Originally published November 7, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified November 7, 2007 at 8:16 PM
Amtrak turning train into rolling billboard
Perennially cash-strapped Amtrak has found a new way to generate revenue — by turning an entire train into a moving billboard. A train used on...
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Perennially cash-strapped Amtrak has found a new way to generate revenue — by turning an entire train into a moving billboard.
A train used on the Acela Express, the railroad's premium Boston-Washington, D.C., service, will be wrapped in an advertisement for the History Channel's "1968 with Tom Brokaw," a two-hour special scheduled to air Dec. 9.
It's the first time an entire Amtrak train has been wrapped and the first time the technique has been used at all on the Acela, said Cliff Black, a spokesman for the railroad. He declined to say how much the History Channel was paying for the privilege.
The wrapped train, which will run up and down the northeast corridor from Nov. 12 to Dec. 9, will feature recognizable images from 1968 — including the faces of Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Dylan, Richard Nixon, Robert F. Kennedy, Arlo Guthrie and Goldie Hawn — said Steve Feder, president of Corporate Image Media, which helps Amtrak market advertising opportunities.
The vinyl wrap will appear on both sides of the train's two locomotives and six cars. It will be visible from the outside but won't impede the view out the windows, Amtrak said Tuesday. Posters advertising Brokaw's program will also appear inside the wrapped train.
Wrapped buses and subway cars have become a popular advertising platform in recent years, and Amtrak has done it with individual rail cars and locomotives. In one creative application, the railroad dressed a locomotive as a Toyota Tundra truck, making it look as if the pickup was towing the train.
Feder said Amtrak has proceeded somewhat cautiously when it comes to train wraps because it won't accept just any advertiser. The History Channel is something that would appeal to the business traveler that the Acela service is aimed at, he noted.
But Amtrak has more to worry about that in its reputation with travelers. The federally subsidized company must also take care not anger anyone on Capitol Hill with such deals.
"The History Channel has a stellar reputation for its programming," Black said. "We think this is a good fit, politically and commercially."
Black noted that Congress has encouraged Amtrak to be creative about generating revenue and thus should be pleased with the deal.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Grab the kids and hop on Amtrak for a stress-free getaway to Portland
Travel notes: Sand-sculpture contest on Long Beach Peninsula
NEW - 11:20 AM
Climbers may be barred from Australia's famed Uluru rock
UPDATE - 11:20 AM
Getty Center, college evacuate due to LA fire
NEW - 12:10 PM
Museums celebrate Apollo 11, 40 years after first moonwalk

Gen. David Petraeus: Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
Watch highlights of General David Petraeus discussing the Iraq and Afghanistan War at the Global Leadership Series sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Friday, Jul. 10th
- Posh on Main Semiannual Sale
- Kibbn Storewide Summer Sale
- Market Street Shoes and Market Street...
- Julep Nail Parlor "Sandal-Ready and S...
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
- Driver killed, deputy and prisoner injured in head-on crash near Monroe
- House Democrats likely to alter intel bill
- Drunken man shocks Spain with his generosity
- Movie review | "Brüno" struts his stuff to hilariously expose intolerance
- Chase will no longer sponsor Lake Union fireworks
- Authorities keep investigating Ill. cemetery
- Mass. files lawsuit against federal marriage law
913 - Health-plan costs soar for individuals
523 - Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners: 07/09 game thread
243 - Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik again declines to quell Yuniesky Betancourt trade rumors
146 - World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
126 - Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
91 - Wednesday night notes
86 - Pay parking in West Seattle?
76 - Franklin Gutierrez bails Mariners out in a 3-1 win
75 - House Dems want to expand secret briefings
63
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- World's largest solar plant may be built in Cle Elum
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- Grab the kids and hop on Amtrak for a stress-free getaway to Portland
- During financial crisis, the business of college sports is complicated by Title IX
- Local Smith & Hawken garden stores to close
- Green River Valley plans ahead for possible flooding
- Pay parking in West Seattle?
- Jerry Large | Issues of aging affect all
