Whether the end of private passenger service in the US was "inevitable" is
one question. I'm not convinced it was, but given America's social,
political, and economic realities of a half-century ago, that was certainly
a logical and prudent conclusion. If Mr. Menk was simply trying to be a
hard-nosed businessman and adjust to those realities, it's hard to begrudge
him. As he said in his infamous PR on the demise of steam fan trips,
railroads cannot be expected to be operating museums (or something to that
effect).
What I've heard, though, is that he instituted policies which went far
beyond any necessary cost-savings, and which were gratuitously abusive
toward passengers, in an attempt to discourage them from riding the trains,
in order to support his case. I don't know how true those allegations are.
If they're false, then please return to paragraph one. If true, he was
neither a good businessman nor a good person; and he deserves no honor or
respect in my book.
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