG guy. I'm glad he didn't sit next to me. His head bumped the aircraft ceiling.
Click to expand...
Actually another reason is Southwest flys non stop Vegas-Burbank. If he went on another carrier for first class they would have to go LAS-LAX and then get themselves to Burbank.
 
Several famous people I have met in my RR career:

Gladys Knight on a train to Detroit that arrived at midnight. (She was Pipless)

Carrol O'Connor (Archie Bunker) in St Louis acting like Archie complaining about the coffee on the train.

Bill Clinton on his 1996 campaign train as part of the support team.
 
I don't know if this is considered famous but I met a Salt Lake City radio DJ on my last trip, coming home from Colorado.
 
I met Bill Cosby, Martin Sheen dad (in 30th station 1 night), Sentor Ted Kenndy and his wife (he was wonderful and very nice) the guy who plays jack mccoy on law and order and jesse jackson's wife and nasty attuide (sorry for typo) al sharpton.
 
Years ago, Jim McKay: the late ABC sports announcer and legendary voice of the Olympics and Wide World of Sports ("the agony of defeat"). I was on the Metroliner coming back to Philadelphia from a meeting in New York and heard that unmistakable voice coming from the row behind me. Despite his high profile job, he lived a normal life at his home near Baltimore and used the Metroliner to make the required treks to ABC's Manhattan HQ. It was a thrill to sit on the train for 75 minutes and just listen to him talk. I wanted said hello and shake his hand before I got off at PHL, but decided to let him have a peaceful ride home on a Friday afternoon.

Among those of us who were around at the time, who can ever forget his reporting of the tragedy at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. "They're gone: they're all gone." Chilling, and brilliant broadcast journalism.

Others were political types: Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector, then Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson (later the southern DA on Law and Order), and then CNN Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell (now with MSNBC). Then, of course, there is me! :lol:
 
David Eisenhower on the SWC late 70's, early 80's.

At a table across from him as he played cards. We chatted briefly.
 
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