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The Penn Central's James Whitcomb Riley prior to Amtrak was well patronized between Indianapolis and Chicago's Central Station via the former New York Central/Illinois Central route through Kankakee. Once the train reached the IC mainline at Kankakee, it would fly up the welded rail line and...

I went to college in Southern Indiana and traveled through Indianapolis many times prior to Amtrak and after Amtrak. Originally Indianapolis was one of the most convenient Union Stations. The tracks were all elevated so no street crossings. I took the Penn Central's James Whitcomb Riley from...

I heartily agree. I lived in Roswell, GA from 1996 to 2003. There were a number of proposals to start passenger train service from Athens to Atlanta, from Macon to Atlanta and others. No funding was approved for anything except studies which never went anywhere. Once while living in Atlanta...

Both the Southern Railway and the Missouri Pacific had a train named the Southerner. Southern's ran from New York to New Orleans; MoPac's from St. Louis to San Antonio with a section from Texarkana to El Paso named the Westerner which also operated on the T&P.

I have an Official Guide of The Railways from 1916 which is larger than a Sears Roebuck Catalogue. That included many of the Electric Railways which were in their heyday. Many had overnight sleeping accomodations. You could travel to almost any place in the US or Canada by train. There were...

When Amtrak took over US Passenger Trains on May 1, 1971, the only route that operated on Union Pacific tracks was the Chicago to Oakland train the used UP to get from Denver to Ogden. Of course SP was a separate railroad at that time and a number of lines were operated by Amtrak. There was a...

I was stationed at Grand Forks AFB,ND from 1972-75. Many of the crew members were ex GN or NP on the North Coast Hiawatha. The Empire Builder or NCH were rarely cancelled and were the only public transportation moving. In 1975 we had several blizzards where Greyhound or the airlines were not...

Memphis was a major gateway city until the early 1960s. It was possible to connect from various western and southern cities to the northeast, eastern and southeastern cities. The passenger trains were scheduled to make good connections. For example you could travel travel from Los Angeles via...

I made a circle trip out west in 1970. I lived in Jeffersonville, IN at the time. My ticket was issued by Santa Fe's traveling agent in Cincinnati. I had to make a change whilest enroute in Los Angeles so I went to the Santa Fe City ticket office near the Biltmore Hotel. The agent who waited...

Metro Rail to the south from Brickell to Dadeland Mall should not be a problem. One of the stops is Viscaya which is a beautiful home built in the early 20th century with lovely gardens. It is built for "no air conditioning" from the early era. I lived in Miami for a year in South Dade county...

I remember changing trains in Seymour back in the late 1960s from B&O's National Ltd to PRR's every other day Southwind. So which line is blocked?

Excellent Trip Report! You did a great job of pointing out the good and the not so good experiences in traveling by train. Amtrak was just starting when I was in college probably around your age. I have seen a lot of changes through the years. I hope Amtrak responds to you. I hope you are...

I had a neighbor in Minneapolis who was a retired Southern Pacific Passenger Agent, but from the Twin Cities originally. He said as early as the 1950s he was told by his superiors to do anything he could to keep passengers from booking Espee trains. He was located in a city on the Rock Island...

I have traveled on all the current Amtrak routes including some of them multiple times. I have traveled on many pre-Amtrak routes, some of which no longer have rails. I currently reside in Hot Springs, AR and have traveled to and from Hot Springs on the Missouri Pacific route most of which was...

The Pennsylvania Railroad carried as many passengers as the New York Central and had almost a many trains. The Erie also had 3 trains in each direction from Jersey City to Chicago. Until 1958, The Baltimore and Ohio had several trains from Jersey City to Chicago via Baltimore and Washington...

The Rock Island (CRI&P) Railroad was the predominant passenger carrier serving the cities you mentioned. I started riding the Rock Island when I was very young in the late 40s and 1950s. I recall the trains being very crowded and usually made all the stops through the Quad Cities. Rock...

I traveled on Amtrak #9 and #10 which was originally the North Coast Hiawatha and at end the Duluth - Twin Cities Chicago over night train. I was stationed at Grand Forks AFB from 1972 through May, 1975. While the Empire Builder was my train, I also would get a ride to Fargo and catch the NCH...

I lived in Minneapolis from 1975 to 1993 and traveled on the North Star from Minneapolis to Duluth numerous times. It originally departed from Minneapolis' beautiful Great Northern Station and later the Midway Station. It was very well patronized especially on weekends, but not as much during...

I was on the Washington DC section of the Broadway LTD in 1977 when it ran from Washington to Harrisburg and combined with the New York section. According to the conductor, Dean Martin's private car was on the end of the train all the way to Chicago.