Fifteen years ago today, regularly scheduled Acela Express service began on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, New York and Boston. From now through February, Amtrak will mark the anniversary with special“Acelabrations” for customers and employees. Surprises on the trains, in stations and elsewhere are planned as Amtrak pauses to celebrate this milestone. In a series of blog posts starting today and extending into February, we’ll take a look back at the journey to Acela Express and explore the service's future.

Acela Express pulls into Boston South Station on Nov. 16, 2000
following a special run for invited guests.

Although Acela Express entered revenue service on December 11, 2000, the American public had received its first glimpse of modern high-speed rail a month earlier. Then-Amtrak President and CEO George Warrington, along with the Amtrak Board of Directors, welcomed aboard federal and elected officials and members of the media for a special preview trip on November 16. “Every generation is marked by breakthroughs. The launch of Acela Express is one of the defining moments of this generation. It puts passenger rail back in the big leagues as a first-rate competitor,”¹ said then-Amtrak Board Chairman Gov. Tommy Thompson at the inaugural run.

The sleek, aerodynamic trainset – one of 20 designed and built by a consortium of Bombardier and Alstom– included six passenger cars positioned between power cars at each end. The power cars have 6169 horsepower and are capable of reaching speeds of 150 mph over current NEC infrastructure. The passenger cars incorporate tilt technology, in which they can handle curves at higher speeds than conventional equipment by leaning into them.

The Acela First Class car features spacious 1x2 seating.

Walking the trainset’s length, guests discovered four Business Classcars each with 64 plush seats in a 2x2 arrangement and an accessible seat with space for a wheeled mobility device; a First Classcar with 43 seats in a spacious 1x2 configuration plus an accessible seat with space for a wheeled mobility device; and a Café car with counters and stools. Amtrak highlighted the trainsets’ “hundreds of modern comfort features…including conference tables, improved restrooms, phone points, spacious and easy-to-use overhead bins [and] comfortable seats with electrical outlets.”²

Following a christening with champagne at Washington Union Station, the train headed north to New York and then to Boston South Station where it was greeted by a colorful burst of fireworks lighting the evening sky. Describing his experience, Matthew L. Wald of The New York Times wrote that Acela Express was “part airliner and part living room…quiet enough for a six-man a cappella group, Vocal Tonic, of Atlanta, to perform clearly in the aisles…” Touring the cabin, he called it “positively supersonic, with electronic screens like those in jetliners.”³

On October 18, 2000, then-Amtrak President and CEO George Warrington (r), receives an oversized version of the key card that starts an Acela Express trainset from Richard Sarles, Northeast Corridor vice president of high-speed rail. Left to right: FRA Administrator Jolene Molitoris, Sarles, Sen. Bill Roth (Del.), Deputy DOT Secretary Mortimer Downey, Amtrak Board Member Amy Rosen, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Warrington, and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (N.Y.)

Then-Amtrak Director of Media Relations Cliff Black recalls, “The much-anticipated ‘first run’ of the Acela…included high-level dignitaries from government, business and manufacturing. There were representatives from many railroads, including France's SNCF.  [In]…New York there was a large media and public turnout, hosted in part by Henry Winkler, who played ‘The Fonz’ on Happy Days.” Winkler was joined by New York Governor George Pataki, former New York Mets player Keith Hernandez and cast members of Broadway show Fosse who performed a song. Therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer also made an appearance.⁴

New posters featured the Acela Express and the
cities it serves.

John Robert Smith, who at the time was mayor of Meridian, Miss., and a member of the Amtrak Board of Directors, chuckles when thinking back to that first VIP run. “I remember the day very clearly. Winkler first introduced George Pataki, followed by Amtrak officials including me. There was a contingent from Mississippi in the crowd and many on-board service crew members that I knew from my frequent travels on the national system. They cheered when my name was called; Pataki then turned to those gathered, joking: ‘I’m the governor, but the mayor of Meridian is better known in New York!’”

On October 18, 2000, Amtrak announced that regular Acela Express service would begin on December 11, with tickets available for sale on November 29.⁵ Initial service included one daily round-trip between Washington and Boston, with more frequencies added to the schedule as additional trainsets were delivered.⁶“The new Acela was a great boost to the morale of all Amtrak employees, and it proved to be a star marketing tool for all Amtrak,” says Black. Ridership from December 2000 through the end of the fiscal year in September 2001 amounted to approximately 462,000 passengers. New frequencies and the benefit of extensive marketing helped grow ridership to about 2.5 million the next year.

Looking back on the Acela Express launch, Smith says, “It was the first modern high-speed train to be built in the U.S. [Amtrak leadership] was sure Congress and the administration would see the wisdom of this investment, and that has proven to be so.” He adds, “The entire nation helped build Acela—it was visionary and aspirational transportation. We considered it the first step toward higher speed rail, and it spurred agencies in other states to pursue rail improvements based on the economic benefits of enhanced service.”

"The entire nation helped build Acela Express - it was visionary and aspirational transportation...It is the sparkling gem of a national passenger rail system." - John Robert Smith, former Amtrak Board Member.

With 15 years of successful operation, Acela Express is today known for offering superior comfort, upscale amenities and polished on-board service. Hourly departures during morning and afternoon rush hours offer easy downtown-to-downtown connections. Nearly 43 million passengers have ridden Acela Express since its launch. As a sign of the service’s ongoing popularity, peak frequencies often sell out. “It is the sparkling gem of a national passenger rail system,” says Smith. “In just 15 years it has gone from something rare and unusual to something expected—for many in the Northeast, it is simply part of day-to-day life.”

Amtrak is making investments that will position Acela Express service to meet the demands of growing ridership while also supporting the mobility and economic needs of the greater Northeast. In early 2016 the company will announce a contract to acquire the most technologically advanced high-speed trainsets ever to operate in North America for the next generation of Acela Express service.

In addition to being faster and lighter, each trainset will have 40 percent more seats than those currently in use. There will also be 40 percent more trainsets, allowing Amtrak to increase the number of departures during peak hours. These new trainsets will provide a smoother ride and a host of other amenities that build upon the high quality of service that customers have come to expect. The first of the trainsets is expected to enter service in 2019.

Going hand-in-hand with advancing the next generation of Acela Express is a need to improve the NEC infrastructure. The rail line is the busiest in North America; approximately 2,200 Amtrak, commuter and freight trains operate over parts of the NEC every day, carrying an average 750,000 commuter and Amtrak passengers every weekday.

This intricate coordination takes place on infrastructure whose key components, such as the Hudson River Tunnels into New York City, the Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in New Jersey and the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnels in Maryland, are more than a century old. The last opened only eight years after the Civil War concluded.

Without significant investment to add tracks, eliminate chokepoints and upgrade electrical, communication and signal systems, the NEC will not be able to keep up with the Northeast’s expected growth. As the majority owner of this complex commuter and intercity rail network, Amtrak knows that its future depends on the investments made today. It’s critical that elected leaders, stakeholders and community members make infrastructure improvements a top priority. Learn more about investing in our infrastructure by visiting the Amtrak Northeast Corridor website.

Did you ride Acela Express at the time of its launch? Share your memories with us in the comments section below!

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¹“Now boarding: Acela Express,” Amtrak Ink, December 2000/January 2001.

²“It’s official,” Amtrak Ink, March 1999.

³ Matthew L. Wald, “High-Speed Train Makes Flashy Debut,” The New York Times, November 17, 2000.

⁴ Laurence Arnold, “Acela Express Garners Raves,” ABC News, Nov 17, 2000.

⁵“Amtrak announces the start of Acela Express service,” Amtrak Ink, November 2000.

⁶ Ibid.

Regularly scheduled Acela Express service began on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, New York and Boston on December 11, 2000. Through February, Amtrak will mark the anniversary with special “Acelabrations” for customers and employees. Surprises on the trains, in stations and elsewhere are planned as Amtrak pauses to celebrate this milestone. In a series of blog posts, we’ll take a look back at the journey to Acela Express and explore its future.

For many involved with the Acela project, the launch of revenue service in December 2000 was the culmination of years of planning and countless hours of work, as well as the fulfillment of a decades-long dream to bring modern higher speed rail to North America.

Metroliner trains were born of a partnership between the
Pennsylvania Railroad and the federal government.

Following the passage of the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, which authorized the U.S. Secretary of Commerce¹“to undertake research and development in high-speed ground transportation,” the federal government worked with the private railroads to pursue high-speed rail demonstration projects. They were to be “designed to measure and evaluate such factors as the public response to new equipment, higher speeds, variations in fares, improved comfort and convenience, and more frequent service.”

A notable achievement was the Metroliner program developed in the late 1960s with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR).² New high-speed, self-propelled electric cars built by the Budd Company, in partnership with Westinghouse and General Electric, were designed for use on the PRR’s busy corridor between New York and Washington.³ Amtrak took over the service in 1971, increasing frequencies to keep up with demand. Although this demonstration program was generally deemed successful, a young Amtrak had to make careful decisions about how to best use its limited resources.

The Swedish X2000 moves through the Cascade Range on
its 1993 national tour.

Further investments in high-speed rail would have to wait, as the nation’s new intercity passenger rail operator faced an immediate need to create an organizational framework; hire and train employees; upgrade and standardize rolling stock and station facilities acquired from predecessor railroads; institute a comprehensive national reservations system; and craft a national marketing program.

Then-Amtrak President and Chairman Alan S. Boyd noted in the company’s 1981 annual report: “International [high-speed] rail technologies…have long been enticing for the U.S. and have great potential in populous corridors between larger cities. The corporation has refrained from involvement with these systems until the basic, conventional passenger train network was reestablished and operating efficiently. Success in bringing profitable high-speed rail passenger service to the U.S. will create a public awareness of all rail travel…”

The German Intercity Express passes through Bridgeport, Conn.

Serious planning for higher speed rail over the entire Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington and Boston began in the early 1990s. A push came when Congress passed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, which stated that “It is the policy of the United States to promote the construction and commercialization of high-speed ground transportation systems…” including high-speed rail. The Act also authorized the appropriation of funding for research and development and technology demonstration projects.

Amtrak leased two European trainsets for testing on the NEC in 1992-1993: the Swedish X2000 and the German Intercity Express (ICE). They were chosen because both could travel at higher speeds than conventional trains on existing main line track; unlike contemporary French and Japanese high-speed trainsets, they did not require new, dedicated tracks. During testing on the NEC, the X2000 achieved a speed of 155 mph and the ICE reached 165 mph.⁴

Before Amtrak decided on "Acela Express" as the
name of its new high-speed service, it was referred
to as "American Flyer."

“We were looking for public reaction to these operations and ran both trains in revenue service on Metroliner schedules,” says then-Amtrak Director of Media Relations Cliff Black. “They were a big hit with the public, as one might imagine. They were sleek-looking, modern, comfortable and smacked of the future...the American public's appetite for new, higher-speed trains was whetted.”

Amtrak eventually chose a consortium of Bombardier and Alstom to design its new high-speed trainsets. They sought input from on board service employees and engineers as design advanced.⁵ An article in Amtrak Ink noted, “Soft mock-ups representing sections of café, coach, and first-class cars were used to test layouts with the employees.”⁶ Manufacturing took place at facilities in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Barre, Vt., and Canada.⁷

The first trainset was intended for a late 1999 delivery, but a delay was announced in September 1999 when Bombardier and Alstom informed Amtrak that they needed additional time for “further testing and modification of the wheel and suspension systems.”⁸ The spring 2000 deadline then slid to fall, when the first trainsets underwent test runs on the north (New York City-Boston) and south (New York City-Washington) sections of the NEC.⁹

In a future post, we'll explore how Acela Express helped refresh the Amtrak brand for the 21st century.

¹ The U.S. Department of Transportation was not created until 1966. Transportation functions at the time of this act were included under the purview of the Department of Commerce.

² John Fellow, “What’s right (and wrong) with the Metroliner,” Trains, July 1969.

³ R. Clifford Black, “The Acela Express,” Japan Railway & Transport Review, March 2005.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵“It’s official,” Amtrak Ink, March 1999.

⁶“Designing a service…Designing a trainset,” Amtrak Ink, May 2000.

⁷“Progress in Production,” Working on the Railroad (Newsletter for Customers of the Northeast Corridor), April 1998.

⁸“Manufacturer delays delivery of Acela Express high-speed trains,” Amtrak Ink, October 1999.

⁹“High-speed trainsets,” Amtrak Ink, October 2000.

Regularly scheduled Acela Express service began on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, New York and Boston on December 11, 2000. Through February, Amtrak will mark the anniversary with special “Acelabrations” for customers and employees. Surprises on the trains, in stations and elsewhere are planned as Amtrak pauses to celebrate this milestone. In a series of blog posts (read Part 1 and Part 2), we’ll take a look back at the journey to Acela Express and explore its future.

The X2000 (r) makes test runs in December, 1992, near Leaman Place, Pa., where the heritage Strasburg Rail Road connects with the Keystone Corridor.

As Amtrak looked into the development of modern high-speed rail in the early 1990s, it leased two European high-speed electric trainsets for testing and revenue service on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington and New Haven, Conn., in 1992-1993: the Swedish X2000 and the German Inter City Express (ICE).

They were chosen because both could travel at higher speeds than conventional trains on existing main line track; unlike contemporary French and Japanese high-speed trainsets, they did not require new, dedicated tracks. During testing on the NEC, the X2000 achieved a speed of 155¹ mph and the ICE reached 165 mph.² The equipment was also put on display in cities across the country.

The high-speed InterCity Express (r) and X2000 trainsets share the platform at New York Penn Station in August 1993.

“We were looking for public reaction to these operations and ran both trains in revenue service on Metroliner schedules,” says then-Amtrak Director of Media Relations Cliff Black. “They were a big hit with the public, as one might imagine. They were sleek-looking, modern, comfortable and smacked of the future...the American public's appetite for new, higher-speed trains was whetted.”

The X2000 had been designed and built by Asea Brown Boveri, Inc. (ABB) for the Swedish State Railways (SJ). Promotional material noted that the X2000 had “new generation AC electric propulsion systems” that permitted faster acceleration; “radial self-steering trucks [that] contain individual wheelsets and axles that steer themselves around curves,” thereby permitting faster speeds around curves than with conventional equipment; and tilt technology that allowed the passenger cars to lean into curves and counterbalance centrifugal forces for passenger comfort. The X2000 sent to the United States consisted of a power car, three coaches, a bistro car, and a cab car.

While on a run from Milwaukee to Minneapolis in July 1993, the X2000 made a stop at Red Wing, Minn., a station on the route of the Empire Builder.

