European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Up photo the los Angele Seattle coast Starlight passes mount from Chicago to be with Loans float Taf and lilacs Wong the Losa Orleans Amtrak push to improve by Josef Hebert associated press a conductor directs passengers aboard an Amtrak up photo when Graham Claytor became president of he quickly made known his dislike for the food on his Bud get cuts had forced freshly prepared entrees to give Way to Frozen dinners heated in a microwave arguing that Good food would attract Clay Tor promptly ordered that meals again be freshly prepared on Board and even restored China and silverware to some dining while not the most momentous decision by Claytor since he took Over the nations passenger Railroad in the new policy reflected Amtrak push in recent years to improve while at the same time facing pressure to hold Down not Many years ago Amtrak attracted headlines for run Ning trains that were often had no and almost half the time didst arrive on much of that has but the which was created As a private corporation by Congress and began operating in 1971 so the freight lines could bail out of the passenger is again fighting for survival More some supporters than at any time in its Amtrak has bought nearly new cars Over the past decade replaced its old locomotives purchased a computerized reservation system tied in with the airlines built one of the Industry most modern repair facilities and is about to finish a billion track improvement project along the Northeast it has improved its onetime record to better than 90 percent and has seen a Sharp reduction in the Reagan administration announced earlier this month it wants to eliminate Federal subsidies for the a move that most Railroad experts say would Force it out of which carries 20 million passengers a year among about 500 communities in 43 is getting million from the government this it has asked Congress for a similar amount for the fiscal year that begins next but says transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole at a time when deficit reduction is our highest National we can no longer afford to provide Railroad subsidies that primarily Benefit Passen Gers in the Middle and upper income even without Federal some form of passenger rail service would be expected to survive with states or private investors Likely to come up with the she the suggestion was met with widespread scepticism in Railroad rail experts noted the railroads already found once that they  make a profit hauling states also in the past flirted with trying to operate an intercity train and the debate Over the future of Amtrak is about to unfold in in the past Amtrak has shown itself to be one of Washington most durable in the Carter administration wanted Amtrak routes Cut by 43 per after the dust the Rollback was limited to 16 Amtrak faced another Challenge in 1981 when the Reagan administration sought Sharp cuts in its subs saying the Railroad should be limited to a few Urban corridors such As the Bosto new Yor Washington Cor Congress disagreed and left the system but this Amtrak supporters say the assault is More when the president singles you out for elimination in the state of the Union message youve got to says Ross Capon of the National association of Railroad a lobbying group whose primary concern is continuation of passenger rail service in this yet Amtrak also has some powerful allies in Senate majority Leader Robert r told an interviewer last week that he doubts Reagan will be Able to eliminate Money for although he suggested the subsidies might Well be in the James chairman of the subcommittee that handles Railroad says the elimination of Amtrak assistance makes absolutely no sense and would Cost More than it would Amtrak officials and the railroads supporters arc that the subsidy Money will get caught up in a frenzy to reduce the most Likely in the to head off the Amtrak plans to argue two major Points that while Amtrak service has its Reli Ance on taxpayer Money has declined in each of the past five years with no government sources of income expected to cover 60 percent of its costs next that the elimination of Federal funds would mean Amtrak would have to shut Down and that that might prove to be More expensive than the subsidies them the administration will counter that billion has been poured into Amtrak and that today the taxpayer pays an average of for each Amtrak ticket it will the subsidy loss does not necessarily mean total loss of rail passenger service and that the costs of whatever shutdown is required can be paid through the liquidation of Amtrak the most expensive Cost associated with a shutdown involves Severance payments to about Amtrak workers who would lose their jobs if Amtrak goes Amtrak estimates the labor Protection Costa billion Over six years and argues the government will have to come up with the if were bankrupt were sure not going to be Able to met labor Protection says Timothy an Amtrak vice but president reagans office of management and budget suggests the Federal government has no obligation for labor Protection these costs would be funded out of the court supervised liquidation of assets in