A USA RailPass Adventure in 1976

In 1976 Amtrak introduced the USA RailPass.....I could get 14 days of unlimited travel for a set price of $165 so I just had to try it out!.......Here's my itinerary:.

Oct 3 #169 Minute Man: Boston - New York

Oct 3 #115 Metroliner: New York - Washington

Oct 3 #51 James Whitcomb Riley: Washington Chicago

Oct 5 #5 San Francisco Zephyr: Chicago Oakland

Oct 8 #11 Coast Starlight: Oakland Los Angeles

Oct 8 #4 Southwest Limited: Los Angeles Chicago

Oct 11 #301 Ann Rutledge: Chicago St Louis

Oct 11 #304 Ann Rutledge: St Louis Chicago

Oct 12 #9 Twin Cities Hiawatha: Chicago Minneapolis

Oct 13 #8 Empire Builder: Minneapolis Milwaukee

Oct 13 #326 Turboliner: Milwaukee - Chicago

Oct 13 #57 Floridian: Chicago Tampa

Oct 15 #88 Champion: Tampa Washington

Oct 16 #170 Minute Man: Washington Boston

.....and for anyone who wants to follow along with that 1976 timetable, here's a link to it at the Museum of Railway Timetables site:

http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19760615&st=0001

Usually I would have taken CNs Ocean or Scotian from Halifax to Montreal and started my Amtrak travels there on either the Montrealer or Adirondack. But this time I wanted to cram as much Amtrak riding into my 2 week vacation as I could so I hopped on an Air Canada DC9 Saturday evening for a quick 1 hour flight to Boston.

I was at South Station early the next morning with plenty of time to pick up my pass and the tickets I needed. Unlike the Eurailpass (just show and go)......on Amtrak you still had to obtain a ticket for each train you rode. But no advance planning was required. You could make reservations if you wanted but if a seat was available......you got it. You could even upgrade to a sleeper by paying the difference.



My first train was the Minute Man and an opportunity to sample a new Amfleet consist. The cars were brand-new and what an improvement over the xPenn Central clunkers I had been riding in the corridor in previous years.



At NYP I upgraded to a Metroliner for an additional $6 which got me into Washington a half hour before the Minute Man would have and a better connection to my next train......the James Whitcomb Riley. At Washington as I was taking the following picture, I was quickly stopped by the police and told No Photography (and this was 1976!)



I remember waking during the night as our train was being switched and then getting off early the next morning in Cincinnati to see a Dome Car had been added. We had picked up the Mountaineer through from Norfolk at Russell KY.

Now onto Chicago (sitting in the dome) and then a day spent riding some commuter routes including a C&NW Bi-level out to Harvard and back.



Up next was the San Francisco Zephyr and a coach seat for two nights all the way to Oakland. There always seemed to be plenty of coach seats available and you could spread out across a double for yourself.

The Breakfast Menu from the first morning out......



........and three shots from Denver, Cheyenne and Green River Wy. (the SFZ in 1976 ran via the UP, not the D&RGW)

The second morning out found us in Reno (Sparks) then winding down through the Sierras heading for Oakland. (and riding in the vestibule back then didn't seam to be an issue with most of the crews)

At Oakland I took the connecting Bus over to the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco then back to 16 th St. Station in the morning for the next leg of my trip: the Coast Starlight and a scenic ride through the mountains and down the coast to Los Angeles.

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I had been in Los Angeles before so on this trip It was just a quick connection from an ontime Coast Starlight arrival at 6:55pm to the 8:00pm departure of the Southwest Limited (note Limited not Chief!)

The next day was spent viewing the scenery of the Southwest from an xSanta Fe High Levels.

.......then on up over Raton Pass





......and the next morning, stopping in Kansas City and crossing the Mississippi.