As part of the lease agreement, SJ sent personnel to train Amtrak engineers on how to run the equipment. One of those Swedish engineers was Ingwar Afeldt, who had joined SJ in 1964 as a bus driver. In January 1975, Afeldt was transferred to train service and employed as an assisting engineer; by October 1976 he had become a locomotive engineer. “I worked on all kinds of trains - passenger, freight and commuter - electric and diesel,” he recalls. Afeldt was sent to Switzerland in 1986 to assist Ascom, a manufacturer who had received an order from the Swedish and Norwegian state railways for a new advanced train radio system.

At that time, Afeldt, now a road foreman, started working for the SJ Passenger Service Division’s Technical department. “In 1989 I and four other road foremen were sent to ABB to learn everything about the X2000. We got several weeks of training while the first trainset was being built,” he says. “In August 1989 a comprehensive test period started. We spent the time running tests all over Sweden until the summer of 1990 when we also started training on board personnel.”

During a stop at the historic West Palm Beach, Fla., station on June 4, 1993, rail advocates served a cake shaped like the X2000.

When the X2000 entered scheduled revenue service on the 283 mile route between Stockholm and Gothenburg in September 1990, Afeldt was one of two engineers on the initial trip. A pamphlet published by ABB and Amtrak noted that conventional trains on the route took about four-and-a-half hours, but the X2000 reduced the running time to approximately three hours. He and his colleagues then operated the train for the next five months. At the end of that period they also instructed other engineers on the train who then took over their operation in revenue service.

Afeldt recalls that Amtrak staff arrived in Sweden in early summer 1992 to examine the X2000. “I followed them when they rode the train in revenue service. I was later told by my boss that I was going to go to the U.S. with the X2000. Amtrak had leased it and, as I was told, they had ‘leased’ me too!” He instructed Amtrak road foremen and engineers on operation of the X2000. “Since the training was very short, compared with the training of the Swedish engineers, I also had to be in the cab all the time when the train was moving.” Afeldt would spend 10 months with Amtrak.

Ingwar Afeldt poses with the Acela Express in Nov. 2010.

In addition to using the X2000 in revenue service on the NEC, it also went on tours of the United States and Canada so that the North American public could get a look at the latest in high-speed train technology. Outside of the electrified NEC, the train was pulled by diesel locomotives familiar to passengers of Amtrak national network trains.

All images but the last taken by Ingwar Afeldt to record the X2000 American tour and his time with Amtrak. See additional images by Afeldt in the Amtrak Archives.

¹ I. Afeldt, personal communication, December 14, 2015.

² R. Clifford Black, “The Acela Express,” Japan Railway & Transport Review, March 2005.

Coinciding with the launch of Acela service, Amtrak hired designer Stan Herman to create a new uniform based on a color palette of blue, silver and gray.

Regularly scheduled Acela Express service began on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, New York and Boston on December 11, 2000. Through February, Amtrak is marking the anniversary with special “Acelabrations” for customers and employees. Surprises on the trains, in stations and elsewhere are planned as Amtrak pauses to celebrate this milestone. In a series of blog posts (read Part 1 and Part 2), we’ll take a look back at the journey to Acela Express and explore its future.

Employees gathered in New York City on March 9, 1999 for the
unveiling of Acela and the refreshed Amtrak brand.

Introduction of Acela service was the cornerstone of a larger effort to refresh the Amtrak brand as the company entered the 21^st century. “Acela’s fast, Acela’s cool. Acela’s modern. And Acela’s stylish,” enthused Northeast Corridor President Stan Bagley in the November 1999 issue of Amtrak Ink. The refresh included a new visual identity and trademark; uniforms for on board service and station service employees; an enhanced reservations and ticketing system; passenger rewards program (Amtrak Guest Rewards) and a “Satisfaction Guarantee.” The last was a promise by Amtrak to make every trip a “safe, comfortable and enjoyable experience.” If Amtrak employees were unable to make things right for a customer, he or she could ask for a Service Guarantee Certificate toward future rail travel.¹

On March 9, 1999, Amtrakunveiled Acela to more than 1,500 employees gathered in New York City at an event hosted by comedian David Brenner.²“[Amtrak President and CEO] George Warrington felt it was important to give the first glimpse of the new train to employees, with the news media given their chance shortly thereafter,” says then-Amtrak Director of Media Relations Cliff Black. “The occasion resembled the unveiling of a major artwork, in which white-gloved curators dramatically pulled back a drapery revealing the new work of art.”

All Northeast Corridor services, as well as Empire Service and Keystone Service trains, were rebranded under the Acela name.

Black did not attend the New York event since he had been dispatched to a Bombardier plant in Barre, Vt., where the Acela Express trainsets were being assembled, to shoot a video for the unveiling. “It showed factory doors dramatically opening to reveal the sleek, streamlined nose of an Acela power car, wrapped in a large red ribbon. I stood next to the train, shivering inwardly in the cold, sunny winter day in business suit and overcoat, and said simply, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce the Acela!’ (or words to that effect),” recalls Black.

A series of Acela advertisements launched in
September 1999 were meant to intrigue the
public and build buzz around the brand.

Created by blending the words “acceleration” and “excellence,” the Acela brand was intended to unify all services in the Northeast. Warrington commented, “Acela is more than just a name for Amtrak’s new high-speed trains. Acela is a new brand, representing a whole new way of doing business.”

The high-speed, limited-stop service would become Acela Express and replace the Metroliner brand. NortheastDirect (known today as Northeast Regional), Keystone Service and Empire Service trains would be rebranded as Acela Regional. Finally, the frequent Clocker Service (later taken over by New Jersey Transit) between Philadelphia and New York would be known as Acela Commuter.

In designing the new Acela services, Amtrak surveyed more than 24,000 customers to gauge their opinions on ideal frequencies, equipment upgrades and other features.³ Passenger confusion about the various Acela services would later lead Amtrak to largely abandon the new naming system; only Acela Express was retained for the company’s premier high-speed service.

¹“Amtrak – The Company that Guarantees Guest Satisfaction,” Amtrak Ink, July/August 2000.

²“It’s official,” Amtrak Ink, March 1999.

³ Ibid.

A Guest Post by Gary Pancavage

Regularly scheduled Acela Express service began on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, New York and Boston on December 11, 2000. Through February, Amtrak is marking the anniversary with special “Acelabrations” for customers and employees. Surprises on the trains, in stations and elsewhere are planned as Amtrak pauses to celebrate this milestone. In a series of blog posts, we’ll take a look back at the journey to Acela Express and explore its future.

Gary Pancavage retired from the Amtrak Mechanical department in June 2015. Prior to his departure, he served as the director of operations for High Speed Rail - Mechanical for more than twelve years. Gary is also an avid railroad photographer, and his work has graced various Amtrak publications including the annual calendar and the employee magazine.

The Acela Express crosses the Susquehanna River in Maryland at sunrise.

As I flipped the page on my calendar today, I can’t believe it is 2016.  Another year over and a new one beginning. 2015 was a memorable year on the railroad for me because it proved to be my last.  After forty years of diversified service, I greeted retirement with a smile on June 30.  The friendships that were forged during my career at Amtrak are forever lasting, but some of the most vivid memories will always be my life with AcelaExpress during the winter months.

As director of operations for high speed rail in the Mechanical department for more than 12 years, I was tasked with manipulating the 20 Acela trainsets through three maintenance facilities - in Washington, New York and Boston - for inspection and all required repairs necessary for daily operation.  This was a daunting task even in good weather.

A mechanic examines the underside of an Acela Express
trainset at the Southampton Street Yard in Boston.

Sixteen of the 20 sets were required for weekday service without fail. This left each maintenance facility with one “layover” set to work on with the final set in the fleet assigned to a major overhaul program first at the Penn Coach Yard north of Philadelphia 30^th Street Station, and then later at the maintenance facilities in Wilmington and Bear, Del. The margin for recovery was thin when something went wrong unexpectedly, but the resourcefulness of those at the maintenance facilities was nothing short of amazing.  Only the direst of circumstances prevented High Speed Rail - Mechanical from making service each day.

Winter with Acela came with its own set of challenges– a completely different story to say the least.  Since the five coach cars, café car and two power cars in each set of equipment are designed to operate as a fixed consist, individual bad-ordered cars could not be drilled out separately for repair.  Therefore, the entire trainset had to be put in the shops - very frustrating to say the least.

When the snow began to fall, one of the first things we did was to turn off the tilt system, which allows the passenger cars to lean into curves at maximum authorized speed without compromising ride quality (the power cars do not tilt). It didn’t take long for snow and ice to accumulate on the underside of the trainset. Senior management soon decided that the risk of damaging the position sensors wasn’t worth the few extra minutes of schedule time sacrificed by operating Column B speeds that call for slower movement through curves.

The nose of the Acela Express power car is painted fiberglass, 
and the rest of the body is stainless steel.

Dry, powdered snow presented additional challenges. When these conditions existed, the “full snow plan” was put into effect, taking the trailing power car off line to prevent snow from being sucked inside where it might damage electrical components. Operating with one power car is never a popular choice among train crews because of the additional demand placed on the trainset to get over the road on time, but all involved recognized that it was necessary for the long-term health of the equipment.

Some of the more common things like frozen air lines; partially closed angle cocks, which control the air flow through the friction brake hose connections between cars; and snow-packed horns and bells were dealt with as they occurred while never losing sight of the bigger picture. The days were long, nights even longer, but believe me when I tell you that nobody was happier to see spring arrive than those of us in High Speed Rail - Mechanical.

PHOTOGRAPHING ACELA EXPRESS: ADVICE AND TIPS

If our paths didn’t cross with the operation of Acela, some of you may know me from photographs I have taken depicting daily life on our railroad.  I have been asked to share some of my experiences behind the camera with you.

Before we begin to talk about photography, I cannot stress enough the importance of safety. Always be aware of your situation as well as the situation of those around you. Expect a train anytime, anywhere - stay away from the tracks! Also be sure to read the Amtrak Corporate Guidelines on Photography and Video Recording.

Trespassing on private railroad property is not permitted, but luckily plenty of great vantage points exist away from the tracks. Telephoto lenses can place you close to the action while keeping you out of harm’s way. Never become a distraction to railroad employees performing their daily duties, and always inform those nearest to you about what you are doing when taking pictures. Safety is Amtrak’s number one priority and it should be yours as well.

For use in this blog I was asked to pick several of my “most memorable” winter Acela Express pictures and elaborate on what it took to record the image as seen, so here goes.

The image above was taken in early December 2009. Acela trainset number six was assigned to the 2251 run this day out of Boston. Snow was falling at the rate of one inch per hour and the biggest challenge I faced was keeping the lens clean. With camera safely tucked inside of my jacket, I remember calling the Consolidated National Operations Center (CNOC) in Wilmington, Del., to see how the train was running. This was a Saturday and I had weekend duty so photography was secondary. Train No. 2251 was reported on time by GRUNDY Tower in Bristol, Pa., and I took the photo from the Bristol SEPTA station platform with a 200mm telephoto lens. This much snow, this early in the season, was not a good sign of things to come!

The Acela set shown here was on special assignment this day. It was operating on a cold, crisp Sunday morning as passenger extra No. 883 carrying the New York Giants to Washington for an evening game with the Redskins. This was the first trip out of major overhaul for trainset No. 14. That, plus the knee-deep snow,was reason for me to be present. Way too early to turn the tilt system back on and operating with both power cars was out of the question due to the fine, powdery snow. High Speed Rail Superintendent Michael Doyle was the designated rider to keep set No. 14 moving right along. GRUNDY Tower in Bristol, Pa., is visible on the right.

This image defies all conventional logic associated with photography, as I am shooting directly into the sun instead of using it at my back. This is typically done when one desires to create a silhouette effect without including much detail. Remember to set your camera on full manual and use a very small aperture. Auto mode cannot properly compensate in conditions where great differences in contrast exist and an incorrect exposure is sure to result. The train is eastbound No. 2168 rounding the bend at Bristol, Pa.

I am very grateful to the editor for giving me the opportunity to share some of the best experiences I had during my long career. I’ll look for you trackside with camera in hand!

Do you have any rail photography tips? Share them in the comments section below.

Regularly scheduled Acela Express service began on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, New York and Boston on December 11, 2000. Through February, Amtrak is marking the anniversary with special “Acelabrations” for customers and employees. Surprises on the trains, in stations and elsewhere are planned as Amtrak pauses to celebrate this milestone. This is the last in a series of blog posts in which we take a look back at the journey to Acela Express and explore its future.

Electrification of the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and Boston included installation of catenary wire to carry the electrical current used to power the locomotives.

To prepare for the arrival of high-speed service, work began in 1996 to electrify the 157 miles of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between New Haven, Conn., and Boston (the section between New Haven and Washington had been electrified by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad in the first half of the century).

Amtrak crews and contractors installed more than 15,000 catenary poles, 140 miles of continuous welded rail and 300,000 concrete ties; strung 1,550 miles of catenary wire (which carries the electric current to power the trains); built 25 power stations; realigned 127 curves; installed a new signal system; lowered or rebuilt tracks and bridges to provide clearance for the new electrical system; and upgraded stations.¹

Award-winning blue and silver signage
incorporated new Amtrak branding.

The station work ranged from painting and new lighting to construction of entirely new facilities such as the Route 128 station in the Boston suburb of Westwood. Blue and silver signage created by Calori & Vanden-Eynden Design Consultants incorporated new Amtrak branding and went on to win numerous design awards.²

All-electric Acela Regional (now Northeast Regional) service between Boston and New York City—and thus the entire NEC—began on January 31, 2000, almost a year ahead of Acela Express.³ The inaugural run included Wisconsin Governor and Amtrak Board Chairman Tommy Thompson, Amtrak President and CEO George Warrington, Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene Molitoris, Senator Frank Lautenburg of New Jersey and numerous other state and federal officials. “[This] is an extraordinary and historic achievement that proves Amtrak can deliver transportation that America needs,” proclaimed Thompson.⁴

Travel time between New York and Boston fell by approximately 30 to 50 minutes (depending on the number of scheduled stops). This was a result of eliminating the switch from electric to diesel locomotives in New Haven and the faster acceleration of an electric locomotive. Expanded electric service required additional locomotives to supplement the existing AEM-7 fleet.

Alstom, which together with Bombardier manufactured the 20 Acela trainsets, built 15 new high-speed HHP-8 locomotives. Their design was based on the Acela power car. They had 8000 horsepower and could achieve a top speed of 135 mph. Due to the arrival of 70 new Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS-64) locomotives beginning in early 2014, the AEM-7s and HHP-8s are now being retired.

