That ’70s Look

It is the summer of 1978. Amfleet equipment and F40PH locomotives have been operating on Amtrak’s Midwest corridor trains for nearly two years so the equipment can’t be said to be brand new anymore.

Still it is relatively new enough to be the look of the future having come to pass.

Steam-heated passengers cars are a thing of the past on the corridor routes, but still see service on some long-distance trains in the region.

But on the Chicago-Carbondale-New Orleans route head-end power is the rule. Steam-heated equipment is not coming back.

Shown is the northbound Shawnee, train No. 392, arriving in Mattoon, Illinois, in early evening. The equipment is state of the art for its time with an F40, two Amfleet coaches and an Amcafe. The train will halt at Chicago Union Station in more than three hours.

Tags: Amtrak, Amtrak F40 locomotive, Amtrak F40PH locomotives, Amtrak in Mattoon Illinois, Amtrak Midwest Corridor trains, Amtrak photographs, Amtrak photography, Amtrak Photos, Amtrak trains, Amtrak's Shawnee, black and white photography, F40PH No. 225, Midwest Corridor trains, Midwest rail service