93.501.3

Residents of Ames wait for the arrival of a special Amtrak train which would soon stop at the old Chicago & Northwestern depot in downtown Ames on December 9, 1986 (see p. C1, December 10, 1986, AMTRAK ROLLS TO ROUSING AMES WELCOME, in "The Ames Tribune"). The placard held by the man on the right side of the photo reads SAVE OUR FARMS. People took advantage of the media coverage to get some publicity for the Iowa farm crisis of the 1980s. F. Paul Goodland (3/19/1930-9/17/2004), during his tenure as mayor of Ames from 1980-1990, worked to convince federal railroad officials to re-route Amtrak through central Iowa. Though he and other promoters of passenger train service through Ames were unsuccessful in changing the route from its southern Iowa crossing, they at least got some serious consideration from Amtrak which included this promotional trip over the old Chicago & North Western (later, Union Pacific) tracks.