Amfleet cars designated for Acela Regional service were to 
receive a new paint scheme.

In addition to upgrading the north end of the NEC, new support facilities were needed for Acela Express. In June 1999, Amtrak dedicated the Ivy City High-Speed Rail Maintenance Facility north of Washington Union Station.⁵ At the ceremony, a prototype Acela Express trainset was also unveiled. Two other high speed maintenance facilities were built at Sunnyside Yard in Queens, N.Y., and Southampton Yard in Boston.⁶

A $4.7 million High-Speed Rail Training Facility opened in Wilmington, Del., in September 1999.⁷ Senators Joe Biden and William Roth of Delaware and Governor Thomas Carper attended the dedication. The center houses a full-scale motion simulator that duplicates the experience of operating Acela Express trains from inside the cab. There is also an onboard service training lab complete with seats, tables and food preparation areas as well as classrooms.

An Acela Express trainset on the inspection pit at the Ivy City High-Speed Rail Maintenance Facility.

¹“It’s official,” Amtrak Ink, March 1999 and “Amtrak launches first fully electrified service between N.Y., Boston,” Amtrak Ink, March 2000.

²“Signage for the HSR project receives four distinctive awards,” Amtrak Ink, June/July 2001.

³“Amtrak launches first fully electrified service between N.Y., Boston,” Amtrak Ink, March 2000.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵“Acela unveiled at new Ivy City Facility dedication,” Amtrak Ink, August 1999.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷“New, high-speed rail training facility opens in Wilmington, DE,” Amtrak Ink, October 1999.

An exhibit on display at St. Paul Union Depot traces the history of the famed Empire Builder. Image courtesy of the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority.

In late 2015, the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority, which owns and operates Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn., asked the Amtrak Archives to participate in an exhibit focused on the history of the Empire Builder (Chicago-Seattle/Portland). This collaborative effort, which also included the Minnesota Transportation Museum and Great Northern Railway Historical Society (GNRHS), traces the history of this famous train from its inauguration in 1929 to the present day.

Vintage Amtrak uniforms from the 1970s and 1980s.

The Empire Builder operated between Chicago and St. Paul through a partnership between the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad and the Great Northern Railway (GN), before continuing westward from St. Paul over GN tracks.

On the morning of June 11, 1929, the train was christened the Empire Builder in St. Paul before a west-bound departure from Union Depot. The premier service was named for James J. Hill, the founder of what became the Great Northern Railway.

Numerous photos from the GNRHS archive, primarily in black and white, highlight life aboard the Empire Builder for both passengers and crew members. One image that stands out shows the Ranch car, whose western theme - meant to resemble a rustic ranch house - included a cattle brand registered with the state of Montana. The car’s look was enhanced with wood wall paneling, chairs covered in pinto leather and a colorful mural.

Great Northern and Amtrak china used on the Empire Builder.

In 1955, the GN added three short dome cars to the train, as well as an additional full-length dome lounge car. The popular dome offered spectacular all-around views of the majestic scenery found along the train’s route – including Glacier National Park. Today, Amtrak offers the same great vistas from its Sightseer Lounge cars with their wrap-around windows.

The GN merged with the Northern Pacific; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern, which continued to operate the Empire Builder until May 1, 1971, when newly-formed Amtrak took over operation of most of the nation’s intercity passenger rail services. Amtrak made some initial changes to the train’s routing, including shifting it northward between Chicago and La Crosse, Wis., to serve Milwaukee, and ending the Portland, Ore., section (which was restored in 1981).

The Empire Builder was the first train to be outfitted
with Superliner cars.

In October 1979, the Empire Builder became the first national network train to be assigned new bi-level Superliner equipment manufactured by Pullman Standard. In the next decade, Amtrak marketed the train not only for its access to stunning Western landscapes, but as a great way to reach popular winter resorts in Montana, Idaho and Washington.

A refurbished baggage cart that has been converted into a display case includes a variety of objects that tell the story of the Empire Builder. Visitors can see china used on the trains, including the GN’s “Glory of the West” pattern with mountain and forest imagery and rich blue serving pieces from the early Amtrak “National” pattern. There is also a GN conductor’s uniform and pieces worn by Amtrak station and on-board service employees in the 1970s and 1980s.

Amtrak has been proud to carry on the tradition of gracious and convenient transcontinental rail travel embodied by the Empire Builder. Traveling daily between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, the Empire Builder connects more than 40 communities in eight states. It provides magnificent views of the Mississippi River, the North Dakota plains and Montana’s Big Sky country and offers coach and sleeping accommodations, as well as dining services.

The Empire Builder travels through the mountains.

Travelers can learn about the cultural heritage and natural resources along the route through the Trails & Rails program, a partnership between Amtrak and the National Park Service (which celebrates its centennial in 2016). From April through September, volunteers from the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (St. Paul- Wisconsin Dells, Wis.), Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site (Minot, N.D. – Havre, Mont.) and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Seattle-Havre, Mont.) board the train on designated segments to speak with passengers and answer questions.

The Empire Builder exhibit is on view through Union Depot Train Days on the weekend of April 30 - May 1. Train Days attendees are invited to enjoy a fun and educational experience highlighting the history and future of passenger train travel, the historic and current role of freight railroads in the Twin Cities region, and changing transportation trends and needs. The weekend will include train equipment, musical entertainment, special events and activities for all ages!

Do you have any favorite Empire Builder memories? Share them with us in the comments section below.

On Sunday, March 20, the National Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the traditional arrival of spring in the nation’s capital and the enduring Japanese-American friendship. The latter is represented by the gift of cherry trees from Japan to the United States more than a century ago. The festival attracts people from around the world who come to admire the delicate and fleeting cherry blossoms, planted in large groupings along the Tidal Basin and Potomac River.

Classic views of Washington often feature the memorials and monuments rising from a sea of pink and white blossoms. Over the course of four weeks, visitors are invited to a series of programs highlighting traditional and contemporary arts. Luckily, the cherry blossoms and many events are within easy access of Washington Union Station for those interested in a day trip or a longer stay.

A 1972 advertisement highlights the TurboTrain on the experimental route between Washington and Parkersburg, W. Va.

The Amtrak Archives contains a handful of items tied to the cherry blossoms, including the 1972 advertisement above. It was part of a series of advertisements created for Amtrak between 1971 and 1973 by the Ted Bates agency of New York City. According to the text at the bottom of the piece, it was intended for placement in Cumberland, Md., newspapers. In a letter to Amtrak, the agency noted that advertising was placed in newspapers, radio, television and magazines, but the first two were preferred "because of their ability to present local information and immediate impact."

It promotes spring travel to Washington by showcasing an image of the famous cherry trees and the then-new John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. At the time, Cumberland was served by an experimental route between Parkersburg, W. Va., and Washington known as the West Virginian. In its Fiscal Year 1971 annual report, the company noted that the train “enables limited passenger service to be continued through historical areas and over a route with one of the longest continuous histories of passenger train operations. Other parts of the Parkersburg route traverse countryside with limited alternative facilities for transportation, considerable potential for vacation and weekend travel, and widespread popular support for continued service.”

The power dome car included seating on two levels.

The ad also includes a photo of the TurboTrain, an articulated, lightweight trainset with a gas-turbine propulsion system that was used on the Parkersburg-Washington route for a short time. Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) as part of a 1960s program to explore the future of high-speed rail service (which also led to development of the electric Metroliner cars), the TurboTrains were designed by United Aircraft Corporation (but were based on earlier patents and designs developed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad) and built by Pullman-Standard. The U.S. DOT leased the equipment from United Aircraft, which also maintained the equipment, and then contracted Penn Central to operate the trains on the Northeast Corridor (NEC).¹

Potomac Turbo route map, February 1972.

Like the Metroliner, the TurboTrain was designed to achieve higher speeds on existing infrastructure, rather than requiring new, dedicated tracks such as contemporary high-speed trains developed in Europe and Japan. During testing on track in New Jersey, the TurboTrain reached a top speed of 170.8 mph, but was limited to a maximum 125 mph in revenue service.²

The TurboTrain debuted in Penn Central service between Boston and New York in April 1969, a little more than two years before the start of Amtrak operations.³ The two trainsets built for test service on the NEC were made up of two power dome cars and an intermediate coach that together accommodated 144 customers. The bi-level power dome cars housed six turbines, as well as seating on both levels. They were noted for distinctive, high noses with double headlights. From the seating area in the dome, passengers could directly view the engineer and the controls, allowing an unparalleled look at train operations.

Welded aluminum construction made the trainsets light-weight compared to standard equipment then in use, and they also hugged the ground with a low profile. Curving car bodies were designed to be aerodynamic.⁴ By employing a suspension system that allowed the train to bank into curves, it could operate through them “at speeds 30 to 40 percent higher than conventional equipment.”⁵ This resulted in time savings, and was especially useful on the tracks that followed the curving Connecticut coastline. Because there was a power dome car at each end, the trainsets could operate in either direction, eliminating the need to reverse the equipment consist or reposition the locomotive at the end of a run.

Rather than the typical arrangement of wheel sets on both ends of a car, the TurboTrain had a set of wheels located where cars joined. Doors, which opened and closed automatically, were located at the center of each car, as were restrooms and luggage storage. There were no doors between cars, meaning a passenger could walk unimpeded from one end to the other. Articles highlighted reclining seats with individual reading lights and pull-down tray tables, carpeted floors and tinted windows with curtains.⁶ A snack bar in the middle of the train offered sandwiches, beverages and light refreshments.

After the start of Amtrak operations in May 1971, the new company took over operation of the TurboTrain equipment in its daily runs. That same year, the U.S. DOT and Amtrak sent a trainset on a 31 state national tour. In February 1972, Amtrak assigned one of the TurboTrains to the Washington-Parkersburg route and fittingly renamed the train the Potomac Turbo.⁷ A brochure from the time proudly declared the TurboTrain “Space-Age High-Speed Ground Transport.” Although it could not run at top speeds through the mountainous terrain, the trainset did cut travel time by more than an hour over existing equipment.

A crowd greets the TurboTrain at Petersburg, Va., during its 1971 national tour.

Bruce Goldberg, author of Amtrak: The First Decade, notes that the Potomac Turbo lasted a short three months, as conventional cars and locomotives returned to the route by May.⁸ A year later, Amtrak ended the experimental route, although a new train – the Blue Ridge– was initiated between Washington and Cumberland.

Amtrak added four additional coaches to each TurboTrain in 1972 and subsequently purchased the two trainsets in January 1973. In October of that year, it bought a third trainset with four coaches that had been used by Canadian National Railway.⁹ The TurboTrains remained in use between New York and Boston until 1976.

Cumberland, nestled in western Maryland’s Allegheny Mountains, is today served by the Capitol Limited (Washington-Chicago). It remains a popular getaway for residents of the Washington, D.C., region. Many come to explore the historic city center, ride the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s excursion train to Frostburg and take advantage of scenic hiking and biking trails.

In downtown, the Great Allegheny Passage, a hiker-biker trail that starts in Pittsburgh, meets the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park, whose towpath leads to the nation’s capital, closely following the Potomac River for much of its journey. Luckily, the Capitol Limited now offers walk-up bicycle service that makes it easier than ever to plan a cycling adventure.

Did you ever ride a TurboTrain? Share your memories in the comments section below.

¹ William D. Middleton, “Turbotrain revisited: Is there a chance for the Northeast Corridor Project’s stepchild?,” Trains, March 1970.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Goldberg, Bruce (1981). Amtrak: The First Decade. Silver Spring, Md.: Alan Books.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹“First Amtrak TurboTrains Retired, Used in Boston-New York Service” Amtrak NEWS, January 1980. 4.

Amtrak Voices is an occasional series in which we talk with long-time Amtrak employees to discover what attracted them to the company, recount its early days and explore changes they witnessed in railroading during their careers.

Welder working on a bulkhead, 1980.

On April 1, 2016, Amtrak celebrated 41 years of ownership of the Beech Grove heavy maintenance facility located southeast of downtown Indianapolis. When Amtrak began service on May 1, 1971, the Penn Central Transportation Company controlled Beech Grove and performed contract maintenance and overhauls on Amtrak locomotives and rolling stock.

Amtrak purchased the shops in 1975, when there was an acute need for a major repair facility that could accommodate all types of equipment—including the Amfleet and Superliner cars then on order. Amtrak immediately embarked on a five year, $22 million improvement plan to modernize the complex.

Today, more than 500 Beech Grove employees rebuild and overhaul Superliner, Viewliner, Surfliner and Horizon cars, as well as P-32, P-42 and F-59 locomotives used across the Amtrak system. In Fiscal Year 2015, employees performed heavy overhaul, periodic maintenance, repainting and other upkeep on 275 pieces of equipment.

In a series of blog posts, we'll meet a handful of employees who have been at Beech Grove since April 1, 1975.

Jack Sappington

In a far cry from present day hiring practices involving hiring panels, multiple interviews and background checks, utility worker Jack Sappington arrived for an interview with Penn Central in October 1974, was approved for employment, underwent a physical on site and started working at the Beech Grove shops the same afternoon. His father had gone to school with a friend who later ended up working for Penn Central and helped Sappington get his interview.

Sappington is now a forklift operator in the sprawling Diesel Shop, where powerful P-32, P-42 and F-59 locomotives undergoing preventive maintenance and overhauls occupy work bays in the soaring space. Hardhats, safety glasses and earplugs are a must, as sparks fly and engines rev at the hands of the skilled employees working to keep the locomotive fleet in top condition. Beech Grove takes care of the diesel-electric fleet used on national network and state-supported routes, whereas the electric AEM-7 and new ACS-64 locomotives used on the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor are maintained and overhauled at the Wilmington Shops in Delaware.

Employees use a Farrell axle lathe to face off a disc for an
Amfleet wheel set, 1980.

Over the years, Sappington has worked in every shop building and performed tasks from shoveling coal to operating large hoists. Asked about changes at Beech Grove since he began, Sappington replies, “It’s like night and day. Some tasks have been automated, and the workforce is better educated.” In a theme often repeated at Beech Grove, Sappington points out that new hires often learn at the side of more experienced long-time employees: “Railroaders are railroaders—they help one another.”

As for moments that stand out in his mind, Sappington highlights the conversion of equipment from steam to electric head-end power (HEP) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Rather than use steam generated by a boiler in the locomotive to provide heating (lighting and air conditioning were supplied by a generator and batteries in each car), HEP used electricity generated by the locomotive to perform all of these functions.

