Amtrak has issued new Rail Travel Privilege Cards. Mine arrived yesterday. In part the accompanying letter stated:
"Freight railroad employees:
If you were hired by your railroad on or before April 30, 1971, your pass privileges depend on your home railroad, and your time n service, as of that date. Your home road appears on your pass card. If you were hired on May 1, 1971 or later, your home road does not matter and does not appear; instead, "3/4 FARE SYSTEMWIDE" appears on your pass and you pay 3/4 of the full rail fare for all travel; in most cases traveling as a revenue passenger results in a lower fare. Freight railroad pass riders require a reservation for all travel, and may not travel in business class, no Acela Express, on Auto Train, or in "BT"rooms on Superliner trains. Reservations may only be made within 24 hours of departure on a this applies separately to each segment of your itinerary.
"Changes to your pass file: All changes are made through the railroad for which you worked, or its successor, not through the Amtrak Pass Bureau."
I went work for the Southern Pacific in 1966 and my pass privileges are 12 free trips on former SP lines per year and 1/2 fare on the rest of the system, subject to the above rules.