What were you doing on A-Day?

[zepherdude]

I was not 21 yet, but close. We went down to Union Station in St. Louis and watched the new/old trains come and go. My Dad predicted Amtrak would not make it. "They will never last 2 weeks!" We were always big train people. My father called big freight engines "Yard Dogs". I had a friend, old timer named "Slim", who was a Chief on the Missouri Pacific RR. We used to love to go to Union Station watch trains come and go. There was a Harvey House, big clock with speakers and lots of announcements always being made. Lots of old stuff and smoky walls and I remember The Terminal Hotel inside as well. The New York Central, B &O, Illinois Central and The Rock Island Line, that was a mighty fine line were the big dogs of the station.

Amtrak finally pulled out to a shed and the station went down hill and unused and a Hotel went in with lots of exclusive shops and art deco from the Golden Years of trains. Last time I heard the Station was down on its luck again. Another company had huge rehab plans again. No danger of going away, it is on the preserved historic places list. Area where the station is located is pretty high crime and no one goes down there anymore. St. Louis itself, is pretty high crime, I am told. The picture I am posting is from a postcard about 1910.

 

[pennyk]

I was preparing for my wedding one week later (5/8/71), and a 28-day cross-country drive in a two-seat Triumph TR6 roadster that would start 5/9/71. Despite, or maybe because of those 28 days in a TR6 (and motel stops at such romantic locales as York, Nebraska), my bride of that day and I will celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary in one week.

Happy Anniversary Bill.

 

[MrFSS]

I was preparing for my wedding one week later (5/8/71), and a 28-day cross-country drive in a two-seat Triumph TR6 roadster that would start 5/9/71. Despite, or maybe because of those 28 days in a TR6 (and motel stops at such romantic locales as York, Nebraska), my bride of that day and I will celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary in one week.

I'm with you Bill. On A day I was a month shy of being 30, was woriking for the company I would retire from many years later, but also didn't get to ride Amtrak for many years later. And, MrsFFS and I will celebrate 48 years in July!

 

[ehbowen]

What was I doing? Multiplication tables...I was in third grade.

First (and only) pre-Amtrak trip: From Houston to St. Louis, with my mother, on the MoPac Texas Eagle in August 1967.

First Amtrak trip: From Houston to East Lansing, Michigan via the Lone Star and Blue Water Limited with a college age neighbor, July 1979.

 

[chakk]

College student in MD. Photographed the arrival in Silver Spring of the last eastbound Capitol Limited on the B&O that day. Recognized David P. Morgan (then editor of Trains magazine) and Mrs. Morgan detrain. Gave them a ride to the rental car office nearby where they had a booking. A few months later he sent me an autographed copy of his book about diesels on the CB&Q.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I was literally on the last train out of town..I was 27 years old.

I rode the remnants of the once proud Louisville and Nashville Georgian, from Chattanooga to Atlanta.

There were no special festivities for the last run and just a few passengers.

We arrived an inglorious 2 hrs 35 minutes late, not unusual by that time.

There was a newspaper photo of the last run and it listed the employees. In later years I discovered that the conductor was the father of a man I would wind up working with after I moved from Chattanooga to Atlanta in 1977.

Return back from Atlanta to Chattanooga was on the Greyhound bus.

 

[MikefromCrete]

I was 25 years old and started the day by watching the arrival of the first Amtrak southbound South Wind (to Miami) and City of New Orleans at Homewood, IL. Later I made the scene at Chicago Union Station and checked out some of the westbound west coast trains. In those days, you could pretty roam anywhere along the platforms. I doubt if anybody that day thought that Amtrak _ and the intercity passenger trains - would be still be around and thriving 42 years later.

 

[SarahZ]

My mother was in sixth grade, so I wasn't even a thought yet.

 

[reefgeek]

Watching the Erie Lackawanna trains running behind my school in Montclair NJ!

 

[the Other Mike]

I was wondering what the two funny looking cars were, on the IC train....................