Workers adhere a "Good Morning America" banner to a Superliner car.

In extreme cold weather, the steam lines would freeze, while air conditioning failed on hot summer days. HEP provided a more reliable power source to the cars. New equipment Amtrak ordered in the 1970s, including the single-level Amfleet cars and the bi-level Superliners, were built with modern all-electric systems. Depending on the type of car, conversion cost between $250,000 and $400,000—versus about $1 million to purchase a new car. Amtrak completed the conversion program in 1982.

Sappington also fondly remembers working on the special “Good Morning America” (GMA) charter train created for the popular ABC News program anchored by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. The show broadcast live from the train in September 2008 during a five day Whistle-Stop Tour that traveled through New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Diane Sawyer interviews Senator Hillary Clinton aboard the
"Good Morning America" train.

The 874-foot-long traveling studio operated with train, engine and on-board service crews provided by Amtrak, as well as host railroad pilots. The 11 car consist included two P-42 locomotives, two Superliner sleeping cars, a Cross Country Café car, two diner-lounge cars and a transition dorm, plus two private cars. The equipment conversion, paid for by GMA, was performed at Beech Grove and at the Albany, N.Y., Maintenance Facility. Sappington helped mount satellites on the train so that the live broadcast could proceed.

Thinking back over his career, Sappington says: “It’s been a good run, but don’t think this place owes you a living. It’s important that we do quality work.” In retirement, which is not far off, he plans to spend more time lakeside and enjoy the company of his family, including seven energetic grandkids.

Read about Sappington's Beech Grove colleagues.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Amtrak History interview with Jack Sappington took place on April 2, 2015.

An overlay of a GG-1 locomotive and Acela power car represent the Northeast Corridor, past and present.

Amtrak recently installed a new mural in the historic Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in Wilmington, Del. It highlights the company’s strong presence in Delaware, which is a hub for Amtrak operations in the greater Northeast. In Fiscal Year 2015, Amtrak spent nearly $9.7 million on goods and services in the state and more than 1,100 residents were employed by America’s Railroad^®.

The Wilmington metropolitan area is home to various Amtrak offices and two major heavy maintenance facilities, whose history and current functions are discussed below.

Wilmington Shops

The Wilmington Shops have an especially rich history that dates back more than a century and starts with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). At the dawn of the 20^th century, the PRR was one of the nation’s most prominent corporations and considered a model for its industry. Its lines stretched from the East Coast through the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states as far as the Mississippi River. In an effort to improve its infrastructure, the railroad embarked on an ambitious program to straighten its tracks for increased speed and safety and construct new bridges, viaducts, tunnels and passenger stations that improved capacity and conveyed a sense of permanence.

Aerial view of the Pennsylvania Railroad Wilmington Shops, looking northeast, 1938. Photograph by the Dallin Aerial Survey Company, courtesy of the Hagley Museum & Library.

In the Wilmington area, the PRR, through its subsidiary Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad, initiated a construction program that included a new viaduct through downtown, swing bridge over Brandywine Creek, passenger station, office building and equipment shops.¹

A new maintenance and overhaul facility for steam locomotives and cars was needed because the realigned tracks and new station necessitated the removal of existing downtown facilities along the Christina River. The earliest structures, completed in the mid-19^th century, had become outdated and crowded.²

The PRR turned to a parcel of land approximately two miles northeast of downtown in a largely undeveloped area known as Todd’s Cut. Located between the Brandywine and Shellpot creeks, it included wetlands that were filled with gravel and soil—to an average depth of 10 feet—starting in fall 1902. Following foundation work, brick and steel buildings began to rise the next year, and all the necessary machinery was in place by early 1904.

Elevation of the Erecting Shop, 1902. Courtesy of the Amtrak Engineering Archives.

In an April 1904 article, TheRailway Age magazine noted: “The whole plant, from the general layout to the location and power of individual machine tools, is the result of careful design.” Among the structures built on-site were a roundhouse, coal trestle, power house and locomotive, blacksmith, paint and car erecting shops. Once completed, the facility could accommodate 35 locomotives and 75 coaches per month for maintenance, repairs and overhaul. All buildings were spaced apart to guard against the spread of fire and allow for the easy movement of materials. They were also designed to be doubled in size if needed in the future.

More than 3,100 piles were driven into the ground at the southern end of the property for the 30 stall roundhouse (since demolished), which was intended to eventually contain 44 stalls. The $125,000 building had a turntable that measured 75 feet across. The locomotive building encompassed nearly 92,000 square feet and was divided into erecting, machine and boiler/tank shops. The central erecting shop measured 80 feet across and had three pit tracks. Two 65-ton Shaw cranes, each with a span of 78 feet, towered over the erecting bay. In the machine shop, one encountered tools including lathes, shapers and milling machines.

Interior of the repair shop, mid-1970s. Notice that the shop holds a number of GG-1 locomotives, and in the middle of the photo, what appears to be the X995, a Swedish electric locomotive tested by Amtrak. Courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record.

The paint shop, which included a varnish room and tin shop, could hold a maximum 28 coaches. In the car erecting shop were spaces set aside for upholstery and cabinetry. Unlike the other buildings, these two structures featured brick construction with wooden roof trusses.

In conjunction with work on the shop complex, developers started building modest workers’ housing in the vicinity of Vandever Avenue at the southern end of the property.³ Following completion of the PRR’s Wilmington improvements, the railroad employed approximately 2,500 city residents in 1915. Those employees were divided among the shops, switchyards and train services.⁴

Machinists finish up a wheel set at the Wilmington
Shops in late 2014.

The PRR and its successor Penn Central, borne of the PRR’s 1968 merger with the New York Central Railroad, continued to run the Wilmington Shops until 1976. That year Amtrak gained control of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) as a result of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act.

Then, as now, the NEC was considered the busiest stretch of railroad in North America. According to the Fiscal Year 1976 Amtrak Annual Report, “The Corridor is responsible for an average of 960 trains a day, including over 120 Amtrak intercity passenger trains, nearly 660 commuter trains…and more than 170 Conrail freight and mail trains.” Today, that number has more than doubled to 2,000 Amtrak, commuter or freight trains traveling over some portion of the NEC each day.

The NEC purchase included the majority of the 457 route miles between Boston and Washington, excluding sections that Penn Central had previously sold. In addition, Amtrak obtained more than 100 railroad stations as well as maintenance shops and rail yards to service locomotives and rolling stock.

Today, the Wilmington Shops remain the primary facility for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of electric locomotives used on the NEC, including the Amtrak Cities Sprinters (ACS-64s) that began entering revenue service in 2014 and the high-speed Acela Express power cars. Skilled employees perform truck repair, wheel work, HVAC work, traction motor repairs and component repair and remanufacturing work.

Bear Heavy Maintenance Facility

Amtrak employees work on the undercarriage of an
Amfleet coach.

Amtrak bought the Bear maintenance facility in late 1984, four years after it was completed by the DelPro Company. The purchase allowed Amtrak to consolidate functions then spread out between leased shops in Bristol and Cornwells Heights, Pa., and Wilmington.⁵

Originally built for the manufacture and servicing of piggyback flatbed cars, Amtrak primarily uses the facility for the overhaul and wreck repair of Amfleet I and Amfleet II passenger cars. These include nearly 600 single-level coaches and food service cars used on Northeast Regional and overnight national network trains such as the Silver Meteor (New York-Miami). Maintenance-of-way equipment is also overhauled and stored at the Bear facility.

The main shop building encompasses 213,000 square feet and houses the following production lines: support shops (truck, brake component and air brake shops); Amfleet I overhaul line; Amfleet II overhaul line; cab car/overhaul lines; maintenance department; and freight equipment overhaul. The property also includes a seat shop, administration building and parts warehouse.

From 2011-2016, specially trained Bear employees performed a major mid-life refresh of the high-speed Acela Express equipment introduced in 2000. The project involved dismantling the cars’ components and replacing them with new or rebuilt components. This strategic overhaul program reduced maintenance costs and enhanced the safety, reliability and availability of the Acela trainsets. Upon arrival in Bear, each train set was divided; while the coaches and bistro/café car remained at Bear, the two power cars traveled on to the Wilmington Shops.

¹ Debra Campagnari Martin, “Wilmington Rail Viaduct,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, United States Department of the Interior (National Park Service), 1999. National Register of Historic Places database.

² Ibid.

³ Carol E. Hoffecker, Corporate Capital: Wilmington in the Twentieth Century, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983), 21.

⁴ Ibid., 65.

⁵ Bob Johnston, “This Ain’t Magic,” Trains, October 2003.

In its early days, Amtrak faced the challenge of informing the public about its services - including routes, destinations, equipment and onboard accommodations. To educate travel agents who sold rail travel, Amtrak used resources including the mobile Travel Center shown below.

Amtrak's mobile Travel Center, complete with a dining car set-up, helped the company educate travel agents about its services.

The image was recently found in the Amtrak Archives. A description on the photograph notes, “Amtrak sales personnel have taken to the highways with a specially outfitted 27-foot-long motor home designed to bring the message of what train travel is to the thousands of travel agents across the country. The travel center shows train interiors, a slide show and a dining car set up, and stocks all the literature and forms needed to help travel agents sell rail travel."

The first Amtrak service mark, a motion-oriented graphic featuring the national colors of red, white and blue, is displayed prominently on the vehicle's side. This original mark was used from 1971 until 2000 when the current version – a blue wave design meant to “suggest movement, the delight of a journey and the excitement of new technology” – came into use as part of a larger brand refresh.

Amtrak's booth won first prize at the 1976 American Society
of Travel Agents conference, and was later relocated to
New York Penn Station.

Over the years, Amtrak developed various methods to help travel agents learn about its trains and accommodations. A simple tool was a flip book with a national system map and pictures or drawings of the interiors of sleeping, dining, café, parlor, observation and lounge cars. They often included basic descriptions. One flip book in the archives details the features of Heritage, Metroliner, Amfleet and Superliner equipment.

Amtrak often staffed a booth at the American Society of Travel Agents annual conference. According to the April 1, 1977 issue of employee magazine Amtrak NEWS, a tour desk designed and built for the 1976 conference held in New Orleans won first prize. It mimicked the appearance of a classic ticket desk found in depots across the country and included a cut-away of a new Amfleet car. Afterwards, it was altered and set up at New York Penn Station to promote and sell tour packages. Specially trained ticket agents told customers about the Week of Wheels program in Florida, the U.S.A. Rail Pass and round trip special fares between New York and Montreal on the Adirondack.

In September 1984, Amtrak launched Teletrak, a computerized telecommunications program meant to ease communication between travel agents and Amtrak sales consultants. With a simple phone call, agents could learn about ticketing, discounts, advertising and other topics from expert Amtrak staff. In the following year’s annual report, the company noted that “any travel agent who sells airline tickets will have the capability of making a reservation and selling Amtrak tickets [by] using the facilities of the Airlines Reporting Corporation.” This almost doubled the number of travel agency locations at which Amtrak customers were able to purchase Amtrak tickets and tours.

Teletrak let travel agents reach Amtrak sales consultants with a quick and simple phone call.

Amtrak also recognized top-selling travel agents through the creation of the Golden Spike Society in 1976. “Warren Peters of Four Winds Travel in New York was honored as the top seller of Amtrak business with the first membership in the group. [An additional] 499 agents [subsequently] received their certificates in a series of lunch and dinner meetings held around the country,” noted an article in that same issue of Amtrak NEWS. Based on the success of the society, Amtrak later created an international branch to recognize foreign travel agents who successfully sold Amtrak travel.

Amtrak continues to work closely with travel agents in the United States and around the world to promote intercity passenger rail travel and the more than 500 communities served by our 300 daily trains. The company is moving to new business-to-business web based booking platforms that enable all of the services – eTicketing, the ability to access reservations across platforms, ease of changing reservations – our travel agency partners look for.

Top selling foreign travel agents from London to Tokyo to Sydney are
inducted into the Amtrak Golden Spike Society in spring 1977.

Popular packages booked by travel agents through Amtrak Vacations include stays at national parks, particularly out west. Approximately 200 national park system units, including Big Bend National Park near Alpine, Texas, (Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle), Rocky Mountain National Park near Granby, Colo. (California Zephyr) and Glacier National Park (Empire Builder) are easily accessible from Amtrak stations.

Travel agents also book individual travel segments, multi segments and create their own packages using Amtrak for all or part of the passenger experience. Some travel agencies specialize in corporate and government travel, especially in the Northeast and other regions where major business, government and cultural centers are linked by frequent train service.

International tour agency partners arrange packages for travelers who want to see America in a fashion only available from a train. As of 2016, the largest international markets are England, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany and France. Popular trains booked for foreign visitors include the Northeast Regional and Acela Express between Washington, New York and Boston, as well as the Coast Starlight, California Zephyr and Empire Builder, all of which offer breathtaking views of varied natural landscapes, bustling cities and quintessential small towns.

Vacation packages to Glacier National Park and other western parks are some of the most popular booked by travel agents.

The Amtrak Archives is seeking additional information on the mobile Travel Center. Did you ever tour it, or were you an Amtrak employee who worked on the van? We’d like to hear from you. Feel free to post in the comments section below or write to us at history@amtrak.com.

In 1985, the public got to know Amtrak better when
the Today Show cast took a week-long train trip.

Following more than a decade spent refurbishing passenger cars, locomotives and stations, introducing new passenger equipment like the Amfleet and Superliner cars and rebuilding the Northeast Corridor (NEC), Amtrak was ready for the national spotlight in 1985. That May, the popular Today Show with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley took a five-day trip through the central United States aboard a special Amtrak train dubbed the “Today Express.” Cars were modified to provide office space and technical facilities for the televisioncrews.

The journey started in Houston and then headed to New Orleans, Memphis, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. In each city, the news show was broadcast from a trackside location. The 1985 Amtrak Annual Report noted that “some 27 million Americans had the opportunity to see modern rail-passenger service at work and to hear about Amtrak, trains and the railroad industry.”

In addition to an early morning dose of Amtrak, people may have also seen Amtrak trains and stations featured in the blockbuster hit Witness, starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. Country-western star Merle Haggard shone the spotlight a little brighter that fall when he chose Amtrak for a special whistle-stop tour focused on the “plight of the American farmer.” The charter train, dubbed “The American” left Bakersfield, Calif., on Sep. 16 and arrived in Chicago a week later. Musicians Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings joined Haggard for parts of the journey.

New York-Florida trains such as the Silver Star saw ridership increases in FY 1985.

