F40s Were Still the Motive Power of Choice

Amtrak’s eastbound Lake Shore Limited saunters through Berea, Ohio, on March 30, 1996.

No. 48 was running late that day although I no longer remember how far behind scheduled it was.

At the time, F40PH locomotives were the motive power of choice on the Lake Shore.

But not for much longer. Already P40 units were on the property and Amtrak would begin taking delivery of P42DC locomotives starting in August 1996.

For those who like to pay attention to consists, Nos. 48 and 49 in this era was a mixture of three equipment types. Heritage fleet baggage cars, sleepers and dining cars co-mingled with Viewliner sleepers and Amfleet coaches and cafe cars.

The Lake Shore also had a healthy load of material handling cars tacked on the rear carrying mail and express shipments.

That is a Conrail auto rack train passing No. 48 on Track No. 1.

Going to be Crowded Trains Today

The Thanksgiving travel period is a busy one for Amtrak and is one of the few times of the year when the passenger carrier operates extra sections of some trains.

The Chicago-Carbondale, Illinois, corridor is not one of those routes that is getting or have had extra sections in the past, but Amtrak did plan to increase the capacity of trains in the corridor.

Shown is the southbound Saluki arriving at its station stop in Mattoon, Illinois, on Nov. 24.

The image was made from the Richmond Avenue bridge north of the station.

Slower Than We’d Like

Shown is a schedule for Amtrak’s Broadway Limited from the mid 1970s. Penn Central was still the host railroad and its tracks west of Pittsburgh were not in great condition.

Therefore Amtrak placed a notice that the schedules were slower than PC was required to provide but faster scheduled were not possible at this this time.

Left unsaid was that PC was in bankruptcy proceedings and couldn’t afford to fix its tracks.

But even with these schedules Nos. 40 and 41 were still subject to delays, some of them major.

The symbol next to times at Canton and Crestline, Ohio, denoted that tickets could only be purchased for some or all trains at this station.

They were to be purchased either from the conductor or a travel agent. There was no cash penalty for buying your ticket aboard the train if no agent was on duty at train time.

The letter “e” for Canton and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, indicated that the train stopped on signal to pickup or drop off passengers.

The train would stop eastbound at Gary only to receive passengers and westbound to discharge them.

Boarding in Memphis

Passengers getting onto the northbound City of New Orleans board in Memphis, Tennessee.

It is 10:30 p.m. and Train No. 58 is running on time. It will depart in 10 minutes for Chicago and all scheduled intermediate stops.

New Acela Equipment Poses in Hornell

The new equipment that Amtrak plans to put into service on its Acela Express service in the Northeast Corridor posed for a photographer this past week.

The equipment is being built by French company Alstom in Hornell, New York, and one of the train sets was rolled out of the shop as shown above.

The new equipment is expected to begin revenue service in 2021 and will replace equipment that itself was a replacement when it began service nearly 20 years ago.

That equipment, which some have dubbed “The Fast Pig” replaced Metroliner cars built by Budd originally for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Metroliners operated in the NEC for about 30 years.

The equipment being built in Hornell is billed as lighter, sleeker and faster than what it will replace.

Headed for Chicago

With it’s station work at Waterloo, Indiana, compete, Amtrak’s westbound Lake Shore Limited is now headed for Chicago.

But first there will be intermediate stops in Elkhart and South Bend, Indiana,to make.

Train No. 49 is running about an hour late so there is no time to waste. It is also following traffic, including the Capitol Limited so opportunities to pick up time might be limited.

As usual, a Viewliner baggage car is bringing up the markers on No. 49.

Milepost 367, measured from Buffalo, New York, is located just beyond the western edge of the Amtrak station platform.

No. 29 Had Locomotive No. 1

The westbound Capitol Limited has reached the end of the line at Chicago Union Station.

Passengers and disembarking and the crew is looking forward to going off the clock.

As I made my way toward the station head house I turned to make a photograph of the lead locomotive of No. 29, which on this day was P42DC No. 1.

Not many railroads have a locomotive No. 1 but I have photos of Amtrak No. 1 and CSX No. 1.

On an adjacent track is a Metra commuter train.

Keep That Guy’s Herald Off of Our Railroad

In June 1972 Amtrak operated a second daily train between Chicago and Los Angeles that was known as the Chief.

The motive power for the Chief was Santa Fe F series passenger diesels that had been assigned to the Chicago-Houston Texas Chief.

Nos. 15 and 16 were assigned former Union Pacific E units.

When they could, Santa Fe maintenance forces would obliterate the name and herald of their western rival.

Their handiwork can be seen on Amtrak 1427 and 1371 pulling the eastbound Texas Chief into Joliet, Illinois, on Aug. 6, 1972.

The Chicago-Los Angeles Chief lasted just one summer and Santa Fe F units returned to the Texas Chief in September.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

That 70s Look in an Amtrak Dining Car

It is breakfast time aboard Amtrak’s westbound National Limited in April 1977.

The passenger carrier has been around now for almost six years and still sports the blue and red colors that dominated its interior look in its early years.

Note the water pitchers are a bright red. Then again, when was the last time that Amtrak put water pitchers on the table in the dining car?

My how things have changed over the years.

I didn’t record where the train was when I made this image, but I had boarded in Dayton, Ohio, so Train No. 31 was probably in western Ohio or far eastern Indiana.

The National Limited and the tracks Nos. 30 and 31 used between Dayton and Indianapolis are mostly gone now.

Hoosiers Waiting for the Hoosier State

It’s a Friday morning in Lafayette, Indiana, and a crowd is gathering on the platform for the Chicago-bound Hoosier State to arrive.

The train is on time and will be in the station shortly.

It is a ritual that won’t be playing out much longer for today is the penultimate run of the northbound Hoosier State.

After Train No. 851 departs on Sunday morning the only Amtrak service in Lafayette will be the tri-weekly Cardinal.