The work on the first completed car began on April 17 and required the hiring of 52 new workers, many of whom had lost their jobs at the former Chrysler plant in Newark and the General Motors plant near Newport, which will close later this month. Others had been laid off from their unions because of lack of work. About half the cost of each car's $1 million refurbishing goes toward workers' salaries, officials said.


Boy that sounds terrible.

Oh noes! .005 percent was used on something other than what you hoped for?

JusticeandIndependence: The work on the first completed car began on April 17 and required the hiring of 52 new workers, many of whom had lost their jobs at the former Chrysler plant in Newark and the General Motors plant near Newport, which will close later this month. Others had been laid off from their unions because of lack of work. About half the cost of each car's $1 million refurbishing goes toward workers' salaries, officials said.


Boy that sounds terrible.

Wait, let me make sure I understand your point: are you saying that it's more important that people are employed, as opposed to whether the work they're doing is of any value whatsoever?

This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

This is nonsense.

mattharvest: JusticeandIndependence: The work on the first completed car began on April 17 and required the hiring of 52 new workers, many of whom had lost their jobs at the former Chrysler plant in Newark and the General Motors plant near Newport, which will close later this month. Others had been laid off from their unions because of lack of work. About half the cost of each car's $1 million refurbishing goes toward workers' salaries, officials said.


Boy that sounds terrible.

Wait, let me make sure I understand your point: are you saying that it's more important that people are employed, as opposed to whether the work they're doing is of any value whatsoever?

This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

This is nonsense.

Ummm...

OMG! The easier-to-finish stuff was finished first!

Dammit Subby, real life isn't "Railroad Tycoon". You can't just start throwing down tracks willy-nilly and expect to be hauling passengers over long distances immediately.

mattharvest: This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

This is nonsense.

Refurbishing a rail car is a bit different than digging a ditch.

mattharvest: Wait, let me make sure I understand your point: are you saying that it's more important that people are employed, as opposed to whether the work they're doing is of any value whatsoever?

This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

This is nonsense.

You have not demonstrated anywhere that the workers hired were not required for the duties needed. You make the assumption that having a high percentage of the cost go to salaries is somehow abnormal, when that's the case in most businesses.

"Nonsense" indeed, and WHARGRBL at that.

mattharvest: This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches.

they hired people to break the train cars, then paid others to fix them?

doublesecretprobation: mattharvest: This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches.

they hired people to break the train cars, then paid others to fix them?

Exactly what they probably did. And why did they have to refurbish them instead of getting them up to snuff ?

mattharvest: You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

hmmmm, ftfa:

"A new car would cost about $3 million, whereas to refurbish a car costs about $1 million..."

I read in another article somewhere else inside the internet that told me that half the money went towards the development of dining car menus written in Muslim.

mattharvest: This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

The entire point of stimulus money is to use it in ways that will circulate money into the system. In this case, even digging ditches and refilling them has purpose as a form of economic stimulus, strange as it sounds.

And of course, in this case we are hiring people and doing something useful, which is better.

It is not about the rail car, it is about the workers, the workers, the workers.

One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

heh, there has to be a joke here about making the trains run on time.....

How much stimulus money would we need to shut down Amtrak entirely?

mattharvest: You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

Why not hire them to refurbish a train rather than throwing it out? You know, to save money?

Father Jack Hacket: Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

heh, there has to be a joke here about making the trains run on time.....

If I had made the reference to German trains, then yea.

mattharvest: This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches

I'd rather people be paid to do something of marginal value than to just sit on their can all day.

Hoping $1.3 billion in stimulus money to Amtrak will get you bullet trains or something?

No. I think that's a separate plan.

I thought it was the whistles that made that noise.

Amtrak sucks!
We need more rail transit!
Amtrak sucks!
We need more rail transit!
Amtrak sucks!
We need more rail transit!

Delawhere?fark Delaware and everyone who has ever been there.

mattharvest: J
This is nonsense.

um, re-read the article - the unemployed are put back to work and Amtrak gets more cars to increase the level of service. have you ridden the NEC during rush hour? Amtrak needs more cars - the trains are packed for the regional service.

$1.3 billion would be a small fraction of cost to build a bullet train in the U.S.

Father Jack Hacket: Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

heh, there has to be a joke here about making the trains run on time.....

I thought it was a joke about waiting for a train in an airport but the OP was in on it too.

If mattharvest was trolling he did a great job.
If he wasn't he might end up with a meme named after him

/pet peeve.

swaxhog: Father Jack Hacket: Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

heh, there has to be a joke here about making the trains run on time.....

I thought it was a joke about waiting for a train in an airport but the OP was in on it too.

Milwaukee airport has an Amtrak stop. A lot of times they ship people from Chicago to catch connecting flights.

Father Jack Hacket:
heh, there has to be a joke here about making the trains run on time.....

look at Amtrak's on-time record and then call the owner of those rails and ask them why they dick over Amtrak. Amtrak owns justa few corridors - the on-time record for the NEC is currently above 90%.

theorellior: I thought it was the whistles that made that noise.



/approves

Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: Father Jack Hacket: Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

heh, there has to be a joke here about making the trains run on time.....

If I had made the reference to German trains, then yea.

German trains? Huh?

Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: One of my favorite things to do when I'm waiting around in Zurich airport for the train is to watch all the American tourists who saunter down to the platform for their 8:03 train at 8:07 and wonder where their train is.

i'm spending the summer in switzerland so i'm getting a kick out of your post.

the efficiency of the train system here is crazy. it's more expensive than we're used to in N. America but they cover the whole (admittedly small) country, interface seamlessly across regional and intercity trains, and work well with trains to other countries.

if the US could ever do the same in the N.East it would be amazing.

