Remembering the Hannibal Zephyr

In October 1996 the St. Louis chapter of the National Railway Historical Society ran excursions on Saturday and Sunday between St. Louis and West Quincy, Missouri, over a former Burlington Route line. Most passengers disembarked in Hannibal, Missouri, and spent several hours in Mark Twain’s hometown.

I elected to stay aboard to West Quincy and return because my primary interest was in getting some rare mileage, which interested me at the time.

I didn’t make too many photographs and most of those were made before boarding in St. Louis and in Hannibal where I was able to disembark for a short time.

The consist was Superliner coaches and a Sightseer lounge. It was pulled by P42DC Nos. 61 and 6.

At West Quincy, the train turned on a wye. You may remember West Quincy as being the western terminus for several years of Amtrak’s Illinois Zephyr.

The top and middle images above were made in Hannibal. The bottom image was made in St. Louis. At the time, the St. Louis station was the “temporary” modular structure that some dubbed “St. Louis Union Trailers.”

The RoadRailer at right are a throwback to the days when Amtrak sought mail and express business as a way to garner more revenue. Note the sign on the pole giving instructions to the westbound Texas Eagle where to stop.

LSL Along the Hudson

The leaves are turning to their fall colors as the New York City section of the Lake Shore Limited rolls along the Hudson River at Breakneck Ridge, New York, in October 1998. On the point is P32DMAC No. 709, which was built by General Electric in August 1995. This segment of the route of Nos. 48 and 49 features some of the best scenery between New York and Chicago that can be viewed from this train.

On Board Friends?

I don’t know if these two guys know each other or not. They were chatting by the vestibule of the first eastbound Pennsylvanian to stop in Cleveland on Nov. 7, 1998. It was an extended stop in order to accommodate a welcome ceremony. The conductor is George Sanders. I never did learn the identity of the other guy or even if he was a passenger aboard the train or just talking with the conductor as the train stood on display in the station.

On its Way to the Station

Amtrak’s Chicago-bound Lincoln Service No. 302 is just moments away from making its station stop in Springfield, Illinois, as it rolls along down South Third Street. No. 302 is the second northbound of the day out of St. Louis for Chicago. Today’s consist is a pure Horizon Fleet offering. The photo was made on March 1, 2022.

Amtrak Savior

The F40PH has been described as the locomotive that saved Amtrak. The passenger carrier was able to subsist on E and F units for a few years. The SDP40F was expected to become the mainstay of the long-distance fleet, which it was for a few years.

When the F40 was on the drawing board it was seen as a corridor locomotive that would pull the new Amfleet equipment. That did happen, but the F40’s mission expanded as Amtrak gave up on the SDP40F and traded in many of them for orders of new F40s.

Shown above is F40PHR 259 in Joliet, Illinois, on March 31, 1978. The 259 was built in December 1977 with the “R” its model designation indicated that an SDP40F was traded in for it. In this case that was SDP40F No. 591.

The 259 would later be acquired by the Panama Canal Railways in 2001.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Hiawatha in Northbrook

A Hiawatha Service train blasts through Northbrook, Illinois, without stopping on May 20, 1998. City officials have explored establishing an Amtrak stop here. Currently Metra trains stop in Northbook at a station build by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific. Amtrak might be reluctant to stop in Northbrook because it already stops a few miles away in Glenview.

Saturday Memory: Inter-American in Joliet

It is March 1977 in Joliet, Illinois. Amtrak’s southbound Inter-American is in the station making its first scheduled stop after departing Joliet, Illinois.

At the time this image was made Nos. 21 and 22 operated daily between Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas, and tri-weekly south of there to Laredo, Texas.

The Inter-American began in 1973 as a tri-weekly train between Fort Worth and Laredo. It’s northern terminus was moved to St. Louis on March 13, 1974, and to Chicago on Oct. 31, 1976.

The severe winter of 1977 resulted in the Inter-American being canceled south of St. Louis between mid-January and early February.

The consist seen above of steam-heated cars pulled by an SDP40F locomotive would remain standard during the first half of 1977. By August, though, Nos. 21 and 22 would have F40PH locomotives on the point.

The equipment changed again on Aug. 8, 1977, when the Inter-American was given an Amfleet consist.

The Inter-American was renamed the Eagle on Oct. 1, 1981. That same day the train received Superliner equipment and its Houston and Laredo sections were discontinued, thus making it a Chicago-San Antonio train.

Nos. 21 and 22 were renamed the Texas Eagle on Nov. 14, 1988, when it also regained a Houston section., which diverged at Dallas. The Houston section was discontinued on Sept. 10, 1995.

In the photo above, a portion of Joliet Union Station can be seen above the train.

Morning on the Lake Shore Limited

The westbound Lake Shore Limited rolls into Waterloo, Indiana, at almost 9:30 a.m. on March 20. The side of the train reflects the rising sunshine. The consist was three Viewliner sleepers, five Amfleet II coaches, an Amfleet food service car, Viewliner dining car for sleeping car passengers, and a Viewliner baggage car.

See the Horizon in Glenview

Milwaukee-bound Hiawatha Service No. 334 has an all Horizon equipment consists as it prepares to depart Glenview, Illinois. Note the differing liveries of the two coaches. On the point is a GE-built P32-8 locomotive.

Saturday Memory: Grungy April Day in Joliet

It is a grungy April 20, 1973, day in Joliet, Illinois. The southbound Abraham Lincoln has just departed Union Station en route to St. Louis.

At the time, the Chicago-St. Louis trains originated in Milwaukee and ran through Chicago Union Station.

The train will use a former Gulf, Mobile & Ohio route and GM&O motive power was common in the early Amtrak years.

On the point today, though, is former Penn Central E8A No. 4061 — built for the New York Central in April 1952 — and ex-GM&O E7A 101.

The Amtrak train is about to pass an ex-GM&O Alco RS-1, which is by the signal bridge south of the station.

Photograph by Robert Farkas