FORT MADISON, Iowa — A. G. Moore, his white hair poking out beneath his time-worn Amtrak cap, was helping passengers board the Southwest Chief on his last ride as conductor on the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route, the Boston Globe reports.
After almost 40 years of working Midwestern rail lines as a flagman, brakeman, and conductor, the 60-year-old Moore was calling it quits. He would get off in Kansas City, and not get on again.
Moore may not be the only one saying goodbye to Amtrak.
Amtrak has said it will eliminate 18 money-losing long-distance rail lines if Congress does not agree to a $1.2 billion subsidy package by October.
Service on the profitable Northeast Corridor is not expected to face drastic cuts, though two routes originating from Boston, one to Chicago and the other to Virginia, may end.
Overall, the biggest impact is likely to be on the Midwest and the West. The Southwest Chief is among the longest passenger rail routes, spanning plains and mountain ranges. Other western routes include the Empire Builder – which runs from Chicago to Seattle and Portland; the California Zephyr, from Chicago to the San Francisco Bay Area; and the City of New Orleans, from Chicago to New Orleans.
On a recent Wednesday night, Moore and the Southwest Chief pulled out of Fort Madison, in southeastern Iowa, with 146 passengers, almost three-fourths its capacity.
”That’s better than the airlines do,” said Mike Heim, a businessman who had driven nearly six hours from Wabasha, Minn., to catch the Chief in Fort Madison for a meeting in Hutchinson, Kan.
”If I had flown to Kansas from Minneapolis overnight like this, it would have cost me more than $800,” Heim said. ”I can come on the train tonight, do my meeting tomorrow, catch tomorrow night’s train, and be back Friday for $131.”
The Chief not only carries thousands across the plains to the cities of the desert Southwest and beyond each year, but like the other long-distance lines, it also takes small-town residents to schools, families, medical centers, and business meetings.
”Americans depend on Amtrak more than Congress realizes,” said Don Epperson, a ticket agent at the Amtrak station in Fort Madison, a blue-collar community of about 10,500.
An Amtrak spokeswoman, Kathleen Cantillon, said, ”We recognize the roles our trains play in smaller towns, including an important role in economic development.” But she said Amtrak must receive federal support to continue the service.
The Fort Madison station is a rail-travel hub in an area that includes parts of three states – Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.
”We get some people from 250 or 300 miles away in northern Iowa,” Epperson said. More than 8,000 people board and depart the train in Fort Madison every year, he said.
After leaving Fort Madison an hour late at 8:15 p.m. the Chief headed southwest through the Missouri night.
Passengers watched movies on elevated monitors, or exchanged stories over drinks in the lounge car. Many read books or played card games. The high-tech types clicked on video games or watched CD movies.
As the Chief headed toward Kansas City, many began settling down for the evening, curling up in their coach seats. Others retired to sleeper cars, which although not spacious and much more expensive, were favored by the long-distance, more elderly travelers.
Jim Smith, his wife, Nancy, and their two teenage sons from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were getting as comfortable as they could in their coach seats as the Chief lumbered over sometimes bumpy rails toward Kansas.
The Smiths were bound for Los Angeles, and eventually, Bakersfield to visit relatives.
”For us, this is much less expensive than flying,” Jim Smith said, noting that getting out of Iowa by air on the cheap isn’t easy, since there are no major airline hubs in the state.
In Garden City, Kan., about 700 miles from Fort Madison, older residents frequently board the eastbound Chief to see medical specialists in Kansas City.
”Driving is not always an option for some of our people,” said Norma Nichols, director of a committee on aging in Garden City. ”I would hate to see us lose Amtrak service. We get more and more isolated out here as time goes by.”
Many small to midsized communities like Dodge City, Kan., which the westbound Chief pulls into about 6:30 a.m., struggle against efforts to eliminate air service to their communities. Bus lines continue to drop smaller towns from their routes.
Three thousand passengers board and get off the Southwest Chief in Dodge City annually, according to Andy Stanton, director of the Dodge City Convention and Tourism Bureau.
”We get lots of tourists who stop here for 24 hours and get back on the next train on their way west,” Stanton said. ”They see our attractions and stay in our motels. It would be a shame if we lost Amtrak.”
After pulling out of Dodge, the Chief generally followed the Santa Fe trail as it cut into the southeast corner of Colorado before turning south into New Mexico.
Aboard the Chief, as it climbed to the Raton Pass at the Colorado-New Mexico border, was Shantel Begy, 18, who was headed home to Kirtland, N. M., from Trinidad State College in Trinidad, Colo.
”It’s handy transportation and it’s not expensive,” Begy said.
Her family will pick her up at the station in Gallup, N. M., and then drive almost two hours back to Kirtland. The price of the Amtrak ride – $103 round trip – allows for occasional visits, she said.
As connector towns brace for the possible loss of their stations, Moore, the conductor, reaffirmed his optimism on his last ride.
”I don’t think the American public will let them shut it down,” Moore said.