May 2011 - Amtrak

i n k 

A Monthly Publication for and by Amtrak Employees 

Volume 16 • Issue 5 • May 2011 

Anniversary Edition

2 | May 2011 Amtrak Ink 

Train of Thought 

Happy anniversary, Amtrak! When Amtrak began operations 

40 years ago, there were doubters who said it 

wouldn’t last. Today, we are a strong company that 

manages a network of long-distance, corridor and high-speed rail 

service that connects communities and modes of transportation, 

and sets ridership records. 

In times of crisis in our nation, Amtrak has been there to 

provide the mobility and the connectivity our country needed, 

whether it was gas crises, hurricanes or 9/11. In times of economic 

prosperity, we’ve helped drive local economies; in times of 

fiscal constraint, we’ve connected communities so that people 

who had to commute farther to stay employed had options. 

We’ve delivered for our nation and we will continue to do so. 

I know a lot of CEOs say this, but our employees are truly the 

backbone of our operation. It’s your expertise, your love of the 

mission, your dedication and your hard work that give shape to 

what Amtrak is today, and what it can be in the future. I want to 

thank you for your service and to let you know that I appreciate 

the role you play — because every one of us plays a role — in 

making Amtrak successful. 

In addition to having a dedicated workforce, we continue to 

build the support of our customers, as well as our freight, state 

and commuter partners. While they have been key to the development 

of the first 40 years, they will be even more so in the 

coming decades, as our nation’s leadership prepares to make 

unprecedented investments in passenger rail. 

There are still cynics out there who maintain uninformed and 

outdated perceptions of Amtrak. Despite growing support for 

passenger rail, securing federal funding support in a tight budget 

Corrections: The item 

“40-Days Travel Promo for the 

40th” in the April issue of 

Amtrak Ink misstated the 

terms of the promotion. The 

discount is available for one 

child per paying adult (not 

three). Also, the third column 

for the schedule for the 40th 

Anniversary Exhibit Train 

should have been labeled 

“July.” We regret the errors. 

Amtrak Employee and Customer Communications 

Joe McHugh, Vice President Margaret Sherry, Sr. Director Jennifer Moore, Editor 

Govt. Affairs & Corp. Comms. Employee & Customer Comms. Amtrak Ink 

Erika Cotton Julia Quinn, Coordinator Doug Riddell 

Manager Digital and Social Media Photographer 

Marlon Sharpe Collin King Sharon Slaton 

Principal Graphic Designer Graphic Specialist Manager 

Amtrak Headquarters • 60 Massachusetts Ave, NE, Washington, DC 20002 • Ecom@Amtrak.com 

Amtrak – Chicago Office • 525 West Van Buren Street Chicago, IL 60605 

Amtrak Ink is a monthly employee publication of Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. 

® AMTRAK is a registered service mark of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation © 2011 National Railroad Passenger Corporation 

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter 

climate will continue to be 

challenging. But we are 

resilient, and we will continue 

to forge on with our 

mission of being 

America’s railroad. 

We have weathered 40 

years pretty well. And not 

only are we still standing, 

but we have earned many 

more friends and supporters 

and have plans for the 

future that we’re putting 

into action already with 

Joseph H. Boardman 

new equipment purchases 

and plans for 220 mph high-speed rail. 

Our anniversary celebration will last all year, with the Exhibit 

Train traveling to locations all over the country. I hope you’ll 

have the opportunity to visit the train, because it was designed 

for you. I also want to express my gratitude to the 40th 

Anniversary Team (comprising members of the Government 

Affairs and Corporate Communications, Marketing and Product 

Development, Mechanical — and its Rolling Stock Engineering 

group — and Transportation departments), the employees at 

Bear and Beech Grove, and others who put in long hours and 

took on extra duties to create the 40th anniversary exhibit train 

for our workforce. 

Happy 40th and thank you for your support. ■

Amtrak Ink May 2011 | 3 

Marking Four 

Decades 

When Amtrak opened for business on 

May 1, 1971 — taking over responsibility 

for intercity passenger rail in 

America — many people viewed the move as a 

last-ditch effort to salvage an important but dwindling 

mode of transportation. The private railroads 

had persuaded the federal government to intervene, 

saying they could no longer afford the 

financial drain of passenger service. Cities such as 

Atlanta had shuttered their primary stations. 

Fast forward to May 2011. 

The company is on track to set another ridership 

record for the year, having posted 17 straight 

months in which the number of riders has surpassed 

that for the same month a year ago. 

Amtrak’s total revenue was up 7 percent for 

2010, to $2.5 billion. And the company has reduced 

its debt for the eighth year in a row. Amtrak covers 

85 percent of its operating costs with revenues. 

Stations are being constructed and renovated — 

including the recent rededication of the one in 

Wilmington, Del. — as cities recognize their crucial 

role as economic and iconic transportation hubs. 

The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt into a 

high-speed rail line that features maximum speeds 

of 150 mph, extension of electrification from New 

Haven to Boston, and large increases in the 

number of Amtrak and commuter trains operated. 

Thanks to stimulus funds, Amtrak restored 60 

Amfleet and 21 Superliners cars and 15 diesel locomotives. 

It recently updated its fleet plan, which 

includes 70 new electric locomotives and 130 

single-level long-distance cars currently on order. 

In addition, the company has requested funds 

from Congress to pay for 40 additional Acela 

Express cars to expand service — and revenue — 

on the popular Northeast Corridor. It’s also 

developed detailed plans to greatly enhance highspeed 

rail service in the coming decades. 

And with gas prices exceeding $4 a gallon in 

many parts of the country and congestion worsening 

on major interstates, even more demand for rail 

service is projected. 

“Our ridership has grown 36 percent since 

2000,” says President and CEO Joe Boardman. 

“Our only restriction to growth will be the available 

capacity.” ■


“I 

F THE 1970s were a time of trial for the 

freight companies, they were a time of 

growth and expansion as the newly 

formed Amtrak raced against time to 

implement new ideas that could control costs and 

develop the services that would improve revenues. 

We always knew that Amtrak’s survival was not a 

foregone conclusion. The Nixon administration considered 

it an experiment and might have let it pass if 

the 1973 energy crisis had not awakened people to 

the need for transportation alternatives. … 

I joined Amtrak in March 1975, replacing Roger 

Lewis as Amtrak’s second CEO; Roger became the 

board chairman, and we worked closely on some 

major policy issues, such as the acquisition of the car 

and locomotive shop at Beech Grove, Ind. 

Shortly after I arrived at Amtrak, Congress 

passed the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory 

Reform Act, usually known as the ‘4R Act.’ 

President Ford signed the law in February 1976, and 

it changed the history of Amtrak by deeding the 

Penn Central route between Boston, New York and 

Washington — the Northeast Corridor — to 

Amtrak. 

This was a watershed; we were on a countdown 

to the biggest transition this company had ever 

made — from a company that simply ran and marketed 

trains to a fully integrated railroad.” 

Paul Reistrup 

Amtrak President 

1975 to 1978 

Excerpted from Amtrak: An American Story 

May 1 – Amtrak service 

begins. 

1971 

1972 

14 daily Metroliner Service 

trains offered from New 

York to Washington, D.C. 

“Save energy – take our 

car” campaign targets 

consumers concerned 

about rising gas prices. 

1973 

Stronger Through 

the Struggles 

Dennis Rewkowski 

Senior Safety Officer 

High-Speed Rail 

Philadelphia 

Hired 1973 

1976 

In April, Amtrak takes over 

the Northeast Corridor. 