 

[jimhudson]

:hi: Happy 42nd Birthday Amtrak! (And Many More! :wub: ) I was working for the DOL in the Job Corps Program and was in Graduate School @ SWT in San Marcos, Tx. (LBJs Alma Mater) finishing up my Masters in Public Administration !(since I was a Government Employee it came in Handy! ^_^ )

I got to ride the Santa Fe Super Chief and the Southern Crescent before Amtrak took them over and have to say that the Service was really Superior to the Early Amtrak Leftover Equipment Rainbow Trains!!

 

[oldtimer]

I was 22 at that time and working for a contractor rebuilding DC-3's - C47's. I had an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics license from the FAA ( I know that makes me a traitor to Amtrak by many peoples thoughts ). At the same time I was taking 12 hours of undergrad studies to finish up my double major BA degree and taking a 4 hour course in grad school. ( I never did finish my MBA ).

I had already been laid off by two other airlines when in April of 1973 I went to work for the Penn-Central in the 12th St. Coach Yard on Amtrak's rainbow trains. May 21 1973 I left the PC and was hired on by Amtrak as one of the first mechanical employees.

oldtimer AKA Al

 

[GG-1]

I was living in Honolulu and raising 2 little boys (ages 1 and 2 1/2). My dad told me about the new rail service, but I was too busy to pay much attention. Sure wish I had listened more!

Aloha

I was in Honolulu also, A year before my Daughter arrived. Every time I tell her age wrong she reminds me she is 1 ear younger that Amtrak. btw I never forget her birthday, I just add the numbers wrong. :giggle:

 

[railiner]

After a whirlwind several months, riding as many discontinued routes/trains as possible, I was at Penn Station - NY early that morning to witness the departure of Amtrak Metroliner #101.

"Tracks Are Back" buttons were everywhere. I still have one......

 

[Anderson]

Since it's come up, my first trip on Amtrak was actually from Williamsburg to Richmond to see Santa at a now-closed department store. The next trip I took was the day the Colonial hit a truck at Bell King Road...my dad almost took me on that train to max out my "train time" on the way to the Greenbrier to see my mother...apparently there was a special train run that connected with the Cardinal. I really want to see if we have some pictures (since I'd be shocked if we didn't).

We almost too the Auto Train to Florida in 2001, but the cost was a bit much all told so we flew. That meant that my next Amtrak trip was with my parents to NYC later that year, to see the Today Show. I remember getting stuck on the tracks in the woods somewhere waiting for a freight to pass...and, of course, dozing off for much of the trip each way. Again, I want to try and dig out pictures.

After that...well, I stumbled onto Amtrak when planning a trip to visit a friend in Florida and never really looked back. I only wish I'd stumbled onto it a few years sooner...I know I could've worn my mother down into taking a trip or two.

 

[George Harris]

I was a few months into my southeast Asian vacation. Was in a construction unit and managed to do my entire tour without getting shot at, an experience I am happy to have missed. Although a lifetime railfan, trains were not exactly on my mind, other than to notice the meter gage Vietnam railroad which ran by Long Binh post. I did ride cross country when I came back, riding the CZ from Oakland to Chicago and the James Whitcomb Riley / George Washington from Chicago to Washington DC. The CZ was fairly well on time, and at that time went through Wyoming, not the Rockies. The GW bounced slowly across Indiana on Penn Central track, arriving in Cincinatti about 3 hours late, but not getting much later the rest of the way in. Both trains had domes. The GW dome was pulled of at Charlottesville as it would not fit into the tunnels into Washington Union Station.

 

[jphjaxfl]