Honestly, this sounds like a North Korean propaganda headline

"Shiny refurbished traincar put back into service, courtesy of your government. Recovery and future success is on the way!"

/Ya, a bit too much hyperbole.
//But still, we should be excited over one Amtrak traincar paid for with stimulus money? Really?

JusticeandIndependence: Refurbishing a rail car is a bit different than digging a ditch.

Ssshhh.

Anything you do with your hands is for peons and failures who are probably Obama worshipers and can't afford a suit and tie like a good, successful American.

*snrk*

mattharvest: JusticeandIndependence: The work on the first completed car began on April 17 and required the hiring of 52 new workers, many of whom had lost their jobs at the former Chrysler plant in Newark and the General Motors plant near Newport, which will close later this month. Others had been laid off from their unions because of lack of work. About half the cost of each car's $1 million refurbishing goes toward workers' salaries, officials said.


Boy that sounds terrible.

Wait, let me make sure I understand your point: are you saying that it's more important that people are employed, as opposed to whether the work they're doing is of any value whatsoever?

This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

This is nonsense.

Hur, you're dur

I'm sure Biden will be happy riding in a train car that doesn't smell like feet. Yet.

"B..B..But that's only the first $700,000. You need to give it 3 more years for the rest of the money to start working."

LessO2: $1.3 billion would be a small fraction of cost to build a bullet train in the U.S.

it doesn't even pay for the environmental study and would barely cover the political bribes.

mattharvest: JusticeandIndependence: The work on the first completed car began on April 17 and required the hiring of 52 new workers, many of whom had lost their jobs at the former Chrysler plant in Newark and the General Motors plant near Newport, which will close later this month. Others had been laid off from their unions because of lack of work. About half the cost of each car's $1 million refurbishing goes toward workers' salaries, officials said.


Boy that sounds terrible.

Wait, let me make sure I understand your point: are you saying that it's more important that people are employed, as opposed to whether the work they're doing is of any value whatsoever?

This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches. It's not going to help anyone longterm, and it's doing simultaneous damage to Amtrak's reputation while wasting stimulus money.

You want to hire those people? Great. Hire them to get the existing trains up to snuff (instead of having engines that fail when the train is full in the summer). Hire them to rebuild tracks to be more reliable. Hire them to set up a bullet train.

This is nonsense.

I'm guessing you are thinking they are just gonna put these old cars up for display or something? They are not.


They are fixing older cars up and going too put them back in use instead of building new cars. This serves a dual function of getting them back to work and training them before building new cars.

Mordant: doublesecretprobation: mattharvest: This is akin to hiring people to dig and re-fill ditches.

they hired people to break the train cars, then paid others to fix them?

Exactly what they probably did. And why did they have to refurbish them instead of getting them up to snuff ?

And barring that, they could at least have been used to make sure the cars cut the mustard.

Man, i love amtrack.

orlando to NYC in a private room with a huge picture window, my own toilet, and a bed. Sit and drink and watch the world go by. And the whole trip only takes 24 hours, 8 of which i am peacefully snoozing away.

BlorfMaster: Man, i love amtrack.

orlando to NYC in a private room with a huge picture window, my own toilet, and a bed. Sit and drink and watch the world go by. And the whole trip only takes 24 hours, 8 of which i am peacefully snoozing away.

How much is the private room for that trip. I was looking at taking the empire builder to WA

And now that car can be put to good use losing money for Amtrack (i.e. taxpayers). It's lose lose! Two negatives make a positive, right?

Speaking of stimulus funds, I drove over some very nice asphalt yesterday that was paid for by my taxpayer dollars. I have to say I was pleased that no Iraqi insurgent would try to blow up this investment of my money.

Mattharvest:

You do realize that Amtrak only owns a small section of track for themselves up in the Northeast. This is one of the best taken care of sections of track in the country as it is maintained for high speed service (sorta). As for the rest of the country, well Amtrak runs on freight railroad's tracks which do not prioritize Amtrak at all. So all the delays, track problems, etc are on the shoulders of the parent freight railroad. Locomotive difficulties are another issue all together.

It is a shame that Amtrak was designed to fail from the get go; we used to have a wonderful rail system here in America before we were convinced that we needed to drive/fly everywhere. The railroads gave up so much of their business willingly to those forms of transport didn't help either.

/loves it when people who don't know shiat about Amtrak complain about it.

december:
if the US could ever do the same in the N.East it would be amazing.

it used to exist, but then the American populace fell in love with their cars. the Northeast was a zigzag maze of railroads with service from anywhere to damn near anywhere else.

the blame is squarely to be found in the mirror.

You'll see. eventually the money will trickle down from the government, then we will all be happy!

Bullet train? You seriously think that would work in this country? Every year we have hundreds killed when they go past the flashing lights and around the gate or run over when they are walking on the tracks. Run that train through the sticks and every dumbass yokel will be out with black powder seeing if they can blow it up real good.

LessO2: $1.3 billion would be a small fraction of cost to build a bullet train in the U.S.

It's not a train from coast to coast. The two projects that (I believe) are still competing for the funds are a San Francisco - Los Angeles line and a Midwest hub and spoke system centered in Chicago.

The $1.3 billion won't fully build either, but it'll be a hell of a start.