“Amtrak has 

changed in many 

ways over the 

years. So often our 

change is cyclical, 

at times repeated 

to the degree of us 

having ‘been there, 

done that.’ 

However, those 

changes have 

always brought 

significant 

improvements in 

our business 

outlook, our 

accomplishments, 

our productivity, quality and safety. We 

have always learned from our downfalls, 

and the benefits derived have served to 

make us better, stronger and more effective 

in what we do.” 

Amtrak introduces Superliner I, 

the first new long-distance car 

in two decades, on Chicago- 

Seattle Empire Builder. 

1979

“I T WAS A SUNDAY, January 4, 1987. … 

Colonial Train 94 had departed Washington Union 

Station on time at 12:30 p.m. headed for Boston. 

Engineer Jerome Evans piloted locomotive 903 with an 

additional locomotive and 16 cars full of passengers wrapping up 

their own holiday vacations in tow behind him. 

Just north of Baltimore, it happened. 

Three Conrail locomotives were being moved from the 

company’s Bayview Yard outside Baltimore to the Enola Yard in 

Harrisburg, Pa. The operator of the freight engines violated stop 

signals and proceeded on to the main line ahead of Train 94 in 

Chase, Md. 

At that point, the collision was unavoidable. 

Train cars and locomotives were thrown — some crushed and 

John Turk 

Operations Supervisor 

Southern Division 

New Orleans 

Hired 1979 

Amtrak orders 150 new 

Amfleet II cars, (125 longdistance 

coaches and 25 food 

service cars). 

“See 

America at 

See Level” 

advertising 

campaign 

launches. 

Amtrak Special Delivery 

“In the early 80s when I was working on 

the sleeping car on Train 58/59 the City of 

New Orleans, there was a waiter in the dining 

car named John Wilson, but we all called him 

California. And I remember watching him 

collect and bundle several newspapers — the 

Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, and the 

Memphis paper — and then toss them out of 

a train window and onto the well-manicured 

lawn of a small white house we passed by. An 

elderly lady would be there waiting and 

would wave back to him. 

“All Aboard 

America” 

advertising 

campaign and 

fare plan 

begins, 

designed to 

acquaint the 

public with 

improvements 

in the system. 

1980 1981 1983 

1986 


some on fire. Helicopters, ambulances, police cars and fire trucks 

arrived one after another. At the end of it all, 14 passengers and two 

crew members were dead. More than a hundred others were 

injured. 

That incident became the defining moment of the decade for 

Amtrak. Out of the tragedy, however, numerous transformations 

took place that would improve not only Amtrak but the entire 

industry. 

Denny Sullivan Bob VanderClute 

Former Executive Vice President, Former Vice President, 

Operations, Operations, 

and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Operations Officer 


When I asked California about it, he told me he met this lady 

and her husband years ago when they rode the train together. And 

she would always collect newspapers during her trips. But on the last 

trip she was alone and she told California she was returning from 

burying her husband in Chicago. Her traveling days were over. But 

she asked him to wave to her as the train passed her house. At that 

moment, California said he made a commitment to himself to 

become a railroad paper-deliveryman for her. 

While throwing objects from a moving train is discouraged these 

days, this is my favorite memory because it speaks to the essence of 

what we do. We are part of the fabric of the people we encounter.” 

Railfones 

become 

available on all 

Metroliner 

Service trains, 

allowing 

passengers to 

place calls. 

Washington, D.C.’s restored 

Union Station reopens to great 

fanfare in September. 

1988


“E 

VERY DAY AT 7 A.M. Eastern time, the team 

would run through the list of people on the line: 

Transportation? Here. System Ops? Here. 

Engineering? Here. Mechanical? Here. Passenger 

Services? Here. 

In the early 1990s, with Amtrak still under the watch of 

W. Graham Claytor Jr., the top priority of the company 

was to improve operating and safety performance. So each 

day began with a number of executives and managers representing 

every division nationwide and all facets of the 

company on a conference call to address any operating 

issues from the day before and make sure everything was 

squared away for the morning rush hour. The emphasis 

was on accountability. 

Nothing illustrates the way Amtrak was run better 

than that half-hour call. 

Gary Boone 

Carman Journeyman 

Los Angeles 8th Street 

Coach Yard 

Hired 1990 

Delivery of 20 new diesel 

locomotives, P32-8BWH – 

first of the new generation 

of GE-built engines. 

Amtrak begins operation of 

leased Talgo trains in partnership 

with Washington State 

Department of Transportation. 

The company was still run very much as a traditional 

railroad — lots of involvement by senior management in 

day-to-day operations. Top-down management and decision-making. 

Vertical departments were operated 

centrally and independent of each other. 

But during that call they came together. The trains had 

to move. On-time performance was critical.” 

Lee Bullock Gil Mallery 

Former Assistant Former President, 

General Superintendent, Amtrak West Strategic 

Chicago Business Unit 


Personal Accountability Brings Success 

“Some of my favorite memories involve 

former General Foreman Cecil Greenwood, 

at our L.A. Mechanical Facility, I remember 

when he had returned from a medical leave 

and walked in at the beginning of our shift’s 

safety briefing. He was greeted with a 

tremendous round of applause that was 

heartfelt by everyone. He was a wellrespected 

manager who got the most out of 

190 self-service ticket 

machines installed nationwide. 

every employee through mutual respect and 

trust. 

Over the years, I’ve certainly seen the 

company move toward more personal 

accountability and a cleaner and safer work 

environment. We have adjusted to finding 

ways to do more work with fewer employees. 

We keep growing in success.” 

1992 1994 1997 

1998 

Consolidated National 

Operations Center (CNOC) 

opens in Wilmington, Del.

“T 

HE FIRST DECADE of the 21st Century was one 

of opportunity, innovation and challenge for the 

company. 

By 2000, on the positive side, Amtrak had completed 

the electrification and other upgrades of the Washington - 

Boston corridor. The trainsets that would be used for Acela 

Express service, the first true high-speed train in the United 

States, were just about ready to go into service. They would be a 

valuable supplement to the Amfleet cars and Superliner fleet. ... 

Later in the decade, Amtrak began a $145 million improvement 

program on the Harrisburg Line in Pennsylvania. 

Completion of that program in 2006 allowed trains to operate at 

up to 110 mph between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The 

improvements allowed for faster, more frequent service and 

resulted in significant ridership growth. It was a major achievement 

that illustrates the technical skill and resourcefulness of 

the company. 

Rachel Coates-Knowles 

Manager, 

Grants Administration 

Washington, D.C. 

Hired 2010 

December 11 – First Acela 

Express train set enters 

service. 

“The impression I have of Amtrak that stands 

out most is the camaraderie that exists amongst its 

employees. This is a quality that many companies 

struggle to develop, but here it seems to come 

easy. As a newbie, I had many questions, which my 

supervisor and co-workers in the Financial 

Downtown Richmond 

station opens for 

Tidewater service. 

Feeling Right at Home 

New auto carriers for Auto 

Train enter service. 

2000 2003 2005 2006 2007 

Amtrak Police 

Department 

focuses its 

efforts on 

“community 

policing,” with 

higher levels of 

police presence 

at gates, on 

platforms and 

aboard trains. 


On the negative side, there were significant storm clouds on 

the horizon. The company finances were in desperate shape. 