Yet despite its starring roles on the big and little screens, Amtrak still struggled to secure an appropriate annual investment from Congress. An employee newsletter that went out on February 11, 1985, explained that a week earlier, the Reagan administration had proposed “that all federal funding for intercity passenger service be eliminated [in Fiscal Year 1986].”

“A zero [federal] budget for Amtrak...takes an organization...that has taken 14 years to build...and permanently wipes it out…This is an irreversible decision." - Amtrak President W. Graham Claytor, Jr.

In testimony before a Congressional committee in April, then-Amtrak President and CEO W. Graham Claytor, Jr., said, “A zero budget for Amtrak is quite different from most other proposed cuts in that it takes an organization with a $3 billion investment that has taken 14 years to build, a going concern with 25,000 employees, and permanently wipes it out…This is an irreversible decision – we would never be able to bring passenger service back again.”¹ Following a months-long debate, Amtrak received a federal grant that represented a 15 percent reduction over Fiscal Year 1985.

Due to the reduced funding levels, Claytor told employees in December 1985 that the company would need to take “difficult steps to reduce our operating costs.” As a result, temporary service reductions were instituted in early 1986.

In 1985, Amtrak carried approximately 20.8 million customers. Their commendations about Amtrak service rose six percent while complaints dropped 27 percent. System-wide ridership increased, with noticeable gains on the Auto Train (Lorton, Va.-Sanford, Fla.), New York-Florida trains and the Metroliner Service(New York-Washington). A number of service changes were implemented in response to market demand. New trains launched included the Bay State between Boston and New Haven via the Connecticut River Valley.

Customers experienced new amenities aboard the
Southwest Chief.

On the Southwest Chief (Chicago-Los Angeles), Amtrak introduced “route map guides, souvenir dining car menus with regional specialties, games, movies, Indian guides, hospitality hour in the lounge, music and destination tour packages” aimed at attracting vacationers. Customers on the Cardinal (New York-Chicago) could learn about the history of the passing towns and countryside from National Park Service (NPS) interpreters who rode the train through part of West Virginia. Three decades later, volunteer interpreters can be found on numerous trains from late spring into early fall through a NPS-Amtrak partnership known as Trails and Rails.

Business travelers on the NEC gained the option of overnight Executive Sleeper service between Washington/Baltimore and New York. Passengers in each city could board a sleeping car in the evening, sleep and wake up at their destinations well rested; more than half the time the car was parked on a station track. Wake-up calls, a continental breakfast and newspapers were also provided. As an Amtrak brochure noted, “Relax and get a good night’s sleep on the train, confident that you’ll arrive downtown refreshed without worrying about the weather, flight delays or a long cab ride in from the airport.”

Three state-supported routes were discontinued during 1985. With the close of the Louisiana World Exposition, the temporary Gulf Coast Limited (Mobile, Ala.-New Orleans) funded by the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana came to an end shortly after the New Year. The Carolinian (Charlotte-New York), which began running in October 1984 through the financial support of the state of North Carolina, ceased operations in September 1985. Although ridership was strong with 120,000 riders, typical passenger trips were shorter than expected and revenues therefore did not meet projections. In Minnesota, the state ended its financial support for the North Star (St. Paul-Duluth).

Amtrak marketed Executive Sleeper service to business
professionals.

Customers may have noticed new and upgraded stations in Quincy, Ill.; Kansas City; Warsaw, Ind.; Jackson, Mich.; and Santa Ana, Calif. In June, Amtrak moved into the rehabilitated Indianapolis Union Station. Approximately 15,000 people attended an open house and equipment display, while “Country Edition,” a country and western band composed of Amtrak employees, provided live musical entertainment. Amtrak also began contemplating major redevelopment around Philadelphia 30^th Street Station and Chicago Union Station.

New technologies made it easier for travel agents to issue Amtrak tickets. In February, Trans World Airlines was the first to link its Programmed Airline Reservations System (PARS) with Amtrak’s automated ARROW system. Amtrak benefited by gaining access to 1,650 PARS travel agency subscribers who previously had not served as Amtrak agents. In addition, by fall any travel agent who sold airline tickets gained the “capability of making reservations and selling Amtrak tickets, using the facilities of the Airlines Reporting Corporation.” This almost doubled the number of travel agency locations at which customers could purchase Amtrak tickets and tours.

The Carolinian was discontinued when it
failed to meet revenue projections.

In April the company celebrated a decade of ownership of the Beech Grove, Ind., Heavy Maintenance Facility, where today skilled workers still maintain, repair and overhaul passenger cars and diesel locomotives used on national network trains. The occasion was marked by an equipment display and shop tours. Amtrak and local officials gathered in July to dedicate the newly-acquired Bear Heavy Maintenance Facility in Delaware. Allowing for the consolidation of previously scattered functions, it became the primary shops focused on the overhaul and wreck repair of Amfleet I and Amfleet II passenger cars.

Amtrak took over responsibility from the Federal Railroad Administration for seeing the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project to conclusion. According to the 1985 annual report, “Program achievements to date included installation of 410 miles of concrete ties and 535 miles of continuous welded rail; 15 drainage and flood control projects; nine tunnel renovations and 202 bridge projects. New coach yard, engine and car facilities at Ivy City (Washington, D.C.); various stations built or rehabbed.” Work continued on the new signaling and the centralized electrification and traffic control system (CTEC) to be based in Philadelphia.

Concurrent with enhancing the company’s physical plant, progress was made in acquiring new equipment. Ten F40 diesel locomotives were added to the fleet, and three prototype single-level Viewliner cars began arriving for assembly at Beech Grove. Various interior modules allowed the stainless steel shells to be used for coaches or sleeping, lounge or dining cars.

Amtrak also focused on the continued development of its workforce. A workshop for first-line supervisors and middle managers was largely completed during Fiscal Year 1985. “Our overall aim in the workshop program is to encourage a consistent management style and leadership philosophy throughout Amtrak,” noted the annual report.

The Joint Labor Management Productivity Council, created in 1982, had grown to include eight local steering committees working to identify productivity-improving tasks. In Los Angeles, for example, the steering committee determined a way to make productive use of worn dining and sleeping car linen for cleaning purposes in the shops. A system-wide safety committee addressed specific safety issues and began installing a computerized safety information system to track and analyze employee injuries and accidents.

New F-40 locomotives joined the Amtrak fleet.

“Our vision of the future is ambitious and the road ahead is a challenging one. We accept that challenge and will go on working tirelessly to insure the future of America’s passenger railroad,” Amtrak declared in its annual report. “While some level of federal funding will be needed for the foreseeable future, we are convinced that our determination and success in becoming more self-sufficient will persuade the public and their elected representatives that rail passenger service is as deserving of public support as air and highway transportation.”

¹ Hearing before the Subcommittee on the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies, Appropriations Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives, 99^th Cong. (1985) (Testimony of W. Graham Claytor, Jr.).

Additional sources consulted include:

National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Annual Report (Fiscal Year 1985).

National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Newsbreak: Vol. 3 (1985), Nos. 1-51.

Great Western and Michigan Central railroads adver-
tisement, 1857. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.Time and its accuracy are paramount to railroading, which involves careful coordination of train movements. The importance of accurate timekeeping has long been reinforced by the prominent placement of clocks in depots large and small, as well as the distribution of timetables that help travelers plan their trips. Timetables today – whether paper or digital - still provide the exact hour and minute a train is scheduled to arrive at each station along a route.

In 1883, American and Canadian railroads jointly established four standardized continental time zones that eliminated the need to adhere to local time, which varied from one town to another based on when the sun was at its highest point in the sky (noon). Standardized time allowed for more efficient scheduling as the rail network expanded. By 1880 - approximately 50 years since the first American railroads had gone into operation - more than 93,000 miles of track had been laid; that number doubled by the dawn of the 20^th century.¹

According to timetable historians Dick Clover and Tom Coval, the first timetables printed between the 1830s and the Civil War “took the form of newspaper advertisements and posters, known as ‘broadsides’…The very first was placed by the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Road on May 20, 1830, in the Baltimore Patriot…”² During the height of the Industrial Revolution that followed the Civil War, mechanized printing advanced so that multiple colors could be used to convey more complex information, especially in maps. Decorative embellishments such as illustrations of trains, cities and natural sights became common too.³

The merging of various small railroads into integrated networks such as the Pennsylvania, New York Central and Plant System meant that what had been one- or two- sheet timetables necessarily grew into multipage booklets. Development of the mechanical stapler bolstered this trend, allowing for inexpensive binding. By the start of the 20^th century, timetables had become standardized folded booklets measuring 4” wide and 9” long that were easy to mail or place in display racks.⁴

Many railroads adopted standardized fonts and artwork that gave their timetables a consistent appearance. This followed on concurrent efforts to adopt unified equipment color schemes, standard employee uniforms and a particular architectural vocabulary for depots.

The Winter-Spring 2016 Amtrak national timetable
highlighted the 15^th anniversary of Acela Express.

Since it began operations on May 1, 1971, Amtrak has followed in the footsteps of its predecessors, and throughout most of its history published national system timetables issued to coincide with seasonal time changes or major schedule adjustments. In the mid-1990s, Amtrak switched from a folded booklet to a magazine format. For many years, it published a separate Northeast services timetable and still produces individual folded paper brochures for all routes or groups of related routes. Over the last decade, the national system timetable generally consisted of more than 100 pages and included schedules for all Amtrak trains and Thruway buses; facts about local stations; guidance to booking a trip; national and regional maps; train equipment diagrams; and related information and policies.

In spring 2016, Amtrak announced that the Winter-Spring 2016 national system timetable would be the last printed version published and distributed. Focusing on a digital timetable is an environmentally friendly approach and enhances the company’s ability to provide better customer service by quickly updating schedules, policies and amenities information as needed rather than waiting until the next printing.

Due to changes in how customers seek information about our services– generally through Amtrak.com and Amtrak mobile apps – the demand for a printed timetable has steadily fallen since 2010. Although the paper version will no longer be available, customers may download a PDF of the national system timetable on Amtrak.com. The entire document or portions can easily be printed out at home or the office if needed.

To mark this transition, we take a look back at some of our favorite national system timetable covers, whose artwork and other details reveal information about the company in specific periods.

May 1, 1971

The first national system timetable prominently features the Amtrak name and service mark. Although officially known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, the company chose “Amtrak” as its common-use brand name. Developed by design firm Lippincott & Margulies, it is a blend of the words "American" and "track”… “a short, powerful name, easy to pronounce and remember, with high visual impact..." To complement the name, a motion-oriented service mark, known as the “motion mark,” was designed with modern graphics featuring the national colors of red, white and blue. The original mark was used from 1971 until 2000 when the current logo came into use.

The timetable includes a letter from David Kendall, chairman of the Amtrak Board of Directors, in which he writes: “This new system can and will succeed because it unifies for the first time the operation and promotion of the nation’s rail passenger service…We are optimistic …that continuing improvements will attract hundreds of thousands of people…On our part, we pledge our best efforts to providing the American people with a modern, attractive rail service as rapidly as possible.”

According to an article about Amtrak timetables in the May 1973 edition of The Timetable Collector, the newsletter of the National Association of Timetable Collectors, only 50,000 copies of this first national system timetable were printed. “This hastily-prepared issue was printed by the publishers of The Official Guide…an unusual feature…is the inclusion of schedules for Amtrak service on the [Denver and] Rio Grande [Western Railroad] and the Southern [Railway], both of which eventually decided against joining Amtrak.”⁵

May 15, 1975

Celebrating the arrival of the new E-60 locomotives, this national timetable featured an image by noted railroad artist Gil Reid. Against a vivid blue sky, E-60 locomotive No. 965 (on the right) passes the Metropark, N.J., station as a Metroliner Service train glides to a stop - a vision of modern railroading in the Northeast.

The E-60, manufactured by General Electric and based on existing freight locomotives, was meant to replace the reliable but aging GG-1, which had first entered service on the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in the 1930s. Weighing in at 193.5 tons, the E-60 could achieve approximately 6000 horsepower and was intended to reach speeds up to 120 mph. But the E-60 would prove too heavy, placing great stress on the rails when operating at high speeds. It was therefore limited to 90 mph, and Amtrak searched for a more practical unit, eventually settling on what became the AEM-7.

The Metroliners were high-speed Budd electric cars designed for use on the PRR's busy mainline between New York and Washington. The cars generally operated as married pairs, meaning that trains had an even number of cars. Luxurious interiors and fast running times made the Metroliners a viable competitor to the air shuttle. Under Amtrak, Metroliner Service frequencies increased to keep up with demand, and trains often reached speeds of up to 110 mph.

February 15, 1976

This cover’s bright colors and rich blue background draw the eye, and it provides a little lesson on the evolution of American rail car design. Starting with what’s basically a carriage on wheels in 1830, the timeline ends with a shining new Amfleet car.

Manufactured by the Budd Company, the Amfleet cars were based on the design of the popular Metroliner cars and were intended to replace older equipment purchased from the predecessor railroads. Covered in ridged stainless steel, the cars can be pulled at a top speed of 125 mph. The Amfleet cars originally came in five configurations: short- and long-distance coaches and cafe, dinette and club cars – the cover shows club car the Murray Hill. Early advertisements touted the cars’ “dual temperature control system…plush carpeting…and wider, more comfortable reclining seats to relax in.”

The first of the new single-level Amfleet cars went into revenue service on August 7, 1975. Four days earlier, Amtrak officials and invited guests took the cars on a maiden run between Washington and Philadelphia. The Amtrak Archives includes a souvenir commemorative ticket from that special run.

Many of the Amfleet cars were refurbished in the late 1990s and early 2000s at the Beech Grove, Ind., Heavy Maintenance Facility, and nearly 600 remain in use today, primarily on trains run east of the Mississippi River.

May 15, 1988

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the national system timetables featured a series of stylized and imaginative travel-themed graphics by illustrator Nathan Davies, which were also used on postcards and posters. Based on the desert landscape depicted, complete with towering rock formations, flowering cacti and what might be a desert pocket gopher, the train shown is probably meant as a general representation of the Sunset Limited (New Orleans-San Antonio-Los Angeles), Southwest Chief (Chicago-Albuquerque-Los Angeles) or California Zephyr(Chicago-Denver-Emeryville), all of which offer travelers breathtaking views of desert landscapes.

October 25, 1998

What makes this timetable cover significant is not so much the beautiful picture of a train passing through a mountainous landscape, but probably something you don’t notice at first. In the upper center is the Amtrak service mark with “www.amtrak.com” below. This is the first national timetable cover to advertise the company website, which launched in 1995 and ushered Amtrak into the Internet era. Upgrades made two years later let customers book travel directly through the website. At the time, according to World Bank data, nearly 22 percent of the American population had access to the Internet (that rose to about 87 percent by 2014).

