This says it all.

This is a view of the TXARP booth.

Howard Bingham (TXARP Diredctor) is pushing Travel Planners.

Mike Smith on the left with Howard Bingham on the right

Action at the TXARP booth.

On October 13, Howard Bingham and I (Mike Smith) set up the TXARP booth at the GATS in the Humble, TX rodeo arena.    Howard brought the TXARP poster, the Amtrak route map, and the map of the US rail lines.    The US rail line map became very popular during the two day exhibition.    Howard also brought 5 cases of Travel Planners and 2 cases of Time Tables to pass out to all of the visitors, along with recent pictures of the Houston Amtrak station. Howard's pictures proved useful for several people that didn't know Houston had an Amtrak station!     I brought my Amtrak HO train consist (over 11 feet long) and several 8x10 pictures of my recent California Zephyr train trip through the Rockies.    We had set up lots of "eye candy" for the passer-bys and the GATS people had given us a very nice location right in the center of the show.    This helped to move over 4 cases of Planners and over a case of Time Tables.    We had lots of people stopping by and stating they wanted to take an Amtrak vacation.    Most of the questions were "Can I get there from here?, What's the most scenic trip?, I have relatives there.    Can I take the train?, Is there much room in the sleepers?, When is Amtrak going to expand?, and Is Amtrak going to disappear?".    Howard and I were able to answer most every question.     I was surprised at the number of people that did not know about the "fly - ride" option with Amtrak.    We spent time explaining the fly to "wherever" and ride Amtrak back or fly to "wherever", ride Amtrak through the scenic parts, and fly home options. Overall, I think we helped "spread the word!". Mike Smith