Years of trying to force the company to be profitable or self-sufficient 

had done serious damage. … 

The company had five presidents in 10 years. …Additionally, 

the board of directors completely turned over three times, 

making management inconsistent at best. ... 

The good news is that upon closing out its first 40 years, 

Americans renewed their love of train travel. Amtrak’s ridership 

grew by 37 percent during the decade, despite the biggest economic 

crash since the Great Depression.” 

David Gunn 

Former President and CEO 

2002-2005 


Planning department patiently answered or 

pointed me in the right direction. 

I’ve even met a few friendly long-time Amtrak 

employees who commute with me daily from 

Philly to D.C.” 

Quik-Trak 

machine 

wins “Best 

Travel and 

Hospitality 

Deployment” 

from 

KioskCom’s 

Self Service 

Excellence 

Awards.


Telling Amtrak’s ‘American Story’: 

Order the Book or DVD Today 

Drawing on four decades of archival 

photographs, Amtrak: An American 

Story highlights the employees, 

trains and technology that have 

made rail travel possible since 1971. 

Published by Amtrak and written and compiled 

largely by company employees, the 

book includes a timeline and personal narratives 

for each decade. Another feature, a 

pictoral Day in the Life, offers a nationwide 

look at Amtrak’s current operations. 

For All Who Made It Possible: 

Thank You! 

The anniversary celebrations 

would not be possible without 

the efforts of all of the dedicated 

Amtrak employees who offered 

their time, expertise, historical knowledge 

and company artifacts to mark 

the 40th. 

Special thanks to the men and 

women at the mechanical facilities for 

their work on the anniversary locomotives 

and Exhibit Train cars. 

The Exhibit Train will tour the 

country over the next year, starting 

in the Northeast. 

Thanks, also, to the employees 

on the anniversary committee 

who compiled the book, collected 

and categorized the hundreds of 

items donated and loaned for the 

anniversary train and created the 

The employees at the mechanical 

shop in Beech Grove, Ind., 

repainted locomotives for the 

anniversary in each the four major 

paint schemes used by Amtrak. 

exhibits — among countless other 

roles. 

And, finally, thanks to all of the 

many others who have volunteered to 

help with anniversary-related events, 

or will volunteer in the future. 

For more information on how you 

can help and to get updates on the 

Exhibit Train schedule, go to 

www.Amtrak40th.com. ■ 

Also available is an anniversary DVD — 

“Amtrak: The First 40 Years, 1971-2011”— 

which includes hard-to-find archival and 

current footage and photos. 

Both can be purchased through the 

company’s anniversary website, 

www.Amtrak40th.com, as well as through 

the online company store on Amtrak.com. 

The cost of the book $19.95; cost of the 

DVD is $24.95. ■ 

Honoring Employees 

Amtrak has created a photo-montage 

video that reflects the pride Amtrak 

employees feel about themselves and 

their company. 

Also: go behind-the-scenes to see how 

employees created the 40th 

Anniversary Exhibit Train. 

Both videos can be viewed on Amtrak’s 

YouTube channel at 

www.YouTube.com/Amtrak. 

Photo: Ric Amos

Last month, Congress approved a 

federal budget for the current fiscal 

year — which runs through 

September — that includes just over $1.48 

billion for Amtrak. 

Of that amount, $562 million is for operating 

expenses, $277 million for debt service 

and $645 million for capital expenses. 

The outcome “could have been much 

more painful,” President and CEO Joe 

Boardman noted, given deeper cuts in previous 

budget proposals and a very tough 

budget-cutting environment. Even so, the 

figure reflects an $81-million reduction over 

last year’s funding level. 

Boardman said he is hopeful the 

company will be able to offset much of the 

impact of the cut “if we continue to generate 

strong revenue and continue cost-saving initiatives.” 

In response to the budget figures, the 

company is currently taking a number of 

steps, including limiting travel and other discretionary 

spending and postponing hiring 

decisions for some jobs not considered 

safety-essential. 

“We are living in a tough budget climate, 

and I am thankful for the support we have 

earned with friends — new 

and old — on Capitol Hill,” $1.6 

said Boardman. 

$1.5 

Next up for considera- 

$1.4 

tion is the FY ’12 federal 

budget. 

$1.3 

Amtrak is requesting a $1.2 

total of $2.22 billion for 

$1.1 

next year, which would 

include $616 million to 

$1.0 

support operations, $1.285 

billion for capital programs 

and $271 million for debt 

service. 

With the exception of the $50 million the 

company has requested for its Northeast 

Corridor Gateway project in New York, and 

some additional debt service money to buy 

out leases, these levels are in sync with those 

authorized by the Passenger Rail 

Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. 

Boardman cautioned that given the 

current economic climate, persuading lawmakers 

to approve this level of support will 

likely prove even more challenging than in 

the previous budget negotiations. 

Yet as he told the House members last 

month, making such an investment is a criti- 


Final FY ’11 Budget Enacted 

Bigger Challenges Ahead as FY ’12 Negotiations Continue 

When the first phase of the Strategic Asset Management 

(SAM) goes live in early June, some 1,700 employees will 

begin using SAP in combination with updated versions of 

Exacta, E-Trax/Ariba and Maximo. While to the outsider this may 

appear to be a simple systems upgrade, this first activation of the 

SAM solution represents the single biggest business process re-engineering 

and systems implementation in Amtrak history. 

This first release of SAM puts a new financial system in place 

that integrates previously separate business processes and systems 

and consequently enables employees to better see how the use of 

materials, time and dollars fit together. While the primary impact of 

this phase is in the Finance, Materials Management and 

Procurement departments, employees in other areas who perform 

administrative, reporting, project-planning and budgeting activities 

are also included. 

Total in Billions 

$1.294 

2007 

Amtrak Appropriations History 

$1.325 

2008 

$1.490 

2009 

Fiscal Year 

$1.565 

2010 

$1.484 

2011 

cal step toward strengthening the country’s 

transportation infrastructure. 

Boardman stressed that the company has 

developed great experience in wisely spending 

its capital funds, as evidenced by the 

recent success with the $1.3 billion in stimulus 

funds. 

He also emphasized that Amtrak procures 

most of its goods and services in the 

United States, creating jobs. Passenger rail 

service provides significant economic development 

to many regions of the country, 

Boardman said. ■ 

Because the go-live date was moved from April to early June, the 

SAM Program is providing Refresher Training courses during May. 

The courses will target critical users in each department who have 

already completed the original SAM Training. Refresher training 

will cover scenarios of the key transactions that employees will need 

to perform their routine assignments, giving them a more task specific 

understanding of the system. 

During the transition beginning June 1, some systems will be 

temporarily unavailable as they are integrated into SAM. These 

include SAP, E-Trax/Ariba, the Employee Information Portal and 

Time Collection Systems. Notices will be sent out with specific 

details about when and for how long such systems will be off-line. 

For more information, visit the Amtrak intranet → “How We 

Work” → “SAM,” or send an email to SAM@Amtrak.com. ■


S 

Amtrak Leverages Assets Through 

Reinvigorated Union – Management Partnership 

ince last fall, local union representatives and management 

employees at the mechanical facility in Beech Grove, Ind., have 

been holding weekly meetings to find answers to a pressing 

question: How to improve efficiency, save money and jobs — 

and position the shop to win competitive bids for new outside work? 

The result so far: More than $230,000 in estimated annual savings 

as employees at the shop repair or refurbish many items once purchased 

from suppliers and outside vendors. 

