01.28.2009 11:39 am
Missouri Amtrak trains to be called Missouri River Runner
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
No one can say MoDOT doesn’t throw a good party.
Amid free coffee and juice and general good cheer, the Missouri Department of Transportation and Amtrak announced the winner of a contest to name the Amtrak corridor between Kansas City and St. Louis.
Keith Kohler of Glendale won the contest with the name “Missouri River Runner.” He said the ride from Kirkwood to Kansas City follows the river, which gave him the idea.
“It just kind of came to me,” he said.
The name, and a new logo, will debut in the spring.
Just kinda sings, don’t it?
“Missouri River Runner?” That sounds like something you’d name a barge after, not a passenger train. Anyways, the route only runs along the river for not even half of the trip, so “river” is rather redundant. I think the name was better than some of the other choices, however (yes, “Sho-Me-MO” actually made it as a finalist), which leads to to believe MODOT didn’t really take the time to judge the 8,000 other entries, and some convoluted process of who-knows-who probably won out over more quality entries. Since Harry S. Truman is a Missouri icon and frequented this route via the Missouri Pacific many years ago, I think a variant of “The Harry S. Truman” would have been better suited.
Benjamin: - He’s excited you’ll see the studio.
Noah’s Wife - Oh, the studio.
That’s where the magic happens.
Benjamin: - You work in TV?
Noah’s Wife - No, but I watch a lot.
Benjamin - Of course you do. You’re creative.
Noah: She came up with the name Noah’s Arcade.
Noah’s Wife: I just opened my mouth
and out it came.
You’re a lucky man, Mr Vanderhoff.
Whatever its name, we could use more of it. Three daily trips each way would be a good start.
What does the Missouri Department of Highways (aka MODOT) care about trains? The only play in their playbook is more roads, wider roads, bigger roads. Perhaps they wanted to give a token gesture to other forms of transportation?
Scott, I feel your pain — they didn’t like my entry either. And I thought “The Ribs & Ravili Limited” had a lilt, too.
Or “Ribeyes to T-bones — Steaks on a Train”
They should call it the money pit. I see 1 billion of the “stimulus package” is going to Amtrack. How much money needs to be thrown at this debacle? Sell it! Let private investors get a bullet train to Chicago up and running. Can’t we please step into the 21st century? For god sakes go spend time in Europe if you want to know what it should look like.
w chamption, most of the superior rail in Europe is nationalized.
Sounds nice. I like it….