Back in Chicago now and time for a couple of Midwest Corridor rides. First a roundtrip to St. Louis on another Amfleet consist....the Ann Rutledge and then the Twin Cities Hiawatha to Minneapolis in a dome coach. I had planned on riding the EmpireBuilder all the way back to Chicago but looking at my timetable, I saw I could get off in Milwaukee and complete my trip on a Turboliner. One of the advantages of a Railpass....a spur of the moment change of plans!

Just long enough now in Chicago for another commuter ride: this time the Milwaukee Road out to Roselle....... then back to CUS to board the Floridian.

The poor Floridian.......not a busy train and plenty of room to spread out in a double coach seat to myself for the next two nights. Heres a photo at our early morning stop in Louisville then onto Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery and into Tampa the next morning.

I wasnt in Tampa long before I was heading north on the Champion to Washington. As we passed through Sanford, I was hanging out the open vestibule door getting some shots of the original Auto-Train:

My two week trip was winding down fast. At Washington I changed to the Minute Man and after the change from electric to diesel at New Haven it was onto Boston to complete my trip after chalking up 10,725 miles.



From South Station, a quick MBTA ride had me at Logan for my Air Canada DC9 flight back to Halifax:



It had been quite a Railpass adventure and I was ready to do it all again the following year........ Stay tuned!

What a wonderful blast from the past. It reminds me of why I fell in love with Amtrak!

Thanks for taking the time to write.

Great story. It is even better with the pictures.

Great as Always and Good Memories for Sure! I took a Similar Trip in 2004 with the North American Rail Pass that included Unlimited riding on VIA also Including the Late First Class "Constellation" from Montreal toi Toronto !(Minus the Pictures!)Thanks for Posting! :hi:

That is a MILLION DOLLARS worth of Photography! Thanks for the great posting!

Love this! The pictures are great.

Great post, NS VIA Fan. You're truly one of the afflicted, lol and you were afflicted early on !!

Thanks everyone!

Just shows how well Kodachrome slides have held their colour over 37 years......along with an inexpensive slide scanner from Staples.

NS VIA Fan said:

Thanks everyone!

Just shows how well Kodachrome slides have held their colour over 37 years......along with an inexpensive slide scanner from Staples.

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Do you remember what type camera the original slides were taken with? That has a lot to do with it,too.

I love seeing the different clothes, cars, and suitcases. I remember my parents lugging those hard-shell suitcases around on our vacations - no wheels, no long handles - just sheer muscle power. I think they still have some of them. They use them for storage.

Unfortunately my time came after Amtrak had abandoned the use of most Heritage cars, though I can say I caught the tail end of the HiLevels in use on regular revenue runs. Amtrak really is a different animal these days, homogenized and without the unknown character each of those hand-me-down cars brought. In many ways this is a good thing, but one still wishes you could ride those first few years of Amtrak still today.

Thanks for sharing!

Super report, loved the 70's clothing and styles. Brilliant sharp photos, those outside views looking along the train as it curves are top notch!

I note the steam rising around the locos, I guess this was for heating, we had steam boilers on our diesel electrics to heat the older rolling stock when I worked at British Rail in the 1970's... Once again a reminder of how large a country Amtrak serves: steam heating in Chicago, passengers in light summer outfits in California.

Ed

NS VIA Fan said:

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I see some evidence here of the degradation of Tampa Union Station -- looks like nothing but weeds in that "TUS" planter. (By 1984, they'd closed the station building entirely and were operating out of an Amshack. But it's much better now.)

I wish they still ran the Floridian, even if it were just 3-4 days per week. That'd be a great route for spring break, honeymoons, and family vacations.

Really neat to see the E unit on the 4th picture posted (418). I've been fortunate enough to run a sister unit, ex AMTK 414 a few months ago. Was hoping it was the same one you posted, but I just checked, the one I've run, WSOR 101 was the AMTK 414 I've been told. I'm not much of a railfan, but I really do like the history of the industry, thanks for the pictures! If interested, here is ex AMTK 414, which looked just like the 418 you posted, in it's current life-