Similar conversations and changes are taking place at the shops 

at Bear and Wilmington, Del., with similarly positive outcomes. 

The renewed partnership between the unions and management 

has its roots, to a certain extent, in a shared recognition on both 

sides that future growth requires collaboration and a hard look at 

the present, without dwelling on the past. 

“It really comes down to the leadership at Amtrak right now,” 

says Gary Maslanka, international vice president of the railroad 

division for the Transportation Workers Union (TWU). “[President 

and CEO] Joe Boardman has really demonstrated his commitment 

to the value of employees and to working with union employees collaboratively.” 

Maslanka says the unions and Amtrak management have been 

Beech Grove recently won a competitive bid 

to rebuild three locomotives for the North 

Carolina Department of Transportation. 

studying the successes and experiences of American Airlines’ 

mechanical operations. He and others visited American’s mechanical 

facilities in Tulsa, Okla., late last summer. 

American has been the only major airline to continue to overhaul 

its own equipment rather than using outside vendors, says 

Charlie Woodcock, chief labor relations officer at Amtrak, who went 

along on that visit. He says he’s seen renewed energy at the Amtrak 

shops in the months since the visit. 

“The overarching goal now is to keep work in-house when it 

makes sense to do that, and to win outside contracts, to be competitive,” 

Woodcock says. 

“By that, I mean, to compete not just on price, but on quality,” he 

says. “We want to be a lean operation that pays good union wages 

and is able to deliver high-quality work with a quick turnaround 

from start to completion.” 

Looking to the Future 

At Beech Grove, one recent change has been to take used equalizers 

— which provide suspension for the cars when they’re attached 

to the trucks — and repair and refurbish them at the shop rather 

than buying new equipment. 

A new equalizer from a vendor costs the company just over 

Photo: Mike MIlburn

$2,600. Repairing and refurbishing a used equalizer at the shop, by 

contrast, costs about $234. Over the course of a 12-month period, 

this translates into a cost savings of $161,800 over the cost to purchase 

new equalizers. 

The facility started buying equalizers because the shop could not 

keep pace with truck production. Recent efforts to realign labor 

resources, however, have enabled the shop to reduce the pool of 

unusable equalizers, with the long-term goal of eliminating new 

purchases. 

Steve Stone, local leader for the International Brotherhood of 

Boilermakers and Blacksmiths (IBB) and a boilermaker and 

welder at Beech Grove for 37 years, says the proposal to refurbish 

the equipment came about as a direct result of recent union and 

management talks. 

“I’m a union man myself,” he says. “But we’ve really gotten 

together with management on how we can save money.” 

The recent collaboration has required a change in mindset 

among all players, says John Grey, the superintendent at Beech 

Grove. 

After the trip to American Airlines’ mechanical operations, he 

says, union and management leaders got together, “and we had a 

really tough session,” says Grey. “Everyone got things off their 

Marisol Mejia Prince joined the Beech 

Grove mechanical facility’s staff in April, 

filling the newly created role of process engineer. 

Prior to coming to 

Amtrak, she worked as a 

foreman and management 

expert in the manufacturing 

and automotive industries. 

Here, she talks about how 

she’s approaching the job 

and explains what the management-strategy 

terms Six 

Sigma and “lean manufacturing” 

really mean. 

Q: How would you describe 

your role? 

A: A lot of what process engineering is 

about is taking something existing, like a 

process, and looking at it with a fresh pair of 

eyes. 

One of the things that has driven me in 

engineering and the different jobs I’ve had 

is looking at a problem and working with 

different people to solve it. I’ve always 

believed the answers to most manufacturing-related 

problems are already out there. 

The people who are working on the product 

already have the solution. And they’re just 

looking for a little encouragement or 

support to implement answers they already 

Marisol Mejia Prince 

have. 

I’ve seen work I’ve done get outsourced 

overseas, and I’ve lost my job and been laid 

off because of it. And so I look 

for every chance I can get to keep 

work here that we can do successfully 

here. 

Q: What are the challenges and 

opportunities for Beech Grove? 

A: Well, we have an older facility. 

And related to that, the work 

flow is not always laid out in a 

way that’s most efficient. 

So the challenge is, how do we 

break out of the mindset that 

that’s just the way things are? 

The employees here do a very good job of 

working around challenges. But how do we 

eliminate problems so that they don’t have 

to work around them? How do we get 

ahead of them? 

One of the areas we can improve on is 

finding better ways to share information. 

We need a more central system so that 

someone in Trim shop (the end of the 

process) can easily know when we’ll be 

pulling in a certain car into Coach 1 (the 

beginning of the process). And then they 

can start planning accordingly. 

Now, obviously the specific timing 

depends on a lot of things that happen 


chest. And then we said, Ok, let’s put the past behind us and move 

forward.” 

Grey says he gives a lot of credit to the local union chairmen. 

“They’ve really stepped up to the plate.” At his request, the unions 

now even run the weekly meetings in Beech Grove to plan the 

future of the shop. 

A new culture of cooperation has also taken hold in Delaware, 

says Frank Gentry, president of the local International Brotherhood 

of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which covers Bear and Wilmington. 

“Lew Wood [superintendent at Bear] and Bob Costello [superintendent 

at Wilmington] come to us frequently, and we often bring 

issues to them,” says Gentry. “That kind of communication is what 

will help ensure our future.” 

Gentry says the addition of new employees has also added 

energy to the shops. “They want to know they’ll have a job 20 years 

from now,” he says. 

Other examples of recent cost savings include the $17,000 a year 

the company is no longer spending since the Wilmington facility 

took over the servicing of fire extinguishers for Northeast Corridor 

electric locomotives and coaches. 

continued on page 12 

during the process. But just having that 

information easily accessible can help 

people plan better. It lets them know where 

they need to start focusing their priorities. 

Q: What’s behind the strategies? 

A: Strategies such as Six Sigma and “lean 

manufacturing” are sometimes misunderstood, 

and they can be applied incorrectly. 

It’s really about giving people the tools 

and materials they need to do their job 

more efficiently. I know it’s cliché, but it 

really is about working smarter, not harder. 

It’s finding ways to reduce and hopefully 

eliminate waste in terms of bad parts or 

having to rework something because of bad 

information or having to move materials in 

and out of a station because of a mistake 

made somewhere along the line. It’s about 

better workflow. 

That’s what allows people to get more 

done in less time and more efficiently. 

That’s what we can do to improve business 

at Beech Grove without having to wait for 

increases in budget. 

The important thing to remember is that 

it’s a very competitive market out there, and 

everyone should know that the world is 

changing, business is changing. And because 

of that we have to change, too. It doesn’t 

have to be painful. It doesn’t have to be 

frightening. We control our own destiny. ■


SPOTLIGHT ON SAFETY 

Baggage Handlers Make Safety 

Checks Second Nature 

Stefan Peele, stations manager for the Mid-Atlantic 

Division, credits the lack of injuries among his team of 

roughly 20 baggage handlers at Philadelphia’s 30th 

Street Station to the strong sense of personal responsibilty 

his employees share. 

Each shift begins with a safety briefing and the completion 

of a checklist to verify that the tow tractors and 

other equipment used are in good working order. Any 

problems found are noted on the form, and the equipment 

is then taken to the station’s truck shop for 

repair. “In the past, a lot of our injuries came from 

faulty equipment,” says Peele. 

