Seems Like a Silly Thing…Until You Ride a Dirty Train

by Joe Aiello, Director of Community Engagement and Organizing

For better or worse, what I’m about to jump into is a topic that (1) has been covered a number of times by members of the Association staff (for example: here, here, and a mention from me here) and (2) shows up in my inbox multiple times a week.

And it’s actually not about how beautiful my son is. (I mean, he is, though).

We are going to briefly talk about clean trains. Again.

Don’t get me wrong, the title of this blog might seem like I’m making light of the subject. But if you have followed some of my work adventures on social media - especially recently - you will know that it has been a big pet peeve of mine.

I sent the above photos (this is from three different trips in the last few years out of Chicago) directly to contacts at Amtrak. It just became so bad. I don’t care if you are on the train for 3 days or 3 hours, you deserve to have a clear view of the outside world going by. It’s why traveling by train is so beloved.

So that brings me to why I am writing this today. I was invited to take part in a tour of the up-and-running wash facility (which started back on a regular basis last month) just south of Chicago Union Station. A building I have been passed about a thousand times growing up on the Southside. The group included members of the media, yard workers, and a number of Amtrak officials - including President Roger Harris.

[A quick note on Mr. Harris. Not only was he there for the tour - he was very involved, talking to everyone, asking the yard crew questions to better understand the process. While we were in the train waiting to go through the wash, he was fixing the recline on some seats in the car. Amtrak Execs, both rightfully and wrongly, catch a lot of flack from very passionate online circles. But I will give a stick tap to Roger on this one.]

After a few false starts, it seems like it is now good for the long haul. I know there are more than enough items to point fingers at Amtrak for these days but, after talking to the guys who run the yard, some of this really was out of Amtrak’s hands. As my boss talked about in a past blog, Amtrak was starting to look at Plans D, E, and F to figure out how to get these fully operational again. The Chicago rack needed a complete replacement to the tune of $6.3M and needed to pass EPA regulations and testing to run.

New pumps, water recycling, chemical storage, new foundations, leak prevention, complete demolition and rebuilding of older systems, and engineering to reduce building maintenance. This was an absolute team effort in the Chicago yard.

Four of these facilities have completed construction and are operating (Chicago, Seattle, NOLA, and Boston - with Seattle & NOLA joining Chicago in a full replacement). Three others are through the design phase (DC, Goleta CA, and Sanford FL), and four more are “design in-progress” (LA, Rensselaer NY, Sunnyside, and Hialeah FL).

I made a comment to a fellow tour-mate along the lines of who would have thought a “car wash on steroids” would be this in-depth and fun to check out.

Much better, right?

You can watch a highlight video of the facility, including us riding a train through the process, here

I’ll see you onboard - and we can see out the window.

Oh! Wait! Hold up!

I almost forgot something. What would a “Joe Blog” be without some random pop culture reference?

I mean, it was obvious, right?

You’re welcome.