I started a conversation the other day with some friends about if I ever ran for President and needed to travel the country, what impact would there be if I decided to go super old-school and get a Presidential train car.
Side conversation; Airforce 1 is the Airliner the Pres flies on. Marine 1 is the helicoper. What would be the train designation?
Major problem is that Amtrak has the lowest priority on our rail network. Getting to a campaign rail-stop on time would be almost impossible without greasing some palms. So you’d have to hook up with a cargo rail line or something like that.
Edit: Now, if you had “improve rail transportation” as a major platform plank, showing up late would be a feature, not a bug.
Legally, passenger rail gets the highest priority.
However, the punishment for violating this is a fine which hasn’t been updated in decades. The rail companies realized a long time ago that it’s better to just take the fine instead of actually following the law.
So theoretically if we got a new president who was into using trains to get around we could have a high speed uscar1 named Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin? Though I assume astronauts wouldn’t be considered explorers and would be reserved for spacecraft the president is on
Correct though it’s unlikely any president will travel by train again given the best security is people simply not knowing where you are going or when. Being trapped in one direction is a big no no.
imagine getting to be late for school because your bus got stuck at a Presidential Train Crossing, and being able to see the copters and jets fly over.
Was it McCain who said that he’d campaign in every state but was said to have regretted it because the time to travel to Hawaii, Alaska and a few other states (Idaho etc) were kid of a waste?
I started a conversation the other day with some friends about if I ever ran for President and needed to travel the country, what impact would there be if I decided to go super old-school and get a Presidential train car.
Side conversation; Airforce 1 is the Airliner the Pres flies on. Marine 1 is the helicoper. What would be the train designation?
Choochoo McTrainFace 1
I read that in Ringo Star’s voice.
It would be a statement, that’s for sure.
Major problem is that Amtrak has the lowest priority on our rail network. Getting to a campaign rail-stop on time would be almost impossible without greasing some palms. So you’d have to hook up with a cargo rail line or something like that.
Edit: Now, if you had “improve rail transportation” as a major platform plank, showing up late would be a feature, not a bug.
Legally, passenger rail gets the highest priority.
However, the punishment for violating this is a fine which hasn’t been updated in decades. The rail companies realized a long time ago that it’s better to just take the fine instead of actually following the law.
US-CAR 1 or uscar 1. We’ve had several before so it’s not particularly an abstract.
They’re all named after great explorers, Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan etc.
So theoretically if we got a new president who was into using trains to get around we could have a high speed uscar1 named Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin? Though I assume astronauts wouldn’t be considered explorers and would be reserved for spacecraft the president is on
Correct though it’s unlikely any president will travel by train again given the best security is people simply not knowing where you are going or when. Being trapped in one direction is a big no no.
You KNOW that they’d have a fleet of helicopters, AWACS, fighter jets and vehicle escorts just hanging around the side of the running train.
imagine getting to be late for school because your bus got stuck at a Presidential Train Crossing, and being able to see the copters and jets fly over.
Was it McCain who said that he’d campaign in every state but was said to have regretted it because the time to travel to Hawaii, Alaska and a few other states (Idaho etc) were kid of a waste?
Land Sealion.
I mean Trainforce1 is right there, but Landforce1 sounds good too
Locomotive 1
Awful for security. Your whereabouts would be known at all times, and the USSS can’t protect every mile of track.
Depends on which branch manages the railcar:
http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/other_cars/1private/us_military/us_military.htm
Spaceforce 1
Amtrak 1?