As an added step, the shop also performs preventive 

maintenance work on all equipment every month. 

And Peele says his group makes it a priority to “keep 

everybody mindful of the station conditions,” such as 

the condensation that can make for slick platforms on 

rainy days. 

The group also 

employs the Safe- 

2-Safer process of 

observing coworkers 

as they 

do their jobs as a 

way to identify 

any at-risk behaviors 

that could be 

improved. “Many 

of the practices in 

Safe-2-Safer we 

were doing,” says 

Peele. “We’ve just 

been concentrating 

on doing a 

good job at what 

we do.” 

continued from page 11 

Previously, that work was done by an outside vendor. 

The shop also performs service work on the air compressors at its 

facility, which has meant an annual savings of $6,300. 

What’s more, the shops have started to compete for new outside contracts. 

Beech Grove recently won a competitive bid to rebuild three 

locomotives for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. 

The challenge as we move forward is recognizing opportunities,” says 

Terry Schindler, Deputy Chief Mechanical Officer, who oversees work 

at all three mechanical shops. “We need to engage all of our employees 

in identifying roadblocks or barriers to our success.” 

Internal Efficiencies 

Grey at Beech Grove emphasizes the recent changes are only the 

beginning. As a next step, Beech Grove will be working with the same 

facilitator (Overland Resource Group) that guided American Airlines’ 

efforts. 

“We’re constantly 

looking for internal efficiencies, 

for ways we can 

work better,” says Grey. 

“Each week, new initiatives 

are proposed and 

discussed at the Beech 

Grove Improvement 

Committee meetings. 

We’re optimistic we’ve 

only scratched the surface 

of the available potential.” 

This kind of effort is 

not isolated to the 

mechanical-services work 

Amtrak performs. 

Although the strategies 

being pursued at the 

shops originated locally 

Leveraging Assets 

Photo: Mike Millburn 

Says Steve Stone, a boilermaker and welder at Beech 

Grove for 37 years and local union leader: “We’ve 

really gotten together with management on how we 

can save money.” 

last fall, such thinking is driving the way Amtrak is organizing and positioning 

itself to compete, grow and evolve across the board. 

Ongoing strategic planning workshops are being held with representatives 

from each department to set priorities that will help the 

company leverages its assets, like its mechanical facilities, to generate 

additional revenue. The ideas and input conceived in each of these 

workshops — which are organized around different facets of the business 

— will help frame the company’s next Corporate Strategic Plan, 

due out by Oct. 1, 2011. 

“Part of what we’re aiming to do is single out the challenges that 

stand in the way of reaching a higher level of performance and becoming 

a more nimble company, and then identify — in a collaborative way 

— clear strategies to overcome those challenges,” says President and 

CEO Joe Boardman. ■


Schedule Change Strengthens Maryland Partnership 

In the latest example of efforts to 

strengthen the relationship between 

Amtrak and the Maryland Transit 

Administration’s MARC commuter train 

service, officials from both organizations 

worked together to craft a revised schedule 

that expands riders’ options. 

MARC officials approached Amtrak 

several months ago for help in revising the 

Penn line schedule that runs between 

Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md. They 

hoped to reduce the size of the current 

trainsets to alleviate strain on the engines 

and then use those cars to add eight trains 

to the daily service. 

The challenge was fitting additional 

trains into an already-congested schedule 

given the high volume of Northeast 

Regionals, Acelas, and MARC trains 

already operating on those tracks. 

“We knew we had to get everyone 

involved to make this work,” says Shawn 

Gordon, superintendent, Road Operations, 

Mid-Atlantic Division. 

“Everyone,” in this case, included not 

just Amtrak and MARC managers from 

many departments, but also dispatchers 

and conductors. 

Coming up with the new schedule “was 

like working a Rubik’s Cube,” says Train 

Dispatcher John Stanford. “We had to keep 

tweaking it so it worked on all fronts — 

New Timetable in Effect 

Mechanical, Transportation, train crews, 

equipment — the whole nine yards.” 

Stanford adds: “I’m not shy about 

helping out if they’re sincere about 

wanting my advice.” 

David Ricker, chief transportation 

officer, MARC train service, calls the effort 

“extraordinary, probably one of the best 

I’ve ever been involved in.” 

The new schedule took effect March 14. 

Ricker says that while specific numbers 

are still being compiled, “on-time percentages 

for Amtrak and the commuter service 

have gone up noticeably since the change. 

But the proof of the pudding will be sustaining 

this improvement in the warm 

summer months.” 

The schedule change is part of a 

broader concerted effort by Amtrak to be 

more responsive and attentive to the needs 

of its commuter and state partners. 

The improved communication has 

played out in other ways as well. 

For the past year, for example, the 

Mechanical department has held monthly 

meetings with MARC employees to talk 

over priorities and review trouble spots 

related to equipment reliability and availability. 

The company has also taken its “bad 

actor” testing — which has successfully 

been used to improve performance on 

The 2011 Spring/Summer System Timetable, which took effect May 9, features new color schemes to 

make it easier to read and updated graphics. It also includes some minor schedule changes. Most 

notable are revised times for some Northeast trains and for the eastbound Capitol Limited, says Keith 

Bonnecarrere, Marketing Officer, Operations Support. There are also some changes to Thruway Bus 

connections. 

Amtrak electric engines that have had 

problems — and applied it to a MARC 

locomotive, to pinpoint areas that most 

need attention and repairs or upgrades. 

“MARC is a major customer, and we’re 

committed to providing quality service and 

urgent response to any problems that 

might arise,” says Michael Bello, master 

mechanic, Mechanical Operations. 

The recent efforts have helped MARC 

keep all 10 of its electric locomotives in 

service for extended periods of time. 

Amtrak maintains MARC’s 6 HHP and 4 

AEM-7 locomotives at its Ivy City facility 

in Washington, D.C. 

“Through this improved communication, 

we’re having a clearer focus on what 

the issues are related to the MARC equipment,” 

says Daniel Ruppert, Amtrak’s 

senior director, Mechanical Contracts. 

“And we’re able to share and apply the 

strategies we’ve been using successfully 

with Amtrak equipment.” 

Simon Taylor, deputy administrator for 

Maryland Transit Administration’s MARC 

service, agrees. “We still run into some 

glitches from time to time,” he says. “But 

when problems do crop up, Amtrak managers 

are quick to follow up and include us 

in the conversations about how to prevent 

them in the future.” ■


Whether it’s locating a missing 

family member or tracking down a 

fleeing crime suspect, if a case 

involves train travel in 

Southern California, 

Detective Jay 

Christopher Glass is 

usually the one who gets 

the call. 

Glass’s skill in 

helping solve such cases 

has earned him the 

honor of being named 

the Amtrak Police 

Department’s 2010 

Officer of the Year. 

“Amtrak and local 

police officers, as well as 

many others, rely on 

Detective Glass’s ability 

to gather intelligence 

using reservations 

records and other 

sources,” says Vice President and Chief of 

Police John J. O’Connor. 

Glass, who is based in Riverside, Calif., 

joined the company in 1993. 

Amtrak Officers Assist in 

Wake of Tornadoes 

Among his recent efforts, Glass last 

year fielded a call from a distraught man 

who said he was trying to locate his missing 

wife. But the more the 

man talked, Glass says, 

the more he realized 

something was off. 

“I’ve been doing this 

a long time, and his 

story just wasn’t adding 

up,” says Glass. 