The 1997 annual report noted other technologies meant to improve customer service, such as a computerized voice response unit at 1-800-USA-RAIL that provided schedule and fare information and the status of any train in the system. Customers could also take advantage of 190 self-service ticket machines at major stations.

The company refreshed Amtrak.com in summer 2015 as part of a larger program to provide customers with a modern experience for booking their tickets, modifying their travel plans and learning about train travel.

April 26, 2004

On June 11, 2004, the famed Empire Builder(Chicago-Seattle/Portland) celebrated 75 years of vital cross-country service. The train originally operated between Chicago and St. Paul, Minn., over the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, and then westward to Seattle over the tracks of the Great Northern Railway, with the Portland section utilizing the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway west of Spokane, Wash. On the morning of June 11, 1929, the new train was christened the Empire Builder before a west-bound departure from St. Paul Union Depot. The premier service was named for James J. Hill, the founder of what became the GN. Amtrak took over the service on May 1, 1971, and it recently resumed serving St. Paul’s newly restored Union Depot.

75^th Anniversary celebrations occurred aboard trains traveling in both directions and at many key stations. The spring/summer national system timetable featured a reproduction of an oil-on-canvas painting by noted railroad artist J. Craig Thorpe, whose artwork has graced Amtrak calendars and other promotional items. This piece commissioned by Charles Mott, entitled Companion of the Rockies, depicts the eastbound Empire Builder crossing soaring Two Medicine Trestle near Glacier National Park in western Montana.

In addition to the train’s anniversary, 2004 also marked the 200^th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The accompanying photo on the cover shows a volunteer from the Trails & Rails program, a partnership between Amtrak and the National Park Service. From April through September, program volunteers aboard trains invite travelers to learn about the cultural heritage and natural resources along the route.

November 8, 2010

A train set against the Gateway Arch – the symbolic entry to the western United States – was a fitting image for a national timetable. Four national network trains provide cross-country journeys through the West, connecting communities large and small and offering breathtaking views of North America’s majestic landscapes.

The Empire Builder (Chicago-Seattle/Portland) crosses the country’s northern tier, giving views of the Mississippi River, Montana’s Big Sky country and the Columbia River Gorge. Travelers take in the Rocky Mountains and snow-capped Sierra Nevadas from the California Zephyr (Chicago-Emeryville), while the Southwest Chief (Chicago-Los Angeles) provides a journey through the desert landscapes of New Mexico and Arizona. Along the country’s southern tier, the Sunset Limited (New Orleans-Los Angeles) passes through Louisiana bayous, southwestern deserts and California mountains.

This photograph shows a Lincoln Service train departing St. Louis for Chicago. In 2006, the state of Illinois partnered with Amtrak to inaugurate eight new trains serving downstate communities. The Illinois Department of Transportation has also received Federal Railroad Administration High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail grant program funds for several projects to advance the goal of bringing more frequencies, reduced trip times, more reliable operations and new service on Amtrak routes in the state. $1.2 billion was allocated to improve the Chicago-St. Louis rail corridor so passenger trains will be able to attain regular speeds of 110 mph.

Do you have a favorite national system timetable cover? Share it with us in the comments section below.

Amtrak national timetable cover images courtesy of The Museum of Railway Timetables

¹ John F. Stover, American Railroads (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997), 205.

² Dick Clover and Tom Coval (Revised by A.B. Magary), The Wonderful World Of Railroad Timetables (1979).

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ The Southern Railway would turn over its Southern Crescent (New York-Atlanta-New Orleans) to Amtrak in 1979, when it was renamed the Crescent. The Denver & Rio Grande Western discontinued its Rio Grande Zephyr (Denver-Salt Lake City) in 1983, and Amtrak subsequently rerouted the San Francisco Zephyr (Chicago-Oakland (San Francisco)) over Rio Grande tracks. To mark the reroute, the train was renamed the California Zephyr.

The AEM-7 Excursion Train crosses over the Susquehanna River on its way to Philadelphia. Image by Emily Moser.

This past Saturday, June 18, 2016, Amtrak and rail fans said goodbye to the legendary AEM-7 electric locomotives that for the last generation have pulled passenger trains along the Northeast Corridor spine (Washington-New York-Boston) and Keystone Corridor (Philadelphia-Harrisburg). Sometimes affectionately referred to as “toasters” and “Swedish meatballs” due to their compact, boxy design and Swedish origins, the AEM-7s first entered service in May 1980 and since then have traveled more than 220 million miles.

View from the cab of AEM-7 No. 942 as the excursion train pulls into the MARC station in Halethorpe, Md., for a photo opportunity. Image by Mike Tolbert.

AEM-7 No. 942, followed by No. 946, pulled a special excursion train that departed Washington Union Station en route to Philadelphia, with an intermediate stop for photos. In the City of Brotherly Love, the train turned on the wye trackage near the Philadelphia Zoo, including over the New York & Pittsburgh Subway and other connecting trackage in the Philadelphia terminal area not normally used by passenger trains.

The group then headed for a rare visit and walking tour of the Amtrak heavy maintenance facility in Wilmington, Del., where skilled employees maintain, repair and overhaul electric locomotives used on the Northeast Corridor (NEC). Attendees again enjoyed the opportunity to take photos with a variety of equipment, including Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS-64) locomotive No. 642, which wears a patriotic red, white and blue paint scheme to honor all those who have served in the armed forces. They then re-boarded the train for the trip back to the nation’s capital.

A new ACS-64 leads a train across the Susquehanna
River Rail Bridge in Maryland.

In early 2014, the first of 70 new ACS-64 locomotives were placed into service, allowing for the phased retirement of the AEM-7s, which had reached the end of their useful lives. Designed by Siemens, the dual-cab ACS-64s have a peak 8600 horsepower and run at speeds up to 125 mph. A regenerative braking system can feed up to 100 percent of the energy generated during braking back to the power grid. Safety is paramount with enhanced crash energy management components such as crumple zones, while a microprocessor system allows for self-diagnosis of technical issues. The last ACS-64 was delivered to Amtrak earlier this month.

Below we celebrate the distinguished career of the AEM-7 fleet through images from the Amtrak Archives and the collections of talented photographers who also happen to be part of the Amtrak family.

Silver Star led by E-60 No. 956 on the Northeast Corridor.

In the mid-1970s, Amtrak began searching for a new electric locomotive to replace the reliable but aging GG-1 electric locomotives that had been built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1930s and 1940s. Amtrak settled on the General Electric E-60, whose design was based on existing freight locomotives. Intended to reach speeds up to 120 mph, the E-60 proved too heavy, placing great stress on the rails when operating at high speeds. Amtrak thus renewed its search for a faster unit.

From left to right, this 1977 photograph shows four electric locomotives on the Northeast Corridor: a GG-1, E-60CP, Swedish Rc4 and a French CC 21000.

Amtrak tested a Swedish Rc4 and a French CC 21000 on the NEC in 1976-1977. The Rc4 designed by Allmanna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) was designated the x995 during the testing phase, while the CC 21000 built by the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) was designated the x996.

During its testing phase with Amtrak, the x995 wears the Phase II livery.

The Rc4's design won out and became the basis for the Amtrak AEM-7, produced from 1978 to 1988.

AEM-7 locomotive No. 901 wears the Amtrak Phase III livery introduced in 1979.

Amtrak contracted with General Motors Corporation's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) to design and manufacture the AEM-7, and the first units had car bodies built by Budd. Amtrak eventually ordered 54 of the locomotives. Considered lightweight at 101 tons and built to achieve top speeds of 125 mph, the dual cab AEM-7 became the mainstay of NEC services. Each had 7000 horsepower and measured approximately 51.5 feet long and 12.5 feet high.

Christening AEM-7 No. 901.

On May 9, 1980, dignitaries gathered at Washington Union Station to mark the entry of the first AEM-7 into revenue service. Congressman Robert W. Edgar, whose district included part of southeastern Pennsylvania, christened locomotive No. 901 with a bottle of champagne as seen in the photo above. Behind him, from left to right, are: Arne Mark, ASEA president; Peter K. Hoglund, General Motors Corporation Electro-Motive Division general manager; Louis Thompson, Federal Railroad Administration director, Northeast Corridor Improvement Project; and Tom Hackney, group vice president for Amtrak operations and maintenance. Following the ceremony, No. 901 departed Washington for New York leading Metroliner Service train No. 108.

AEM-7 No. 901 and E-60 No. 966 at the Ivy City Yard in Washington, D.C.

Unlike the earlier E-60s, some of which had been built with steam generators to operate with older cars, the AEM-7s were designed for all-electric service, whether with the then-new Amfleet cars or older cars refurbished to operate with head-end power.

AEM-7 No. 901 leads Metroliner Service train No. 108 as it departs Washington for New York on May 9, 1980.

By early 1982, AEM-7s and Amfleet cars replaced the original self-propelled Metroliner cars designed in the late 1960s for high-speed service between Washington and New York. Due to completion of major infrastructure improvements made under the Northeast Corridor Improvement Program, Amtrak boasted in fall 1982 that limited-stop New York-Washington “Metroliner Express Service is the only way to go from downtown to downtown in just 2 hours and 49 civilized minutes.”

Crossing the Hell Gate Bridge.

The 1983 Amtrak wall calendar featured a painting by noted artist Gil Reid. Against the inspiring New York City skyline, which includes the World Trade Center towers and the Chrysler Building, the Boston-bound New England Metroliner led by AEM-7 No. 946 passes museum-bound GG-1 No. 4935 on the Hell Gate Bridge that carries the NEC between Long Island and Randall's Island/mainland New York. Reid depicts the retired GG-1 on its way to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, where it remains on display today.

No. 934 sits over an inspection pit at the Race Street Engine Terminal north of Philadelphia 30^th Street Station in May 1997. The pit allows skilled Mechanical department employees to examine the underside of the locomotive up close. Image by Gary Pancavage.

Change is clearly visible in this October 2001 photograph showing AEM-7s Nos. 915 and 911 at the Ivy City facility north of Washington Union Station. The former wears the Phase III paint scheme introduced in 1979, a year before the first AEM-7 went into revenue service. No. 911 wears the new Phase IV paint scheme unveiled in 1993.  Image by Gary Pancavage.

“I believe they were converting this locomotive from DC to AC traction as well as repainting it into [the] Phase IV [paint scheme],” photographer Matt Donnelly says of this 1998 image taken at the Amtrak Wilmington Shops. “If you look close you'll note the unit is stripped of all its electrical connections, many under carriage components are removed, and the roof panels have been taken off.”

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Amtrak converted 29 AEM-7s to AC power under a partnership with Alstom. The latter designed and built the propulsion and auxiliary power systems, and Amtrak prepared the car bodies and trucks to include painting and the installation of new cables and cab control consoles. The end result was remanufactured units that required less maintenance, provided greater reliability and had the ability to haul longer trains.

On a January day in 2000 at the Ivy City facility in Washington, D.C., No. 907 wears the next-to-last paint scheme used on the AEM-7s. Incorporating blue and silver, it was introduced as part of a larger corporate brand refresh that also included a new service mark to replace the original inverted arrow from 1971. This scheme was soon enhanced by the addition of the new Amtrak service mark on the front and sides of each cab.

The Amfleet I cars pulled by the locomotive are also rather interesting to the rail fan. As part of the corporate brand refresh, all Northeast services were folded into the new Acela brand. The short lived paint scheme shown here was intended for Acela Regional service, which encompassed the former NortheastDirect (known today as Northeast Regional), Keystone Service and Empire Service trains. The color blotches are known as “mobile designs,” and their colors indicate the car use. For example, the combination of an Amtrak blue window band with light blue and green mobiles indicated a food service car. Image by Gary Pancavage.

Just northeast of Philadelphia, AEM-7 No. 928 leads a train through Croydon, Pa., in the winter of 2009, kicking up snow as it passes. Image by Gary Pancavage

In this 2013 image by Amtrak Corporate Photographer and Videographer Chuck Gomez, one of numerous daily Keystone Service (Harrisburg-Philadelphia-New York) trains is led by AEM-7 locomotive No. 952. Keystone Service trains operate in push-pull service by pairing electric locomotives with cab coaches rebuilt by Amtrak in the late 1980s from the original Budd-manufactured Metroliner cars.

Between 2004 and 2006, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Amtrak undertook the “Keystone Corridor Improvement Project” with the goal of improving the 104-mile rail line between Harrisburg and Philadelphia to allow for all-electric train service, increase top speeds to 110 mph and add frequencies including express options.

AEM-7 No. 942 leads a Northeast Regional train as it makes a scheduled stop at the Wilmington, Del., station in April 2014. “[The locomotive] puts on a light show with flashing ditch lights and blinking strobes -- once a trademark characteristic of Amtrak. With the…retirement of the AEM-7s, this mesmerizing and attention grabbing safety feature will fade into the history books,” notes photographer Matt Donnelly.

Many of the retired AEM-7s have been taken apart for recycling. Here, No. 902 is dismantled at the Bear Heavy Maintenance Facility in northern Delaware in April 2015. Image by Matt Donnelly.

For a new generation, the AEM-7 became theface of a rebuilt and enhanced NEC, which resulted from the multi-year, federally funded Northeast Corridor Improvement Project. Working with the Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak improved infrastructure such as tracks, bridges and power systems to increase top speeds and cut trip times between Washington and Boston. If the GG-1 represented the initial electrification of the rail lines between New York and Washington and Philadelphia and Harrisburg, the AEM-7 was a worthy successor for a new era. Today, the ACS-64 is poised to carry this mantle for the next generation.

For those still wanting to catch a glimpse of an AEM-7, you can head to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pa. Locomotive No. 915 arrived at the facility in summer 2015, joining more than 100 other historic American locomotives and railroad cars, including an Amtrak E-60.

About Our Photographers

Matt Donnelly is a lead brand communications specialist in the Amtrak Marketing department, and has been employed by Amtrak for 11 years.  Originally from Auburn, N.Y., Matt studied photography in high school and college and enjoys taking photos of aircraft and scenery in addition to trains. Check out more of Matt’s railroad photography at railpictures.net/matt

Chuck Gomez is the official Amtrak corporate photographer and videographer and supports projects across numerous departments. If you run into him on the railroad during your travels, say hello!

Gary Pancavage retired from the Amtrak Mechanical department in June 2015. Prior to his departure, he served as the director of operations for High Speed Rail - Mechanical for more than 12 years. Gary is also an avid railroad photographer, and his work has graced various Amtrak publications including the annual calendar and the employee magazine.