full or in says an bomb memo on How Large those assets would be is anybody what is not in dispute is that a shutdown of Amtrak would affect Many people in Many parts of the coun in where there is no East West bus service and the interstate is far to the its a necessity for said mayor Raymond engine 614 just look at the the alive new York times Ever so engine 614 moved out of the train Yard at Gray plumes of smoke rising rhythmically from the at the Start of a 150mile run through the mountains of West Virginia to four big Black wheels on each Side turned in their Tempo controlled by gleaming Silver twice the whistle blew plaintively to announce the As if to jog the memories of those within the big Black steam engine gained Speed slowly As it moved past Railroad buffs who braved winding roads and wintry weather forecasts to watch a piece of history live just look at said one visitor from new York the the pistons its reliving memories of freight hauls through the Coal the steam powered locomotive was pulling tons of Coal to the Railroad town of Hinton at the Confluence of the new and Greenbrier once King of the the steam engine has been Rele gated to the museum by the development of the diesel electric but almost 30 years after the last scheduled steam train was taken out of service in West engine 614 was making three runs a week in january at the head of a freight train on the Chessie system it is part of an Experiment to see if the steam engine can return to service in a More efficient form and replace the diesel engine As the prime mover of freight on the nations according to the Man who was running the Ross Rowland Rowland said he thought steam would a Railroad Buff since childhood and a self made millionaire in the commodities Rowland conceived and ran the american Freedom a steam powered train that toured the coun try to commemorate the Bicentennial in 1976 he bought engine 614 four years refurbished it and founded american Coal of to try out his the engine was built by the Lima locomotive works in in one of the last steam engines manufactured in the United it was the Rise in availability of and its that led the diesel to replace the steam powered but Rowland said the increase in Oil prices in the 1970s led him to use his experience with old steam engines to begin developing a new steam engine that would incorporate advances in technology to Burn Coal More cleanly and in addition to engine and its Coal and water a Laboratory on wheels has been making each trip to record the Thermal efficiency of the Coal combustion process using differ ent grades of Coal and to measure the Wear and tear on the engine carrying varying freight at end of january the data was to be Analysed and used in building a prototype engine that is to be tested sometime in if that testing is Rowland said it could change the Railroad Industry and rejuvenate the Coal mines of West at engine 614s first Hays chairman of Chessie systems Parent said he would buy the new generation of steam engines if they the new which would be known As the Ace would look More like a diesel engine than its steam powered therell be no smokestack because we need an environmentally clean Rowland but Well still have the steam Between the state and Row land drove the train and blew the whistle especially for the Benefit of children standing near the children were everywhere along the eyes open their gloved hands waving at the their parents and other adults watched and when they were not taking americas Romance with steam travel did not end when the engine disappeared from the historical Socie ties devoted to the Railroad exist around the country and their members travel far and wide to see an old Model of a steam the steam engine has a said wild a 75yearold Massachusetts resident who is the trea surer of the railway and locomotive historical you can see it not like the it was the Crew of engine 614 that made sure it several times on the when the steam pres sure began to Tom a grim faced threw open the firebox and flailed away with a big wrought Iron poker until the pressure Elwin an Engineer with 39 years of service to the Chessie kept Rowland informed of the the Speed limits and the Progress of trains farther along the line through radio and his left hand on the his right hand changing looked alternately at the track and his an Engineer practising his it never gets he you have to concentrate 100 percent of the this train cant Stop on the although engine 614 is capable of speeds in excess of 100 Miles an Rowland Chessier regulations permit freight trains to go no faster than 40 Miles an hour with a full so the train chugged fast enough for the Crew to feel the winds bite on their but not too fast that the landscape passed by As afternoon turned into the train neared Hin windblown smoke Hung Over the cars like a Scarf As the engine rounded the final Rowland blew the whistle one Long last to announce the trains arrival and a Stop for the night before retracing its path the next new York photo steam engine 614 hauls a string of freight cars through the mountains of West Virginia on its Way from Huntington to Page 14 it it it the stars and stripes March the stars and stripes Page 15