When Glass called 

the agency with which 

the caller said he had 

filed the missingperson’s 

report, he 

discovered the man’s 

wife had left him 

recently, that he had quit 

his job as a police officer 

the day before and that 

he had recently made 

threats of suicide. 

Knowing the man was headed to the 

Los Angeles station, Glass obtained and 

emailed a photo and description of the 

caller, determined the wife was safe at a far 

Detective Jay Christopher Glass 

away location and then started making the 

two-hour drive to Los Angeles. Shortly 

before Glass arrived, a security guard 

spotted the man and he was taken into 

custody by police. 

Not all calls require such an extensive 

response. But they run the gamut of problems 

that get called in. 

“I handle a lot of the bomb threats, 

people who have lost family members, disputes 

between employees,” he says. “I also 

work with employees on safety issues.” 

Last year, Glass became certified as a 

driver for the Mobile Command Center, 

which is used to provide support at major 

incidents, as well as at festivals and events. 

Many of the calls he handles come from 

local police departments checking to see if 

a suspect has booked a train reservation, 

either under a real name or an alias. 

Last September, for example, Glass 

helped the Bakersfield Police Department 

track down a suspect in a double-homicide 

case. After finding a matching reservation, 

Glass contacted the train crew and police 

were able to make an arrest. ■ 

Nine officers in the Amtrak Police Department spent several weeks in the small 

town of Hackleburg, Ala., this month assisting with clean up and recovery efforts 

after severe storms demolished 

many parts of the state, causing 

more than 300 fatalities. 

The Amtrak Police Department 

sent its Mobile Command Center to the small town at the request of the local 

police chief and in coordination with the Marion County Emergency Management 

Agency to operate as a 24-hour crisis operation center. Most structures in 

Hackleburg, which has a population of roughly 1,500, were 

flattened when tornadoes swept through the area.

Blair Slaughter, principal engineer, 

Rolling Stock Engineering, has 

been chosen to receive this year’s 

Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award, 

an honor presented by the National 

Association of Railroad Passengers. 

Last year, Slaughter played a key role 

in the team that modified a “transfer 

bridge” originally used on the Acela 

Express to move passengers from one 

train to another in the event that the original 

train could not complete its journey. 

The original bridge couldn’t accommodate 

passengers in wheelchairs. 

Industrial Designer Slaughter 

Wins Burch Safety Award 

ore than 1,000 people signed up to participate in 

the initial weeks after the Amtrak Police 

Department unveiled its new “membership” 

program to encourage 

employees, passengers, 

rail enthusiasts and 

others to play an 

active role in reporting 

suspicious 

activities throughout 

the system. 

Called Partners for 

Amtrak Safety and 

Security — PASS — 

the program’s website (pass.Amtrak.com) outlines safety tips and 

examples of what the public should look out for as possible red 

flags to be reported. 

People can register through the site to receive a personalized 

membership card. The card includes details for how to contact 

the Amtrak Police Department’s National Communications 

Center to report potential hazards, including suspicious activities 

or individuals, trespassers, or crimes in progress. 

“We know the best way to ensure a safe secure railroad is to 

enlist the help of everyone, especially people passionate about 

After numerous tests 

and tweaks, Slaughter 

devised the Generation 

2 (G2) Transfer Bridge, 

which uses an off-theshelf 

ramp that has been 

modified to fit onto any 

type of car and is 

compact, strong and 

lightweight. 

Blair Slaughter 

“His contribution to 

the design and modification of passenger 

equipment ultimately impacts over 1,400 

passenger railcars of various types,” says 


Mario Bergeron, chief mechanical 

officer. “The more efficient G2 

transfer plate enhances the safety 

of our crew members and passengers.” 

The Burch award is named 

after a former chief of the Ear, 

Nose and Throat Clinic at 

Eisenhower Hospital, in Ft. 

Gordon, Ga. Dr. Burch died in a 

train accident in 1991. ■ 

New Program Helps Keep Amtrak Safe 

M 

train travel,” says Vice President and Chief of Police John J. 

O’Connor. “This program officially acknowledges the vital role 

that employees and the traveling public serve as part of our 

broader safety and security force.” 

The idea for the project originated 

at a town hall meeting in 

Chicago last March, where 

O’Connor, President and CEO Joe 

Boardman and Amtrak Chairman 

Tom Carper met with rail fans to 

discuss the Amtrak photography 

policy, among other topics. The 

program is the result of collaboration 

between the Amtrak Police 

Department, Government Affairs and Corporate 

Communications, and Marketing and Product Management. 

To enroll in the program, individuals must go to 

pass.Amtrak.com and complete an online form. The website also 

includes general program details, personal security tips, updates, 

and links to related materials. The site also details Amtrak’s 

photo policy, and identifies locations that are restricted. Program 

members are not authorized to enter any railroad property that is 

not open to the general public. ■


Promotions in Motion 

‘Mummies of the World’: The 

Exhibition 

Come face to face with the largest collection 

of real mummies and related 

artifacts ever assembled 

in the “Mummies of the World” exhibit 

at the Franklin Museum, in Philadelphia, 

starting June 18. 

The exhibit features a child 

mummy from Peru — known as 

Detmold Child — that dates back 

6,420 years. 

Amtrak employees can receive 

$4 off on up to four daytime adult tickets 

to the exhibit. Special offer valid June 18 

through Sept. 30, Use code: MAINK. For 

more information, go to www.mummiesoftheworld.com 

or 

www.fi.edu/mummies. 

Tibetan Art and Culture — in 

Newark, N.J. 

Now through the end of the year, 

Amtrak employees can get in free to the 

Last month, Amtrak launched a new Twitter handle, 

@Amtrak_Cascades, the company’s latest effort to use social media 

to communicate certain service changes to passengers in a more 

direct and proactive manner. The handle provides Amtrak Cascades 

train status as an additional service on behalf of the Washington 

Department of Transportation. 

In addition to the Cascades handle, Amtrak also provides 

updates for Pacific Surfliner, San Joaquin and 

Northeast Corridor services. 

Twitter is an online “microblogging” platform that 

enables users to stay in touch through the exchange of 

short status updates — limited to 140 characters each. 

Amtrak’s “Twitter handle” is the equivalent of a username. 

Passengers must sign up to follow the handle in order to see 

the updates. 

In March, Amtrak launched @AmtrakNEC, as part of a pilot 

program to notify passengers of major service disruptions on the 

Northeast Corridor. Alerts are tweeted whenever there is a delay 

lasting 60 minutes or more and caused by a single incident on the 

route. 

Oakland Operations pioneered the concept nearly two years ago 

in response to a request from the company’s California state partner 

with the creation of @PACSurfliners, on behalf of the Los Angeles- 

San Diego – San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency. The success of 

@PACSurfliners sparked the creation of @SanJoaquinTrains for 

Caltrans Division of Rail. 

Amtrak is building on its use of social media to engage with customers, 

followers, and fans. Employees can join Facebook 

(www.facebook.com/Amtrak) and follow Amtrak on Twitter 

(www.twitter.com/Amtrak) for the latest company updates. ■ 

Company 

Marks 4th 

National 

Train Day 

Newark Museum and enjoy music, art, 

and film. 

Among the exhibits is “Tsongkhapa — 

the Life of a Tibetan Visionary.” 

The museum also currently features a 

Cuban art exhibit. In July, it will present 

the Newark Black Film Festival on 

Wednesday nights, and feature jazz performances 

on Thursday afternoons in the 

museum’s gardens. 

