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A special Amtrak passenger train (engine #402) pulls up next to the old Chicago & North Western Railroad depot in downtown Ames. Excited residents carrying balloons and placards greet the train, an event arranged to demonstrate to Amtrak officials the enthusiasm of the people of central Iowa for a restoration of passenger service. (Ames had its last passenger train service in 1961.) Mayor F. Paul Goodland (3/19/1930-9/17/2004), during his tenure as mayor of Ames (1980-1990), had campaigned tirelessly for the re-routing of Amtrak through central Iowa where the bulk of the state's population live, but the federal rail service continues [2005] to pass through Iowa on tracks in southern Iowa. The placard held by the man in the far right of the photo reads FAMILY FARMERS NEED A HELPING HAND. People used media events to publicize the plight of Iowa's farmers during the farm credit crisis of the 1980s.