Have any favorite AEM-7 memories? Share them with us in the comments section below.

Amtrak Voices is an occasional series in which we talk with long-time Amtrak employees to discover what attracted them to the company, recount its early days and explore changes they witnessed in railroading during their careers.

A Love of the Railroad

When Mike Lustig began his career with Amtrak in 1978, Chicago was the busy hub for midwestern and western services - and remains so today.

Mike Lustig retired as a customer service representative at the Whitefish, Mont., station in October 2015, following 37 years with Amtrak. Whitefish is the busiest Amtrak station in the state; more than 47,000 people began or ended their journey there in Fiscal Year 2015. Before heading for retirement, we asked Lustig to share some thoughts on his long career in railroading.

Amtrak consolidated all Chicago-area services at Union Station in 1972.
This 1974 image shows the Main Hall filled with displays and passenger
seating. Image by Charles O'Rear, courtesy of the National Archives.

Lustig’s interest in railroads began at a young age while growing up in Chicago, considered one of the most important freight and passenger rail hubs in North America. It’s hard to go too far in the Windy City before running into a set of railroad tracks. Seeing a great variety of freight, intercity and commuter trains was a part of daily life. Lustig recalls, “My dad used to say, ‘You’ve been talking about trains since you were four.’” As a little boy, Lustig also took periodic trips with his family to Havre, Mont., aboard the famed Great Northern Railway (GN) Empire Builder (Chicago-Seattle/Portland).

This exposure to railroading led Lustig to Amtrak in March 1978 where he started at the Chicago Reservation Sales Office. Amtrak had opened the Chicago Reservation Sales Office in October 1971 to make it easier for customers to get information about trains, fares and accommodations. Prior to the establishment of Amtrak-staffed offices, a passenger had to deal directly with those run by the private railroads that still provided train, engine and onboard service employees to Amtrak (these positions were gradually assumed by the company), which had taken over the majority of the nation's intercity passenger rail services in May 1971.

The San Francisco Zephyr snakes through Emigrant Gap in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains.

From Chicago, if you wanted to take a train to St. Louis, you called the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad; a train to Los Angeles meant ringing the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway; and so on. The opening of the Chicago office finally let a passenger, by dialing one phone number for the entire metropolitan area, easily make a reservation for any destination in the country. In the meantime, Amtrak worked to create a computerized nationwide reservation system.

Soon after hiring on, Lustig became an extra ticket clerk and worked a handful of Illinois stations: Chicago Union Station, Glenview, Aurora, Homewood and Kankakee. “Going to Union Station, that was a great time, and learning to sell tickets there was fun. I met all kinds of people as a ticket agent.”

Lustig recalls time spent at downstate Illinois stations:

“I got to work with former Illinois Central Railroad employees who came to work for Amtrak. While I was in Aurora (which was closed in April 1985 when the stop shifted eastward to Naperville), Train Nos. 5 & 6 were the San Francisco Zephyr (Chicago-Cheyenne-Oakland/San Francisco).¹ The westbound Illinois Zephyr (Chicago-Quincy), Train No. 347, ran ahead of the westbound San Francisco Zephyr, No. 5, by about 20 minutes.

The tower operator at Aurora would call when No. 347, followed by No. 5, went by Downers Grove. This meant the train was 17 minutes from Aurora. A dozen minutes later, we announced train No. 347, and the passengers went through the tunnel under the track and up the stairs to the middle main platform. Soon thereafter we announced the San Francisco Zephyr and went to meet it.

One night I went to meet the tower operator at Aurora who worked 2^nd shift. He’s a model railroader and was working on a BN SD40-2 locomotive. It has been said that more model kits were worked on at Aurora Tower than any other tower in the nation!”

Pullman Standard won a contract in 1974 that called for production
of new bi-level Superliner equipment.

A year after Lustig joined Amtrak, the company introduced new bi-level Superliner equipment for use on western national network trains. Manufactured by the Pullman-Standard Company in Hammond, Ind., the Superliners were the first cars designed entirely to Amtrak specifications. Pullman Standard won a contract that, as amended, called for production of 102 coaches, 48 coach-baggage cars, 25 café/lounge cars, 70 sleepers and 39 diners.

“In October of 1979 the Empire Builder got Superliner equipment and that was a big deal,” remembers Lustig. To mark the occasion, champagne was offered to adult passengers and buttons and other souvenirs were distributed. Earlier in the month, promotional trains with Superliner coaches, a diner and a sleeping car had covered the entire route, stopping at each Amtrak-served community to show off the new face of long-distance train travel. At St. Cloud, Staples and Detroit Lakes in Minnesota, the display train welcomed approximately 5,000 enthusiastic visitors.

In the late 1970s, Amtrak began to convert older cars to electric
head-end power.

Lustig adds, “Until Amtrak got more Superliner cars, many times a Heritage diner and sleeper substituted [which Amtrak had purchased or leased from the predecessor railroads].  At the same time, Amtrak was converting some of the best Heritage equipment to electric head-end power (HEP) by replacing the steam heat systems on said cars. The Beech Grove [Heavy Maintenance facility in Indiana] did an outstanding job with those cars.”

Stay tuned for Part 2, when Lustig heads west to Montana to serve at stations along the route of the famed Empire Builder.

¹ In July 1983, the San Francisco Zephyr was rerouted from southern Wyoming onto the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) line between Denver and Salt Lake City. By that time, the D&RGW had decided to turn over its Rio Grande Zephyr - the last privately operated intercity passenger train in the country - to Amtrak. Amtrak preferred the D&RGW route due to its breathtaking scenery along the Colorado River. Tomark this transition, Amtrak renamed the train the California Zephyr, a name it retains today.

Amtrak History electronic mail interviews with Mike Lustig took place in fall 2015. All quotes by Lustig are drawn from these interviews.

Amtrak Voices is an occasional series in which we talk with long-time Amtrak employees to discover what attracted them to the company, recount its early days and explore changes they witnessed in railroading during their careers.

Out West

(Catch up on Part 1)

In this 1980s image, the Empire Builder stops at West Glacier, Mont., which was originally known as Belton.

In a repeat of his boyhood trips on the Empire Builder, Amtrak Ticket Agent Mike Lustig headed west to Montana in May 1980. He first worked in Belton, better known today as West Glacier. Five months later, he moved east to Havre, which is centrally located on the High Line—so called because this important freight and passenger rail line crosses the northern parts of Montana and North Dakota. There he fondly remembers working with Ticket Agent Virginia Mork. “She had hired out with the Great Northern Railway (GN) in 1943 as a telegrapher and would tell me stories of when she sold tickets for them.”

The historic Whitefish, Mont., depot is noted for its half-timbered
walls and large dormers.

After five years in Havre, he moved to Whitefish in September 1985. The community sits on the southern edge of a lake bearing the same name and is a popular destination for winter sports enthusiasts. It is also just west of Glacier National Park, whose lakes, forests, meadows and soaring mountains attract millions of visitors each year.

Lustig was based in the old GN depot built in 1928. Designed in an Alpine style, the building features horizontal wood siding on the first floor and half-timbering on the upper stories. The Stumptown Historical Society, which works to  preserve the history of Whitefish and the Flathead Valley, renovated the building in the 1990s. Today it houses BNSF Railway offices, an Amtrak ticket office and waiting area and a museum exploring local history.

"Employees also tended to look out for one another. In the stations, it was for the most part like being family.” - Mike Lustig

From April 2000 through October 2001, Lustig transferred to Shelby, Mont., which sits at the center of a rich farming region known as the "Golden Triangle." The area produces the majority of the state's barley and wheat, as well as almost all of the mustard seed grown in the United States. In addition to working in the ticket office, Lustig spent six months as the crew clerk for the train and engine crew base.

Although his title may have changed over the years, Lustig still refers to himself as a “lead ticket clerk” since “that was what the job was called when I hired on. I liked selling tickets, booking reservations. Employees also tended to look out for one another. In the stations, it was for the most part like being family.” After moving to Montana, Lustig credits Dick Schneider, his then-district supervisor, for valuable mentoring. “Dick guided me through learning the ways of working remote stations, and he was sincere as the day is long, a straight shooter.”

Customers enjoy some fresh air as the eastbound Empire Builder stops at Havre, Mont. Image courtesy of Joe Rago.

In smaller cities and towns across the country, including Whitefish, the ticket agent is often the face of Amtrak. The depot, usually located downtown, functions as a public space and the centerpiece for local events and festivities. It is also a place of shared memory, figuring prominently in residents’ stories and memories. “Representing Amtrak was a tall order,” recalls Lustig. “Amtrak is important in Whitefish and other small towns because it beats driving or riding the bus and smaller towns don’t always have air service. Amtrak needs to run more national network trains.”

Implementation of the Amtrak Automated Reservation and Ticketing
System (ARTS) in June 1974 eliminated the need to hand-write
ticket reservations.

Amtrak made major strides in modernizing its ticketing and reservation system and fare structure in the early 1970s. When Lustig started out in Chicago, he would have used the four-year-old Automated Reservation Ticketing System (ARTS). At its introduction, it had eliminated the need to hand-write ticket reservations, thereby saving time and reducing the risk of lost paperwork. ARTS reached a major milestone when it issued more than one million tickets in August 1978.

Due to growing ridership in the late 1970s, ARTS was at times overwhelmed with calls that then triggered delays and shutdowns. In response, Amtrak developed a new system called ARROW that launched in 1982. ARROW had ten times the computing capacity of its predecessor and restored an optimal two- or three-second response time.

In 2012, Amtrak implemented eTicketing across the entire national network. It allows passengers to print their tickets at their convenience or use a smartphone to show the eTicket to the conductor, thereby resulting in shorter ticket lines at stations, fewer tickets sold onboard trains and a decrease in the number of lost tickets. It also provides Amtrak with accurate real time knowledge of who is on the train, en route reporting of onboard equipment problems and more efficient financial reporting.

Amtrak introduced convenient eTicketing across the national
system in 2012.

As retirement neared in fall 2015, Lustig happily “hand-wrote some [paper] tickets for friends so they could have a souvenir from me. The tickets were used for travel, except for one person who wanted to get the last ticket I ever issued from Whitefish to West Glacier.” He adds, “I wrote a [paper reservation] book ticket for a couple of friends going from Los Angeles to Whitefish in Roomettes. The conductor had never seen a book ticket.”

“Reserving passengers’ travel plans, booking and ticketing were always at the core of a ticket clerk’s job,” Lustig says. “I know the many benefits of eTicketing, but I felt like I wasn’t doing my job when just issuing a passenger a piece of paper!” His comment points to how technology is reshaping passenger railroadingand the customer experience. Ticket agents are now referred to as customer service representatives because they inhabit a broader role as ambassadors for Amtrak, ready to assist people in whatever way they can.

Many of Lustig’s best memories center on supportive coworkers, as well as some adventures along the way. His favorite Amtrak memory dates back to spring 1979 when he rode the North Coast Hiawatha(Chicago-Billings-Seattle) from Chicago to Billings, Mont., and back, on his days off:

“There was a conductor named Al who would call us at the Chicago Reservation Sales Office to find out how train 7/17 was due into Midway Station [in Minneapolis-St. Paul]. At the time the North CoastHiawatha ran tri-weekly and the Empire Builder ran quad-weekly so the Builder was train 7/8 (as it is now) and the North CoastHiawatha was train 17/18.

North Coast Hiawatha approaching the Bozeman Tunnel.

Anyway, I told Al that I would be riding to Billings and asked if by chance I could get a ride in the cab of the locomotive out of Midway. He said okay and on the day I went west, I met Al for the first time. So I got to ride in the cab from Midway to St. Cloud, Minn.

The engineer’s name was John and the fireman’s name was Tom. Also in the cab was the rear brakeman named Bill. He was in the cab because he had to hand-throw some switches coming out of Midway and on to the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) main line. Back then the train still went over the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis on its way west.

The North Coast Hiawatha was a descendant of the Northern Pacific Railway (NP) flagship train the North Coast Limited. In those days, the train and engine crews worked for the operating railroad (in this case BN)¹. The four people mentioned above hired on with the NP and then worked for BN.

1979 was the year that the Carter administration proposed…cuts to the Amtrak route structure…There were petitions in the Billings depot for people to sign to keep the North CoastHiawatha on. I grabbed some blanks and had people sign them on the trip back, and when I got to Chicago I had friends and co-workers sign too.

Conductor Al was on the eastbound train again and suggested that I send copies to every congressman and senator in the states that the North CoastHiawatha served. I did just that! Unfortunately, the North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued that year.”

Asked if he has any advice for young people starting out at Amtrak, or railroading in general, Lustig says, “Stick with it. You can have a long career with one company and get a good retirement. It’s very rare these days that someone will work for the same company their entire employment history.”

Interested in hearing more from long-time Amtrak employees like Mike Lustig? Check out past Amtrak Voices posts.

¹ In 1970, the NP merged with the GN, Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Amtrak History electronic mail interviews with Mike Lustig took place in fall 2015. All quotes by Lustig are drawn from these interviews.

Regular service began August 5, 1984.

The Amtrak Archives contains dozens of buttons and pins that span the company’s 45 year history. Primarily developed by the Marketing department, they highlighted new services, company-wide safety programs, sales promotions and other initiatives. Some were meant to be worn by station staff and onboard crew members, while others were given to customers as souvenirs.

Going through the collection, we recently came upon this colorful button celebrating the new Amtrak Pere Marquette service between Grand Rapids, Mich., and Chicago. The service takes its name from an earlier train run by the Pere Marquette Railway (which was absorbed by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in 1947). The original Pere Marquette was a streamlined train that began operating between Grand Rapids and Detroit in 1946. Two years later the name was also applied to new trains operating between Grand Rapids and Chicago.¹

As newly-created Amtrak prepared to take over most of the nation’s intercity passenger rail services on May 1, 1971, it had to be determined which existing trains would be included in the final national system. The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 that created Amtrak directed the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to lay out a preliminary map with recommended route endpoints (Amtrak would then determine the actual routings). States and other stakeholders were allowed to comment on the basic system map before its adoption.²

After making a stop at St. Joseph, Mich., the northbound Pere Marquette crosses the St. Joseph River, which is lined with marinas. The entrance to Lake Michigan is just to the west of this bridge.

The Grand Rapids-Chicago route – one daily roundtrip by 1970 – was not included in the final system due to concerns over potential ridership, profitability and competition from other modes such as automobiles. Although Furniture City and other communities lost passenger rail service, they did not forget about the train.