I was 22 y/o and just about to graduate from college on May 1, 1971. I had been frantically riding passenger trains that would likely not survive "nationalization" which was talked about for 2-3 years prior. I was living in the Louisville, KY area. On April 30, I rode the last train on the L&N from Cincinnati to Louisville which was the Pan American that consisted of a 10/6 sleeping car, Counter Lounge Dining Car and 2 coaches. On the afternoon of Saturday, May 1,1971, at 3:30PM, I went to the park by the Falls of the Ohio in Clarksville by the massive Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge that crossed the scenic falls area. On Top of the earthen flood wall was a great place to view the trains crossing the Ohio. I had been there many times to watch the every other day South Wind go south or north. In the 5 years, I had watched the train go from a long streamliner of as many as 18 cars in the winter months to a 4 car Penn Central train with a baggage car, 2 coaches and the 5 bedroom lounge Pine Tree State that provided a Chicago - Lousiville connecting train for the L&N/SCL South Wind which had originated in Louisville for the past 18 months. That Saturday was different. Several people were there to watch for the train. The former Pennsy signal lights went to a straight row up and down indicating the train was in the block. There was a roar in the distance as the locomotives could be heard crossing the I-65 bridge, then the sound of the whistle as the train approached the Ohio River Bridge. Then two L&N E-7 locomotives running elephant style roared onto the bridge followed by a baggage car, two sleepers, a dining car, a full lounge car and 4 coaches. The South Wind had been restored somewhat to its former glory and had become daily. I could smell the sterno logs from the dining car as the crew prepared for the first full dinner service on the train in many months. The L&N locomotives had been in Chicago to cover the Danville Flyer which ran from Chicago Dearborn Station to Danville on former C&EI now L&N trackage and wouldn't been needed after April 30 so were sent back to home territory. After graduation later in May, I spent 2 months traveling around Europe before returning home and joining the Air Force. In the last 42 years, I have ridden every Amtrak route at sometime or other except for the weekend only Cap Codder that ran for a few summers.

 

[jis]

On May 1 1971 I was half a world away, completely oblivious of the creation of Amtrak. I was finishing my Freshman year in college and getting ready to head off to Calcutta for the summer break. Getting to Calcutta involved a 6 hour bus ride to Delhi and then an overnight train ride on the then new Rajdhani Express, pulled by an EMD LaGrange built WDM4 class diesel engine. Steam was still around. Electrification to Delhi was still a few years away. War clouds were gathering. The genocide in what was then East Pakistan had started and Calcutta was getting inundated with refugees. The US had already warned India not to interfere in East Pakistan, and it was clear that India was going to ignore that warning when the time came. But the brief military action that created Bangladesh was still 7 months away. The iron lady, Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister.

It was another 6 years before I landed in the US (again). My first ride on Amtrak was on the NEC sometime in 1978. I don't remember the exact date. It was on an Amfleet equipped train. It surely was a named train, but I do not recall the name. And no it was not on a Metroliner. The AEM-7s were yet to arrive. The power on that train was an E60. HEP was still a new concept on Amtrak. There were these power cars converted from baggage cars to provide HEP on Amfleet (HEP) trains pulled by GG-1s. Most NEC stations in NJ still had low level platforms. NJTransit did not exist yet and NJT Rail Operations was still 5 years away.

 

[Shanghai]

I was working and paying taxes!! I am no longer working, but I still pay taxes!!

 

[Bob Dylan]

I was working and paying taxes!! I am no longer working, but I still pay taxes!!

That's what you get for Living in New Jersey! :giggle:

 

[Ocala Mike]

I was working as a Technical Writer for a company subcontracting for Grumman on Long Island, still trying to "find myself" after a 4-year hitch in the USAF.

 

[PaulCross]

At age 14, I was supposed to be taking the former GM&O back from St. Louis to Chicago, but a wildcat strike killed that and we had to ride the bus instead. Passenger staff was surly, mean and uncooperative back then, and on the balance is much better now.

 

[Nathanael]

42: the answer to life, the universe and Amtrak. Happy 42nd birthday to Amtrak!
What were you doing on May 1, 1971?

Several years before I was born? I think my parents were married by then, but actually that might have even been before that!

 

[TimePeace]

Counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds leading up to my discharge from the U.S. Navy (less than a month away). Trains were the furthest thing from my mind - the day after I got out I began hitch-hiking from Westerly RI to San Francisco (Made it in 3.5 days... slightly longer than if I had taken the train).

 

[the_traveler]

the U.S. Navy ... the day after I got out I began hitch-hiking from Westerly RI

Why were you in Westerly? The Naval base was in Groton, CT - 15 miles farther west - or Newport, RI - 25 miles east!