I had enlisted in the Navy in the summer of 1970, and after basic training in Orlando, FL, I was sent to a Navy service school near Chicago. By the last part of December, 1970, I had received my orders to go to San Diego, and join an aircraft carrier heading for Vietnam. So, I decided to take the train from Chicago to San Diego.
Where I was attending a Navy service school just north of Chicago, that area was served by the Chicago and Northwestern commuter and passenger line, so just about any time I had free time, I took one of the C&NW commuter trains to Chicago. Although commuter trains do not accurately reflect passenger train service as it was just prior to AMTRAK, riding those C&NW commuter really made me want to take a long train trip somewhere, and my being sent all the way to San Diego from Chicago gave me that opportunity.
On the day (Late in December of 1970)t hat I was to leave Chicago, I went to the C&NW commuter station adjacent to the Navy base where I had been attending their service school, and I asked the C&NW ticket agent if she could ticket me all the way to San Diego. The lady politely told me that all she could do was sell me a commuter ticket (or was it a token) for a one way trip to Chicago, but she could not sell me a ticket to San Diego, because the C&NW commuter service had no dealings with long haul passenger service. However the C&NW ticket agent did have the schedule pamphlets of the two railroads that operated long haul passenger trains from Chicago to Los Angeles. One was the Santa Fe railroad, which operated the El Capitan-Super Chief out of Dearborn Station in Chicago to Los Angeles. Both trains made decent connections in Los Angeles with Santa Fe San Diegan trains to San Diego.
For some reason, and I don’t know why, I decided to take the ATSF El Capitan-Super Chief to Los Angeles, so I eventually called a taxicab, and went to Dearborn Station in Chicago, where I bought my ticket on ATSF to SanDiego.
The El Capitan-Super Chief left Chicago on
Sometime in 1970,the Southern Pacific put dining and sleeping cars back on the Sunset Limited.This was in exchange for being allowed to reduce the frequency of service from daily to tri weekly.
Before this time the train ran daily, but was coach only with just an Automat [xx(] for food service.AFIK the SP never ran the heavyweight commute coaches on the Sunset,but I have heard of SP running non reclining seat streamlined coaches on this train.
I saw the Sunset once in October 1969. it consisted of one loco,bagggage car two coches,automat,and three more coaches.Very sad consist[:(].
When did the Southern join Amtrak? I thought they were one of the original holdouts like D&RGW. D&RGW joined in what 1979-1980?
I think Southern finally gave up its independence in 76-77. D&RGW was the last of the holdouts. I was on the last RG Zephyr to Amtrak.
If you were on the last Rio Grande Zephyr, you road it only to Grand Junction, with a bus connection to Salt Lake City and then a van or taxi to Ogden. The Thistle mud slide that closed the D&RGW main line occured about five or six weeks before the Amtrak takeover of the service, and the D&RGW ran its three-times-a-week train only to Grand Junction on the regular schedule with bus each way to Salt Lake City close to the regular schedule. Amtrak did not reroute its train over the D&RGW until the line was reopened with the new and current tunnel. Meanwhile, the schedule was protected with a Denver - Ogden bus that connected with the train at both ends.
On of my last trips i decided to skip the bus and flew from Grand Junction to Denver and the pilot made a special effort for everyone to see the mudslide and the construction of the replacement railroad and highway.
Fantastic stories, caveman613! Thanks for sharing them! I always love hearing about the great old passenger trains that ran in the days before Amtrak. I wish I could have been around to experience them as you did, but, sadly, I was born far to late.
By the way, to set the record straight about how long the Amtrak holdouts held out, the Crescent ran until Feb. 1, 1979 and the Rio Grande Zephyr until Apr. 23/24, 1983.
Note that the classic Crescent was an all Pullman train, even into the lightweight car era, that did not run on the all-Southern route via Birmingham, but on the slightly shorter route using the “West Point Route” to Montogomery and then the Lousville and Nashville to Flomaton, junction with the Gulf Coast route, and then west to New Orleans. I am not sure what years it received coaches and what year it was rerouted via Birmingham, the pressent route of the Amtrak train. The Southern had the all-coach streamliner, the Southerner, that ran via Birmingham. The Southern also had a coach and sleeper train that went via Montgomery and the L&N, the Piedmont Limited. In the '60’s all these trains gave good service with fine dining cars, clean equipment, reasonably on time performance, and friendly crews.
I don’t know if it is available for purchase but the Pittsburgh PBS station recently ran a one hour show on the Super Chief.
You would certainly enjoy same.
WQED is the station.