Getting back on track(s) with a Casual Conversation after a short hiatus, on Sunday, November 20 at 3 pm Eastern Time, Bill Coulson will speak with us about passenger rail in the United States. Here is Bill’s outline and background. Get your old Lionels in tip top shape for the discussion and to circle your Thanksgiving turkey, Chanukah menorah, and Christmas tree.
From Bill...
"The Renaissance of Passenger Rail in the US"
Topics for discussion can include -
- A brief history of the rise and fall of passenger rail in the US by the 1960s.
- Why the rebirth, starting in the 1970s.
- Where we are today - commuter rail, urban light rail, the Amtrak national system, the Amtrak state-supported trains, tourist line rebirth, private ventures in Florida, Texas, LA to Las Vegas, the California high-speed project.
- Would work in somewhere the history of passenger rail to Dartmouth College.
- Challenges going forward - what's it all about?
My background:
I have NOT been in this field all my life. I have practiced law - as a Federal prosecutor and then as an IP litigator- since 1972. I was traumatized as a teen when the electric railroad that ran past my house in Waukegan, IL was allowed to go bankrupt and was torn up!
Became a passenger rail advocate. My Dad and then my bride Beth were elected members of the Illinois Legislature and whom I worked with for passenger rail. Then in 2007 the elected Cook County Board appointed me to be a Director of the Regional Transportation Authority (a part time job) to help run the Chicago-area transit system (CTA, Metra, Pace bus). The Board keeps re-appointing me and now I am the Senior Member. We work with Amtrak and interact with other transit agencies across the country. I authored several Guest Editorials in Florida newspapers supporting the Brightline project, and was called to Orlando to testify on the project before the Florida transportation agency. So my 'hobby' has morphed into an avocation - a labor of love. I'm still a lawyer, however.
Beth and I have ridden trains on every continent except Antarctica (a pity); and we are training east tomorrow to attend Homecoming in Hanover (via White River Junction and Burlington, VT).
I hope this topic will hold everyone's interest, and I look forward to your tenacious cross-examinations!
Bill Coulson
And don’t forget the central role that passenger rail has played in American (and British) cinema. The Narrow Margin, Silver Streak, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, The Lady Vanishes, Murder on the Orient Express, The Shanghai Express, The Harvey Girls (which features the Johnny Mercer song “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qBBc4lgO9I ), and Twentieth Century. The play that was adapted into Twentieth Century was also made into a musical, On The Twentieth Century: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYoRwQWgA5c . The lyric of that musical rings with romance of the rails: “Life and love and luck may be changed, hope renewed and fate rearranged, on the Twentieth Century.”
Usual rules apply. Let me know if you intend to join us by sending me an email at arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com by close of business the Friday before, November 18. I will send a Zoom link out that Friday or on Saturday.
Arthur Fergenson
P.S. And a final word from Bill:
“Don't forget the many classic railroad songs: "City of New Orleans," "Orange Blossom Special,” "The Wreck of the Old 97,” "Charlie and the MTA,” "Casey Jones,” "Rock Island Road,” "I Been Workin' on the Railroad,” etc.
“Attendees should be encouraged to bring their railroad whistles, bells, and steam sounds!”