Employees just need to show their 

company IDs to get free admission. ■ 

Amtrak employees once 

again showed their love 

of trains at the fourth 

annual National Train Day 

on May 7. Hundreds of dedicated 

employees volunteered at the signature events in 

Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago, 

as well as at many of the nearly 200 community events 

across the country. 

The celebrations were designed to highlight the company’s 

vital role in the history and future of passenger rail in this 

country. They also served as a kick off our year-long 40th 

anniversary celebration. 

Special congratulations to our National Train Day employee 

trivia contest winners Elizabeth Thornton, customer support 

representative, Philadelphia, and Mario Lezama, electrician 

journeyman, Miami Mechanical Yard. 

Next month’s Ink will feature pictures and highlights of 

National Train Day events, as well as note the two additional 

winners. You can also view photos at 

www.nationaltrainday.com.

Company Offers Interactive 

Website for Kids 

The new Kids Depot website — at www.AmtrakKidsDepot.com 

— provides young rail fans and their families opportunities to 

play and learn about train travel and the Amtrak experience. 

Designed to be fun as well as educational, the site offers 

games and activities that cover many topics, including trains, 

geography and the environment. Kids of all age levels can play 

online at home or print out coloring pages and other activities 

to take along on their next train trip. 

The Kids Depot was a collaborative project built by 

Marketing’s e-Commerce group, with creative contributions 

from other Amtrak departments and from the National 

Wildlife Federation. 

Front Line Focus 

Dear Amtrak, 

My husband and I booked travel on the Coast Starlight from 

Seattle to Emeryville, Calif. … As my husband had always wanted 

to experience first class / sleeper train travel, I booked this trip for 

his birthday. … 

We were most impressed with the staff. 

Veronica [Gonzalez] in the Pacific Parlour Car was not only 

efficient, she was gracious and extraordinarily pleasant. She 

clearly enjoys her job and someone did very well to hire such a 

congenial and affable person. 

Monica [Domonskos] was also exceptional. She arranged for a 

very nice ”Happy Birthday” design on my husband’s dessert … 

following a very delightful dinner. Incidentally, many compliments 

to the chef, unfortunately, name unknown. We had breakfast in 

the dining car, and once again, Monica was there attending to our 

every need. 

Lastly, Lupe [Hernandez], our sleeper car attendant, couldn’t 

do enough to make our trip comfortable. Another Amtrak 

employee with exceptional people skills. … 

We look forward to our next Amtrak adventure. 

Congratulations on a job well done. 

Sincerely, 

Coast Starlight Passenger 

Dear Amtrak, 


Just a note to commend Debra Askew-Howell, Chicago Crew 

Base, California Zephyr. I’m (only) 70 years old, and this was my 

first train ride since 1966 when I went for two nights from New 

York to Chicago for U.S. Navy boot camp. 

I was very impressed! I had a heavy suitcase, and she immediately 

stored it, helped me get off the train at stops…. What a 

hard-working woman! She was constantly vacuuming, picking up 

cups, helping people find seats, announcing, etc…. 

I have flown all over the planet — first-class many times — in 

my business career. Never have I met anyone who cares so much. 

Very courteous, professional, knowledgeable. 

Sincerely, 

California Zephyr Passenger 

Opt-In/Opt-Out 

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email instead getting printed copies by 

mail? Sign up by May 28 on the News & Info 

section of the intranet. You can also sign up 

to get Amtrak This Week and Special 

Employee Advisories sent to your personal 

email address. To get to the intranet from 

home, go to Amtrak.com → “Inside 

Amtrak” → “Employees.”


Employee Milestones 

Congratulations to All of You! 

ALBERT, JOHN 

New Haven Station 

ASHRAF, GUL 

Seattle Mechanical Yard 

BAXTER, FLORENCE 

Mid-Atlantic 

Reservation Sales 

Contact Center 

BIEHNER, KYLE 

New York Penn Station 

BLASIO, RICHARD 

Boston South Station 

BOONE, CHRISTOPHER 

Columbia Station 

BORDRICK, BRANDON 

Wilmington Shops 

BROWN, YVONNE 


CASTIGLIEGO, 

CHARLES 


CASTILLO, 

GUADALUPE 

Chicago Offices 

CLARKE, MICHAEL 

Seattle Mechanical Yard 

CLOPTON, OTIS 

Phila. 30th Street 

Station 

DALLAS, TRACEY 


Station 

DAVIS, TYRONE 


DIAZ, JONELL 

New Orleans Station 

DIAZ, VICTOR 

Los Angeles Offices 

DIFILIPPO, REYNOLD 

South Hampton St. Yard 

DROGAN, LAURA 

San Diego Station/ 

Mechanical 

ECKHART, CHARLES 


Station 

FAZEKAS, JEFFREY 

Trenton Station 

FEENEY, WILLIAM 

New York Penn Station 

GIANGIULIO, ENRICO 


Station 

GONZALES, JEANINE 


Station 

GRAHAM, GIFTON 


HALL, AARON 

Sunnyside Yard N.Y. 

HENDERSON, 

TRAMPAS 


HENRY, MARCIA 

Mid-Atlantic 



HERCULES- 

BAULDOCK, LOUISA 

Philadelphia Call Center 

HILL, KRISTINE 

Chicago Union Station 

HINDS, LINDA 

Trenton Station 

JONES, MICHAEL 

Ivy City Maint. Facility 

KREMP, HENRY 

C&S Construction 

LOVELACE, MARION 

Chicago Crew Base 

MANENTI, FRANCIS 

NY Penn Station 

MULLINS, MICHELE 

Seattle Transportation 

Bldg. 

MYCHALEJKO, 

SUZANNE 

Whitefish Station 

OSBORNE, LENORA 

Mid-Atlantic 



OUTLAW, IVAN 

Raymond Plaza West 

PALMER, RAYMOND 


PESSOTTI, JOSEPH 


PRICE, JEFFERY 

Engineering 

Maintenance, Baltimore 

QUINONES, EDWIN 


Station 

RAIKEN, BARBARA 

Mid-Atlantic 



RILEY, MORRIS 


Station 

SINGH, SURESH 


SLATON, SHARON 


SOKOLOWSKI, JOSEPH 


Station 

SUMMER, DONALD 

Chicago Crew Base 

THOMPSON, JAMES 

C&S HQ 

WEINBERGER, MARY 

Mid-Atlantic 



APPLER, CHARLES 

Wash. Crew Base 

BARRON, MATTHEW 

Rensselaer Station 

BLACK, RONALD 

Pontiac Crew Base 

BOBO, KENNETH 

Western Reservation 

Sales Contact Center 

BOOR, BRADLEY 

Chicago Locomotive 

Shop 

BOUCHER, MICHAEL 


BURNS, DAVID 


CAPONIGRO, ELLEN 

Chicago Union Station 

COLLINS, GLENN 

Wash. Crew Base 

COSTELLO, JOHN 


CROSBY, JAMES 

Rensselaer Mech. 