In 1984, through the strong backing of the Michigan Department of Transportation, which provides financial support for the service, Amtrak launched a revived Pere Marquette. On Aug. 4, special guests were welcomed aboard an inaugural train that covered the entire 176-mile route. Decorated with American and Michigan flags, F40PH locomotives Nos. 219 and 218 were in the lead. The consist included nine Amfleet coaches, a Heritage lounge car, a Heritage sleeping car and track inspection car No. 10000.³

The Pere Marquette, employing a winter consist that includes bi-level Superliner cars, stops at Holland, Mich., on a snowy day.

Crowds greeted the train at intermediate stations in New Buffalo, St. Joseph-Benton Harbor, Bangor, Holland and Grand Rapids, Mich., as well as Hammond-Whiting, Ind.⁴ Regularly scheduled passenger service began the following day. The commemorative button shown above features a stylized F40PH wearing the Amtrak Phase III paint scheme. Below it is the company’s first service mark, which was used from 1971 until 2000.

The Pere Marquette remains a popular travel option for residents of southwest Michigan, which boasts beautiful lakefront beaches and communities known for their rich Dutch heritage. Nearly 96,000 customers rode the train in Fiscal Year 2015. In addition to the Pere Marquette, the state also funds the Wolverine Service (Pontiac-Detroit-Ann Arbor-Chicago) and the Blue Water (Port Huron-East Lansing-Chicago). Altogether, more than 830,000 customers rode the Michigan trains last year.

The new Grand Rapids station opened in 2014 and features a clock
tower that glows at night. Image courtesy of The Rapid.

In October 2014, local and state leaders joined with residents to dedicate a new, modern station in Grand Rapids. Named for former Congressman Vern Ehlers, the building sports a soaring clock tower with a crown of perforated stainless steel; at night, LED lights from within create a glowing beacon for travelers. Central Station, served by local Rapid and intercity buses, is located directly north of the new rail facility, thereby creating a convenient intermodal hub in the heart of the city.

Were you part of the Pere Marquette inaugural celebration? Do you have a favorite memory of the train? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section!

¹ Craig Sanders, Amtrak in the Heartland (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2006), 209.

² Amtrak, Annual Report of National Railroad Passenger Corporation(Oct. 30, 1970 – Oct. 29, 1971) (Washington, D.C., 1971).

³“Railroad News Photos,” Trains, November 1984.

⁴Pere Marquette service to Hammond-Whiting and New Buffalo was later discontinued, but the stations are served by other Michigan Service trains.

A Northeast Regional train skirts Long Island Sound before crossing the Niantic River over the Niantic River Bridge between East Lyme and Waterford, Conn.

During hot summer days, it’s hard not to think about a dip in the pool or a trip to the beach to enjoy the breeze off the ocean and the gently rolling surf. Along the Northeast Corridor (NEC), Amtrak customers catch glimpses of the placid Schuylkill River in Philadelphia and the fanciful buildings along Boathouse Row. For stretches in Connecticut, trains skirt the edge of Long Island Sound, where you might spot children scampering across sandy beaches or see a variety of birds animating coastal wetlands.

This 1978 view shows the span of the 1907 bridge open for
boat traffic. Image by Edmund Barrett / HAER.

Sometimes trains come to a brief stop along the railroad in Connecticut as bridges open for boats headed for open waters or home port. One of those movable bridges is located between the towns of East Lyme and Waterford, where the Niantic River meets the sound. Side by side, the tracks and Main Street make a gentle curve while crossing the river. On the south side of the tracks, a boardwalk and beach invite residents for a stroll along the water, while to the north busy marinas spread along the shore.

The Niantic River Bridge is one of five movable bridges along the NEC between New Haven, Conn., and Boston. The current two-track, electrified railroad bascule bridge opened in 2012 and features one moveable span over the river channel. Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains travel it daily each way, along with Shore Line East commuter trains. It replaced a 1907 iron bascule bridge built by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad that had reached the end of its useful life. According to the Historic American Engineering Record, the 1907 structure was the third over the river in that approximate location.

The new bridge allows Amtrak trains to travel at speeds of 60 miles per hour, up from 45 miles per hour. From a distance, you can make out the catenary poles and wires that carry the electric current to power the locomotives.

The current bridge under construction in 2012, with the 1907 bridge immediately to the right.

The Amtrak Niantic River Bridge shown from afar as an Acela Express train passes over it.

While the NEC between Washington and New Haven had been electrified by the 1930s, all-electric service on the remaining 157 miles north to Boston did not start until January 2000. Until that point, trains switched between diesel and electric locomotives at New Haven.

Starting in 1996, Amtrak undertook a series of improvements on the NEC in anticipation of launching high-speed Acela Express service. Amtrak crews and contractors would install more than 15,000 catenary poles, string 1,550 miles of catenary wire, build 25 power stations and lower or rebuild tracks and bridges to provide clearance for the new electrical system. In conjunction with this work, they also installed 140 miles of continuous welded rail and 300,000 concrete ties, realigned 127 curves, installed a new signal system and upgraded stations.¹

Merrill Perkins works as a Niantic River Bridge operator.

Amtrak Bridge Operator Merrill Perkins usually arrives early for his 7 a.m. shift at the Niantic River Bridge. Perkins estimates that he opens the bridge between 15-18 times a day on average while on duty. During the summer, among the three shifts, the drawbridge can see as many as 1,000 openings per month. When a boat needs to pass through, Perkins communicates with its captain and the train dispatcher to prepare for the bridge’s opening, which takes approximately two minutes.

Perkins’s interest in trains started at an early age, which then developed into a desire to have a career on the railroad. He started with Amtrak in 1976 as a laborer in a diesel shop. Through the years, he worked as a locomotive dispatcher and ticket agent before moving into his current position in April 2010.

Although the job can be solitary—Perkins sits alone in the tower during his shift—he said he has developed a strong rapport with harbor captains in the close-knit Niantic boating community. “I’ve worked with a vast number of wonderful people over the years,” said Perkins. “Working for Amtrak and learning so many aspects about the railroads has truly been an amazing experience.”

¹“It’s official,” Amtrak Ink, March 1999 and “Amtrak launches first fully electrified service between N.Y., Boston,” Amtrak Ink, March 2000.

The Montrealer along Lake Champlain at East Alburg, Vt. This watercolor by artist Gil Reid was featured on the 1990 Amtrak calendar.

The bright blue waters of Lake Champlain, famed green hills of Vermont and the silver tones of the Montrealer(Washington-Montreal) create a pleasing color palette in this 1990 watercolor by well-known artist Gil Reid. It seems appropriate to feature on the blog as summer starts to begrudgingly give way to autumn.

The Montrealer near Northfield Falls, Vt.

Reid shows the train, pulled by two F69PH-AC diesel locomotives, at East Alburg, Vt., just south of the border with Canada. Because it also served towns in French-speaking Quebec, the Montrealer featured menus and announcements in English and French. In the winter, the line was popular with skiers who used it to reach Vermont resorts including Stowe, Bolton Valley and Jay Peak. A highlight of the train was "Le Pub," a "dimly-lit, romantic cocktail lounge car" featuring a piano player/singer on weekends.

In 1995, the overnight Montrealer was replaced with the daytime Vermonter, which has its northern terminus at St. Albans, about 17 miles southeast of East Alburg by rail. The Vermonter is financed primarily through funds made available by the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Covering 605 miles between Washington, D.C., and St. Albans, the daily trainserves 32 stations in 10 states. The route is especially popular with those seeking views of fall foliage, and it continues to offer easy access to winter resorts.

An assistant conductor helps customers board
the Vermonter at Hartford, Conn., in fall 2015.

Due to rehabilitation of the Connecticut River Line, a project spearheaded by MassDOT, the route of the Vermonter in Massachusetts shifted westward in December 2014. From 1972 until 1987, the Montrealer had used this section of railroad, but the train was rerouted to the east due to deteriorating track conditions. The ultimate goal of the line rehabilitation and reroute is to reduce travel time and improve the train’s on-time performance.

While new stations opened in Northampton and Greenfield, and later in Holyoke, the Amherst stop was discontinued. These new stations offer better connections to the three dozen colleges and universities– and their large student population – that have led to the rebranding of this region as the “Knowledge Corridor.”

Since 1974, Amtrak has been involved with the publication of an annual wall calendar that generally features a train, new equipment or important pieces of rail infrastructure—and sometimes all three. Of all the artists whose work has graced the official calendar, Gil Reid holds the record for most pieces featured. His 18 works showcase trains such as the National Limited(New York/Washington-Kansas City) and Crescent (New Orleans-New York); E-60, AEM-7 and P30CH locomotives; and significant infrastructure including the Horseshoe Curve and Los Angeles Union Station.

Reid was already well-regarded for his accurate depictions of railroading when he began the Amtrak commissions in 1974. Though born in St. Louis in 1918, Reid spent most of his childhood in Richmond, Ind., near the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Following World War II, during which he received a Purple Heart, Reid began a career in commercial art. He eventually worked full-time for Kalmbach Publishing – the company behind Trains and other railroad magazines – as an assistant artist and then assistant art director.

Gil Reid sketches the Susquehanna River Bridge in 1979.

Primarily done in watercolor, Reid’s Amtrak work displays his technical precision and attention to detail. Through thoughtful perspectives, trains often stretch into the distance, allowing the viewer a closer look at the various locomotives and cars. Although beautiful landscapes, including snow-capped mountains, watery bayous and stark deserts, are featured, the trains always take center stage. Click here to view some of Reid’s other calendar scenes.

Do you have favorite memories from riding the Vermonter or Montrealer? Share them with us below.

The Amtrak Marketing department photo library contains thousands of slides that we are working to sort, digitize and make available to the public. The collection includes images of trains traveling through diverse landscapes, Amtrak employees performing their job duties and station interiors and exteriors.

With the passage of time, they have become valuable visual records of stations and communities that hold interest for railroad and local historians. Change is evident when compared to contemporary scenes, but some elements remain the same. Some depots no longer stand, while others have been restored and are now listed as historic landmarks.

Below we take a look at a handful of stations then and now, and you can also get to know the stations from Tour 1 and Tour 2.

MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA

Served by the Empire Builder

Completed in 1905

By 1974, modernization efforts had drastically altered the appearance of the Minot depot.

The Great Northern Railway built the current depot, located northwest of downtown near the Souris River, in 1905. By 1974, when the photograph above was taken, the building had been given a more modern appearance by swapping out the original gabled roof and installing new windows with large panes of glass and bright yellow panels. Inside, the marble floor was covered with tile.

In 2003, the volunteer-led Amtrak Depot Restoration Committee formed to work toward a full rehabilitation of the structure. The effort officially kicked off as part of the first National Train Day celebration on May 10, 2008. Contractors removed stucco from the walls, but because they were not in a good enough condition to withstand the harsh North Dakota weather, a new brick exterior was put in place. The roof was rebuilt and new period-appropriate windows and doors installed.

The Minot depot on a bright winter's day; deep eaves protect passengers from snow and rain.

Another phase of work included enlarging the waiting room; the spirit of the original design was restored through the installation of wood wainscot, tile flooring, wood benches and a pressed tin ceiling. To celebrate the renovation, a ribbon cutting was held in late 2010.

Unfortunately, not a year after the depot project wrapped up, Minot experienced extensive flooding. The depot’s basement flooded and two feet of water inundated the main floor. A subsequent renovation was completed by April 2013, and the city held an open house on National Train Day to show off the facility, seen in the modern image.

ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND

Served by the Capitol Limited

Intermodal center opened in 1984

The old Rockville depot as it appeared in the mid-1970s before its relocation and restoration.

The charming Victorian depot in Rockville, Md., was built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1873 and was likely designed by well-known architect E. Francis Baldwin. The above image from October 1976 appears to show a crowd gathered for the inaugural run of the Shenandoah (Washington-Cumberland-Cincinnati).

An early flyer for the Shenandoah noted, "Now for the first time you can take in eye-opening daytime views of the beautiful Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains as you travel..." It also touted the use of new stainless steel, single-level Amfleet cars on the Shenandoah—they are clearly visible in the photo.

In 1984, Amtrak relocated to a new intermodal center that is today also served by commuter rail, the Washington subway and various bus lines.

In the early 1980s, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, which operates the region’s subway and buses, pushed out into the Maryland suburbs. It constructed an intermodal transportation center in Rockville to house its services along with Amtrak and Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC) trains. To make way for the new complex, the old depot, which weighs 400 tons, was moved south approximately 30 feet. Refurbished as offices, it now stands amid mature trees next to the railroad right-of-way and is easily visible from passing trains.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Served by the Pacific Surfliner, Coast Starlight, Sunset Limited / Texas EagleandSouthwest Chief

Completed in 1939

When Amtrak began operations in 1971 – this photo dates to
the early 1970s – service had shrunk to just nine trains a day.

Los Angeles Union Station is a vital intermodal transportation center that serves as a hub for Amtrak intercity passenger rail; Metrolink commuter rail; and Metro rail and Metro bus services. More than 60,000 travelers, commuters and visitors pass through the station every day. Comparing these two images, not much has changed in the main passenger areas—original finishes, lighting and furniture remain in place.

Opened in May 1939, the station was intended to consolidate the services of the Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads in one modern facility. A multi-day program introduced the public to the new facility. It included a preview and reception for railroad officials, guests of honor and long-time employees; a historical parade with the theme of "Railroads Build the Nation"; and station tours. Regular passenger service began on May 7th.

Union Station was designed in part by John and Donald Parkinson. Their combination of Spanish Colonial, Mission Revival and Art Deco designs was used to accentuate the city's personal history and heritage alongside its newly found modernity.

In the waiting room, travelers stroll to their trains along terracotta tiled floors accented with inlaid marble strips. Walls are clad with both travertine and early models of acoustical tile. Adjacent to the indoor waiting areas are beautiful enclosed garden patios and courtyards. These lush outdoor spaces were planned by landscape architect Tommy Tomson, who chose a selection of colorful and fragrant plants including orange trees, fan palms and espalier magnolias.

Today Union Station is a busy intermodal center served by 28 daily Amtrak trains. It has also appeared as the backdrop for numerous television commercials.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority bought Union Station in 2011 and subsequently embarked on the creation of a master plan to guide the station’s future development. The master plan, now being implemented, has four primary goals: celebrate the station’s history and design; improve the passenger experience; create a great destination that attracts not only transit users but also residents and visitors; and prepare for potential high-speed rail service.

Do you remember any of these stations from Amtrak’s early days?Share your memories in the comments section below.