One Morning in Jackson, Michigan

It is a pleasant June 28, 1997, summer morning in Jackson, Michigan. I’ve drive here to spend a day catching Amtrak trains. From here I would drive to Battle Creek to catch the International in both directions on its Chicago-Toronto trek and end the day getting trains in Ann Arbor.

At the time, trains in the Chicago-Detroit (Pontiac) corridor were powered by P32-8 locomotives built by General Electric. The units were pointed east, which meant they pulled eastbounds and pushed westbounds.

Facing west was a cab car, either a former F40PH that had been rebuilt into a non-powered control unit, or a former Metroliner car serving as a cab car.

Amtrak owned 20 P32-8 units that it received in December 1991. They wore a stylized Phase III livery that was unique to these locomotives. It wasn’t long before railfans began calling them “Pepsi cans” because of the resemblance of the livery to a beverage can design of the time.

It also was a time when trains between Chicago and Detroit had individual names of Wolverine, Lake Cities and Twilight Limited.

In the top image No. 504 is pushing the Lake Cities out of Jackson toward Chicago. In the bottom image, No. 513 is pulling the Wolverine into the station.

Notice the mismatched style of the number boards above the front windshields.

Although P32s saw service on long-distance trains, they were most commonly used in corridor service. The “Pepsi can” look lasted a few years but eventually gave way to Phase IV.

The special Phase III livery used on the P32s was revived this year when a P42DC No. 160 was repainted in that livery.

Rolling Out of Ann Arbor

Amtrak’s eastbound Lake Cities has completed its station work at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is departing for its next stop in Dearborn

The F40 on the rear is actually a car car, having had its prime mover and other engine parts removed.

It used to be F40PH No. 215 and probably pulled a number of trains past here in the past.

Amtrak trains on the Chicago-Detroit route are now all named Wolverine Service and F40 cab cars are seldom seen.

This photo was made on June 28, 1997.

Working the Baggage Car

An Amtrak station agent loads baggage onto the baggage car of Train No. 353, then named the Lake Cities.

At the time some trains in the Chicago-Detroit corridor offered checked baggage service, but that has since ended.

No. 353 still runs but is now named Wolverine Service and no longer originates in Toledo, Ohio, as it once did.

At one time the Lake Cities ran between Chicago and Toledo, offering connections at the latter to and from Michigan points with the Lake Shore Limited.

Waiting for Time in Toledo

Amtrak F40PH No. 347 will lead the Lake Cities out of Toledo, Ohio, after the departure of the Lake Shore Limited, which can be seen on the far track doing its station work.It is a sad day in Toledo, Ohio. On April 1, 1995, Amtrak’s Lake Cities began its final trips to Chicago from Central Union Terminal.

Tomorrow, the Lake Cities will begin operating between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, thus bringing to a close an era that began on Aug. 3, 1980, when the Chicago-Detroit Saint Clair was renamed and became a Chicago-Toledo train.

The purpose of that move was to offer connecting service at Toledo with the Lake Shore Limited for Michigan passengers.

That move was a fulfillment of a plan that Amtrak had in 1971 but never implemented. The original Lake Shore was to have a Toledo-Detroit connecting train, but it never operated due to poor track conditions. By 1980, the former Penn Central route the train would have used had been rebuilt by Conrail.

A budget shortfall that led to a massive Amtrak route restructuring in 1995 would doom the Lake Cities in Toledo. Since this April day in 1996, passengers connecting in Toledo to and from Michigan points have traveled by bus.

 

LSL Reroute Rumors Flying

The National Association of Railroad Passengers is reporting that rumors have been flying that Amtrak is considering re-routing the Lake Shore Limited through Michigan.

NARP said some reports have the train being rerouted via Detroit, Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo as early as this October and that the reroute would be experimental.

Amtrak has acknowledged that such a route is being studied as part of a “very high level analysis of options for the future,” NARP said on its website.

In the NARP hotline feature posted last week, the rail passenger advocacy group said it has heard the Lake Shore rerouting rumors from sources inside and side of Amtrak.

The group noted that the Michigan Department of Transportation has expressed interest in seeing a long distance train between Chicago and the East rerouted through Michigan.

Amtrak for several years ran its Chicago-Toledo Lake Cities via Detroit. Scheduled to connect in Toledo with the Lake Shore Limited, the Lake Cities was discontinued between Toledo and Detroit in April 1995 as part of a route-restructuring.