Fage 2-Tuesday, September 13, 1977-The Michigan Daily
Amtrak cuts redcaps on East Coast run
NEW YORK (AP) - Steam locomo-
ives, Pullman cars and observation
ars with platforms have been gone
rom the Washington to New England
ailroad tracks for years. And now the
edcaps who carried travelers' bags for
nore than 80 years will work their last
:ay today.
Amtrak, hoping to trim its operating
losses by $3.3 million, will eliminate 180
jabs along the Washington-to-Boston
route, including the 180 redcap posi-
tions in the 10 stations along the four-
prack mainline corridor that carries 40
r cent of Amtrak's passenger load -
37,000 persons in the 10 stations along
the four-track mainline corridor that
carries 40 per cent of Amtrak's pas-
senger load - 937,000 persons in June
alone. The elimination of the redcaps
will save $1.4 million a year, an Amtrak
spokesperson said.
SOME OF THE redcaps will be trans-
ferred to other jobs within the national
passenger train company, but those
without enough seniority will have to
look for employment elsewhere.
At Grand Central Terminal, once a
center of passenger trains but now
mostly a commuter station, Aaron
Jones, a redcap for the past four years,
was standing with his handtruck wait-
ing to be called.
"I'm hoping I'm not one of the ones to
go out on the street, but if it happens, it
happens," Jones said. "There's going
to be a lot that will be hurt."
JONES JOINED AMTRAK in 1973
when redcaps became salaried and no
longer worked mostly for tips. They
now make $48.80 a day in wages..
"But that's not very much when you
consider the cost of living," Jones said,
though he declined to add just how
much he got in gratuities to supplement
the daily salary.-
Redcaps were established in 1896 as a
special service of the New York Central
and Hudson River Railroad during the
heyday of high speed steam passenger
train travel.
THEY WERE PAID a piece rate for
baggage they carried and later
received tips. The redcap idea caught
on and the genial, often-courtly porters
became fixtures throughout the nation.
Thomas Ramsey of Amtrak said that
to cut costs it had been determined that
service cuts would have to be made
either in baggage handling or ticketing
and Amtrak believed more passengers
would benefit if the lines were kept
short at the ticket counters.
Sue Stevens, a spokeswoman for Am-
trak, said yesterday that elimination of
the redcaps only applies to the. North-
east corridor so far..
"BUT THE REST of the system is
faced with personnel cuts, too, although
they have not been announced yet," she
said.
She noted that Amtrak's newer sta-
tions feature airline-type baggage
handling with conveyor belts and air-
line-style checking of luggage.
In Pennsylvania Station, now buried
beneath a complex of office buildings,
and Madison Square Garden, dozens of
redcaps were in action yesterday with
barely a moment to speak. They hauled
loads of baggage on carts from the un-
derground labyrinth of tracks. One red-
cap, followed by two people, had nine
bags stacked on his handtruck.
PAUSING A MINUTE, G. Henry -
he rushed off before his first name was
learned - said he had been with rail-
roads, first the Pennsylvania, then
Penn Central, then Amtrak, for 30
years, 13 of them as a redcap.
"It's really too bad," he said. "I'm
sorry for the younger fellows. They'll
be out. I might stay or I might take my
pension. I'm 60. But I'll be here tomor-
row for the last day."
As he was about to reminisce about
his years of railroading, Henry was ap-
proached by a small, elderly, white-
haired woman.
"Young man, are you the redcap they
sent for my bags."
"No, ma'am, But I'll be glad to help,"
Henry said. "Sorry sir, I have to go."
TH E PINK TRIA NGLE
During the Third Reich in Germany, people were sent to concentra-
tion camps for various reasons. If it was your homosexuality for which
the Nazis singled you out, you were forced to wear a pink triangle. It
has been documented that as many as 250,000 people wore this symbol
to their deaths.
the pink triangle has now become a symbol of the efforts
against the continuing oppression of people who choose not to hide their
gay feelings and against the fascist mentality behind this and other
forms of oppression. We ask everyone who supports this struggle to
wear a pink triangle and to speak and act against gay oppression where-
ever they see it.
Pink triangles will be distributed free on the Diag - or
in the Fishbowl in dose of rain-on Tuesday, September
13 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Senate supports ban
I
RUDRANANDA ASHRAM
is offering techniques in begin-
ning meditation and kundoline
Iyoga.
Monday-Wednesday 5 P.M.
640 Oxford 995-5483
COMING OUT GROUPS FOR MEN
For men who are beginning to deal with their gay
feelings * starting in late September * meeting
once a week for three hours for ten weeks * an
opportunity to give support and be supported by
people in your same situation 0 call Tom or Tony
at 995-9292.
0000-0000000 000*0B 0 op ppp@000
on gas-guzzlng
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate de-regulation ofr
yesterday rallied behind a proposal The 9-9 vote b
to outlaw the production of fuel- intact Presiden
inefficient automobiles after 1979, for raising thec
rejecting an effort to strike the ban gas from $1.45
from an energy conservation bill. feet to $1.75.
