| Amtrek has turned back the pages of history to learn how early innovators solved some of the same problems we confront today. What we've discovered may help bring Amtrek up to speed with the 20th century. | |
| One way Amtrek may cut expenses is by reducing the physical size of tracks and rolling stock. Interestingly, many historians have forgotten that such was the case with most early trains, including the original transcontinental railroad. This archive photo shows the famous meeting of the rails in 1869 at Exclamation Point, Colorado. President Grover Cleveland drives the silver spike. |  |
| Amtrek is reducing our dependence upon ticket revenue by carrying more freight. The problem? Not enough Express and baggage cars. This drawing (circa 1840) shows how we might use our rolling stock more efficiently by relocating passenger seating to the exterior of cars. (All mail and freight could be stowed safely inside coaches and sleepers.) According to newspaper accounts from that era, passengers found that the open-air seating provided "an unparalleled scenic vantage point and invigorating ride, especially in the brisk winter months." |  |
| When breakdowns occur, Amtrek trains often sit for hours while rescue engines are dispatched. This could be avoided by simply permitting the guests to assist in moving the stalled locomotive. After all, why delay an entire train when three or four sturdy women can do the job? This news photo shows several passengers pulling the disabled "Anthracite Limited" into Scranton, Pennsylvania in July, 1934. |
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