Can’t You Hear That Whistle Blowing…
On Wednesday at 3pm EST Amtrak will blow their whistle of all their trains. Such a synchronized event happens only once a decade and Wednesday’s will be in honor of my uncle, Earle Stanwood Bagley Jr.
Stan, my mother’s younger brother of 12 years, started working for Amtrak in 1974, not long after the nation’s rail line was created by the Rail Passenger Service Act to create a network of intercity trains. It was his first job after college and a two year stint in the Air Force. My uncle, who stayed in train operations his whole career, eventually becoming President of the North Eastern Corridor, Amtrak’s most heavily used and financially sound sector. He oversaw every train and station, including Penn Station in Y2K and 9-11, as well as the entire deployment of the Acela Express, the first and only high-speed tilting train line in the United States.
In 2002 when Amtrak was on the verge of imploding my uncle was asked by the Board to make his last contribution, by serving as CEO pro tem. He kept all trains running and Congress at bay for 9 months until a successor was found, at which time he retired.
There’s so much more I could say about my Uncle, but I’ll just sum it up with I’m going to miss him quite a bit.
I wish I could get myself near a Amtrak train tomorrow at 3pm EST, but it astounds me to think how many riders all over the United States will hear that whistle in his honor. Stan would have liked that.