On a 55-27 vote, the Senate af- Republicans a
firmed the recommendation of its however, planne
energy committee to require all 1980 one attempt toda
model year cars to achieve at least 16 the Carter pric
miles per gallon, a minimum that 1981 and to a hig
would rise to 21 miles per gallon by
1985. THE -PROP(
ineffieiend cars
IN A SEPARATE action, the ferent than the
energy committee itself narrowly President Carte
rejected a plan for the gradual which calls f
natural gas prices.
y the committee left
t Carter's proposal
ceiling on interstate
per thousand cubic
nd oil-state senators,
ed to make at least
ay to gradually raise
e ceiling to $2.41 by
gher level after that.
OSAL to ban fuel-
is substantially dif-
approach taken by
r s energy program,
or taxes on such
leaders, including
ackson (D-Wash.),
posal as a' possible
that tax, which is
considered by the
Committee.
n Riegle (D-Mich.),
ponent of the - gas-
um, complained that
re going to get both"
minimum standards.
cars
yNancy Dickerson, prominent national correspondent, reports for Detroit Edison:
B'efore another cold winter, learn about the heat pump.
Its one of the mnost energy' eficdent ways to heat your home.'
*
automobiles.
Some Senate
Sen. Henry J
billed the prop
alternative to
currently being
Senate FinanceE
But Sen. Doni
the major opp
mileage minimu
"I'm afraid we'
the tax and ther
THE HOUSE has already passed a
watered-down version of the tax. On
a 52-28 vote the Senate rejected a
second proposal by Riegle that would
have invalidated the minimum mile-
age standards if Congress enacts the
fuel tax.
Existing law requires the auto
industry to produce cars with a fleet
average of 27.5 miles per gallon by
1985. But this law does not prohibit
inefficient cars as such, so long as
enough fuel-efficient cars are pro-
duced in each model year to offset
the less-efficient cars and still meet
fleet requirements.
The Senate proposal would retain
this 27.5 mile-per-gallon fleet stand-
ard, but would also establish new
minimum mileage requirements.
AUTO MAKERS could face fines
up to $10,000 for manufacturing cars
that exceeded the specified mini-
mum standards.
Jackson told colleagues it was time
to send "a signal to the auto
industry" that the day of high-
consumption autos are numbered.
The Senate also voted 56 to 25 to
reject a proposal to take away free
parkin places held by some federal
government workers.
SEN. CHARLES Percy, (R-Ill.),
sponsored the proposal, which would
have required that federal workers
- including members of Congress -
who now enjoy free parking pay the
same rates charged by commercial:
parking lots.
He said the fees would have
encouraged more use of mass transit
by federal employes.
Today's heat pump is one of the most energy-efficient
ways to heat your home, apartment, office or commercial
building. It returns over 1 '/ units of heat for every unit
of energy it uses.
Think what this can mean in conserving energy and
helping to keep your heating and cooling costs down.
There's a unique reason why the heat pump is an
outstandingly efficient heating system.
It makes good uso of outdoor heat.
Yes. Even in winter there's heat in the outdoor air that
can help keep you warm. The trick is to move that heat.
inside where you can use it. That's what the heat pump
does. Only during very low temperatures is
supplementary heat needed.
In summer, the heat pump moves heat out of your home
for energy-efficient cooling. It's an all-year comfort
system that also filters and dehumidifies. And it's clean
because no fossil fuel is burned in your home.
The heat pump works something
like your refrigerator.
A heat pump is more sophisticated, but it works in much
the same way. Imagine the cold air iri your refrigerator as
the cold winter air outside your home. The hot air that
you sometimes feel being blown into your kitchen is
actually being extracted from the cold air inside the unit.
This is how the heat pump warms your home. In summer,
the process is reversed to cool your home: the heat in the
inside air is extracted by the heat pump and moved
outdoors.
Here's how the heat pump works.
Conserving with comfort.
Detroit Edison wants you to know about the heat pump
because it generally is the'most energy-efficient way to
provide homes and buildings with year-round comfort.
The heat pump can also be an important answer to
conservation because the natural heat it uses helps save
our non-renewable fossil fuels.
As a concerned participant in America's crusade for
conservation, Detroit Edison is working hard to do its
part. But it requires a working partnership between those
who supply energy and those who 'use it. So if you're
planning on buying, building or replacing your present
heating system, consider a heat pump as part of your plans.
winter
.e7 J-r -
summer
*"",
See for yourself.
You can see heat pumps in the new homes displaying
the Detroit Edison EEE Award. This Award is
presented to builders who incorporate energy-efficient
excellence standards into their homes-including proper
insulation, energy-efficient appliances and lighting,
as well as electric heat pump heating and cooling. Ask
Detroit Edison for names and locations of builders
who have EEE Award homes on display.
Detroit Edison has a folder, "Your all-
season space conditioner, The Heat
Pump' Pick one up at any Detroit
Edison Customer Office and learn
more about this energy-efficient way to
heat and cool homes and buildings. Or
write to: Customer Relations, Detroit
Edison, 2000 Second, Detroit, Michigan
48226.
E
r
::::
a
Conserve for all it's worth.
T I ItP .7Cin . inds.
I