What was the exact date of the Amtrak takover? How soon afterwords did you begin to see repainted engines?
The date was May, 1, 1971, I think there were repainted engines or new engines by the fall of '71.
If my memory is correct, there was one E-unit, I think ex-Penn Central, ex-PRR, that was already painted silver, red, blue, and white, and used for some Washigton, DC ceremony on 1 May 1971.
puk! Whatever railroad was before it the paint scheme was better than what they put on those Fs and Es. How “many” units were repainted by 74’? Wasn’t the consist a mix of rr equipment from all over?
The first engine painted was a Penn Central E unit.It was black with an arrow wrapped around the nose and along each side,followed by the word “Amtrak”.
…For anyone concerned about the paint patterns of Amtrak…That was a minor problem of getting that new system off the ground. Available equipment was passed to them from various railroads and probably most of it was in less than good mechanical shape. For those who approve of the concept of Amtrak, we’re lucky it actually got off to a start at all…Budgit limits were no better than it is now, so equipment, and operating capitol were thin to add to the problem of getting the completely new system up and running.
[V] I just miss those Burlington cars [V]
[V] I just miss those Burlington cars [V]
I miss all of the pre-Amtrak PASSENGER SERVICE. Those are the two key words. To this day I can tell if my car attendant or other crew member worked the rails in the pre-Spamtrak era. It’s in the attitude.
LC
Not all Amtrak Crewmen are bad. When my dad and I rode the rails back from Galesburg railroad days this year the conductor was the best I’ve seen. He had our searts assigned with our first names on them hanging there so we know where to sit and so no one else would sit in our spot. The crew was excellent and we were even attended on right when the train left the station and not ten miles down the tracks. He also made shure that everyone that got on down the rails would sit next to their family member. There was a family of like 20 or something that got on later, he made shure they all sat together. The service was excellent, if all conductors were that good, people who aren’t foamers like us would actually WANT to ride Amtrak again. My thanks go out to him for a job well done.
Thanks for the good news about your Galesburg trip, and I hope more people post similar comments in the future.
I guess it is just the people.Maybe the customer service talks are paying off?Or maybe better yet they are getting rid of people with bad attitudes or explaining this is a customer buisness.Make em happy or we dont have customers and you dont have a job!All I can say is it sounds like Mr Gunn is making a go of it so I wish him luck.