Facility 

CURRAN, DAVID 


DAUGHERTY, 

EDWARD 


Shop 

DIPACE, MARK 


DOUGHERTY, FRANCIS 

Jacksonville Station 

FIELDS, DANIEL 


FROST, JOSEPH 


GARCIA, DAVID 


Shop 

GILL, JON 

Harrisburg Station 

GILL, STEVEN 

Depew Station 

GRANN, GARY 

Waterloo T&E Crew 

Base 

HAESE, WILLIAM 


HALL, DONALD 


HARRIGAN, TIMOTHY 


HERMAN, DONALD 

Wilmington Training 

Center 

INGRO, PAUL 


JEFFRIES, GREGORY 


Shop 

JOHNSON, GAIL 



KAY, RICHARD 


Shop 

KING, STEPHEN 


KYDD, DOUGLAS 


LANHAM, GEORGE 


Shop 

LEWIS, DONALD 


LEWIS, KENNETH 


Shop 

LOWE, GREGORY 

Sanford Station 

MCGUIRE, JAMES 


MCINTOSH, HARRY 


MCKENNA, MICHAEL 


Shop 

MCLAUGHLIN, HUGH 


Station 

MORGAN, MICHAEL 


MURPHY, RICHARD 


NELSON, MICHAEL 

Depew Station 

NOOK, TIMOTHY 


Base 

NUNZIATO, RICHARD 


OMANS, DAVID 


Base 

PALMER, GARRY 


PICCINI, MARK 


RAFFERTY, JOSEPH 


RAPTIS, DINO 


Base

Employee Milestones 

Congratulations to All of You! 

RATLIFF, JEFFREY 


RIDER, ROBBY 


RIDLEY-JONES, LYSA 

Atlanta Station 

RYAN, JAMES 


SCARINGE, GERARD 


SEYBOTH, GERARD 


SEYMOUR, GLENN 


SIRA, WAYNE 


Shop 

SONICK, TIMOTHY 

T&E Toledo Crew Base 

TESSITORE, ARTHUR 


TWYMAN, JAMES 


TYSKA, RAYMOND 

Wilson Station 

ULDRICKS, DANIEL 


ULLERY, JAMES 


Shop 

WALIER, THOMAS 


WARD, HARRY 


WILLIAMS, 

JONATHAN 


WODOWSKI, WILLIAM 

Depew Station 

ABNER, KEVIN 

Odenton M/W Base 

DICKS, TIMOTHY 

Richmond Station 

KAVOUKSORIAN, 

MARK 

Syracuse Station 

SPENN, TERESA 

Springfield Station 

DESENS, ANNE 

Glenview Station 

DUNCAN, REX 


FARTHING, MICHAEL 

Philadelphia Coach 

Yard 

FRANKLIN, JERRY 

Niagara Falls Station 

FULLMER, DENISE 

CNOC 

INGERSOLL, STEPHEN 


LUGO, RAMIRO 

Sunnyside Yard NY 

MURPHY, SHARON 

Mid-Atlantic 



PERKINS, ALICE 



PETERSEN, ARNE 

Seattle Mechanical 

Yard 

RADWAN, KENNETH 

Chicago 

Mech.&Terminal Offices 

RAYFIELD, ISAAC 

Seattle Mechanical 

Yard 

ROBINSON, LYNN 

Chicago 


SEARS, MARCIA 

Seattle Transportation 

Bldg. 

SLUGOSKI, RICHARD 

Conn Dot Commuter 

STANEK, MARTY 


Shop 

STEVENSON, JUDITH 

Philadelphia Coach 

Yard 

SULLIVAN, BRENDA 

Homewood Station 

TRINCIA, FRANCIS 


WALKER, MARGO 

Niagara Falls Station 

WILLIAMS, SANDRA 


Station 

WILLINGHAM, JAMES 

Reno Station 

BARDY, RICHARD 

Beech Grove 

Maintenance Facility 

BATTEN, ROBERT 

Mt. Pleasant Station 

BAUCUM, INEZ 

Corp. HQ, Wash., D.C. 

BOBB, KENNETH 

Beech Grove 


BROPHY, ROBERT 

Baltimore Station 

BUCKINGHAM, 

PAULINE 


CAMPBELL, ROBERT 

Galesburg Crewbase 

CONNELL, WILLIAM 


CONTRISCIANO, 

JOSEPH 


Station 

DAVIS, JOHN 

Jacksonville Station 

DEMAREST, LUCINDA 

T&E Crew Base - El Paso 

EASTMAN, WAYNE 

Chicago 


ENGELHARDT, 

EDWARD 


FINN, ROBERT 


FOWLER, JOHN 

Beech Grove 


FROEHLICH, JOHN 


Station 

GELNER, JOHN 


Station 

GIBBONS, VINCENT 

Paoli Station 

HART, FRED 

Modesto Station 

HAYES, LINDA 


HERNANDEZ, CARLOS 


HERNDON, CHARLES 

Caltrain Main Office 

HILL, EDWARD 

Bear Car Shop 

JOHNSON-COLDING, 

PATRICIA 


KEARNEY, JOHN 


KOLBERG, KENNETH 


Station 

KOSTELAS, JAMES 


KYRIAKOS, JACK 


LARKIN, DIANA 


LUBINSKY, DONALD 

Bear Car Shop 

LUBY, BERNARD 


MACKEY, ALPHONSO 

Perryville M/W Base 

MCCANN, JOHN 


Station 

MCLOYD, ANGUS 

Raleigh Offices 

MEANA, MARK 



MYERS, MARTIN 

Baltimore Station 

ONG, PHILIP 


PAVLAKIS, 

STEPHANIE 

Wilmington Training 

Center 

PECK, ROBERT 


PING, JAMES 

Beech Grove 


POWELL, MICHAEL 



RAED, GEORGE 


Station 

REED, ANGELINA 



ROSS, DIANNE 


RYAN, EMILY 


STEINMETZ, RONNIE 

Material Control 

Facility 

STICKLER, GLEN 

Bear Car Shop 

TURNBLACER, 

CHRISTINE 


TURNER, ELBERT W. 

Oakland Maint. Facility 

VANCL, ROBERT 


WIEGAND, ROY 


WIEKER, FREDERICK 


View Employee 

Milestones online. 

Go to Amtrak.com 

and click on 

“Inside Amtrak” to 

connect to the 

company intranet.

60 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20002 

To change your address, call 1-888-MY-HR-ESC (1-888-694-7372) 

or send an e-mail message to HRESC@Amtrak.com. 

40 Years Ago In Amtrak History... 

1 9 7 1 

Presorted 

Standard 

U.S. Postage 

PAID 

Des Moines, IA 

Permit No. 589 

“The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, known as Amtrak, officially went into business at 12:01 a.m. today. 

It brought to the nation a new era of intercity railroad service, eliminating almost 200 trains, including some famed 

in song and legend, but also promising to provide faster and more comfortable service on those that remained.” 

— The New York Times, May 1, 1971 

“As their last overnight trains arrive this morning in the nation’s major cities, the railroads will officially transfer 

passenger service to the National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak) — a quasi-government corporation created 

last year by Congress with presidential appointees as directors.” 

— The Washington Post, May 1, 1971 

“Certainly the drastic surgery represented by Amtrak is better than letting rail passenger service continue to suffer 

a slow, lingering death.” 

— Deseret News editorial (Salt Lake City), April 30, 1971 

“Spokesmen for the company said [the name] Amtrak had been chosen after a selection process that started with 

about 1,000 candidate names. The object was … to find a word that was short, easy to pronounce and remember, 

conveyed a sense of speed and ‘modernity,’ and was not restricted to rail travel, since the corporation hopes to 

some day offer service on high-speed trains that travel on a cushion of air rather than wheels.” 

— The New York Times, April 20, 1971

May 2011 - Amtrak

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