Think “Rio Grande” and one imagines long freights grinding through the tunnels and screeching around the tight curves of the Front Range, or coal drags with multiple helpers creeping up Soldier Summit or winding through the double horseshoe at Gilluly. Not as frequently considered, yet almost entirely accessible end-to-end, is the stretch from Dotsero, at […]
Railroad: Amtrak
Soldier Summit, Utah
Soldier Summit is one of two sites in Utah profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below for Soldier Summit information. DescriptionDouble-track main line of Union Pacific’s ex-Denver & Rio Grande Western line over the Wasatch Mountains, used jointly by UP and the Utah Railway. […]
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is one of four sites in Texas profiled in Kalmbach’s Guide to North American Hot Spots by TRAINS Senior Editor J. David Ingles. Read below for Texarkana information. Site: Texarkana, Texas Nearest Cities: Dallas (186 miles southwest); Shreveport, La. (71 miles southeast) Popular Name: Tower 42 Location: Texas/Eastern EC-12 (Rand McNally Atlas) Directions: About […]
The scoop on sleeper pricing
Sandra Grausso and her pal Eeyore take some time to enjoy the scenery from a Viewliner standard bedroom on the Lake Shore Limited, during her move from Los Angeles to New York. Bob Johnston Sandra Grausso, a music business professional, was relocating from Los Angeles to New York. She had just spent two nights on […]
Amtrak’s beginnings
It’s June 1971, and Amtrak is one month old, but the Chicago-Los Angeles Super Chief looks almost the same as it did under Santa Fe Railway auspices. A Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44 shoves the streamliner from the coach yard to a departure platform at Chicago Union Station. Note the Sears Tower under construction in the background. Doug […]
Amtrak trains on May 1, 1971
Note: Most trains grouped in pairs. Prior to November 14, 1971, Amtrak did not assign its own train numbers, instead using numbers assigned by the individual freight railroads operating its trains. 101, 104 – Metroliner – New York-Washington (Ex. Sun.)103, 100 – Metroliner – New York-Washington (Ex. Sat. and Sun.)105, 106 – Metroliner – New […]