Early Amtrak, Rainbow to Bilevel

[@murrburr3]

I'm so glad passenger rail was saved from obliteration back in 1971! Train ridership is booming in recent years, and lots of young people like me are much more eager to take the train places than to own a car. Things are looking up for Amtrak!

[@LeeWitten]

+murrburr3 I'm with you 100%. Our country needs to realize the value of multiple means of transportation and modern high speed rails on dedicated tracks would be an ultimate dream. If you're young enough you may see it. I'm afraid I won't have been born in the era of steam and streamliners.

[@christopherorourke6362]

murrburr3 I am one of the many who travels long distance by Amtrak, my days of domestic flying are over except in an emergency, and as a last resort. My flying is restricted to Trans Pacific flights between Los Angeles & Manila. Flying domestically is now a drudgery, a hassle. The train is the best way to travel & see the country.

[@TheSjuris]

Lee Witten it would be nice if that happened but it won't until a certain party decides it's actually okay to invest in infrastructure. I am looking at you Mr Ryan.

[@frankgarrett9500]

Private industry will fill the void.

[@packr72]

@@frankgarrett9500 No it won't.

[@vettebecker1]

Love seeing a lot of the old equipment being reused by Amtrak, it’s a shame they couldn’t keep the level of service as the original trains did. I would think there would be a lot more interest in rail travel today, if that was the case

[@Mike_Turcott]

I love the train order scene at 10:10. Classic American railroading. Thank you for sharing!

[@railfanx4903]

Wow those SP units are gorgeous! Cant beat seeing the variety of rolling stock. Great video and history!

[@Youngg_Ronnie]

I like how they use a bunch of random cars it makes the train look more different and colorful

[@oldwarrant4]

Minute 19:04 is the Empire Builder coming off what was then the 4th Subdivision at Auburn onto the Seattle Subdivision heading toward Seattle. The old Auburn station is shown on the right. It was torn down in 1978. The Empire Builder at that time was running on the Southern, or former Northern Pacific route and the North Coast Hiwawatha was running on the Northern, or former Great Northern route. The train that is pictured was pulled off in 1979, unfortunately.

[@johnsergei]

Thanks Lee, vids like yours are almost as good as a TARDIS. Every country railroads differently & as they are for ever changing as well, the scene will never be the same. Australia & the USA have run some pretty big passenger trains. 25 car 2 loco continent crossing stuff ( occaisionly over 40 cars long) in Australia & in the days of EMD E's in America 4 & even 5 of em on one pass. 140 ton a piece, 2 huge v12 engines in each. NOW THAT'S HEAVY METAL ( as fast as speeding on the freeway too)

[@casperfriendly47]

Wow!!! This is fantastic. 26 minutes back 40-something years...feel like I'm there. Things sure do feel different. Props to the sound engineer/vid lab, and thanks for posting man.

[@LeeWitten]

Thanks for the comment Chris. I appreciate it. Just me and my trusty iMac and iMovie editor app.

[@Mike_Turcott]

19:06 Auburn WA. Amtrak is coming off of the Stampede Pass line and is headed to Seattle.

[@Mike_Turcott]

+wsp162 The BN freight train is heading south toward Tacoma. Today this is the BNSF Seattle Subdivision milepost 21 or so. Amtrak is coming off of the Stampede Subdivision. Great video! As a young kid I caught the Empire Builder at East Auburn.

[@LeeWitten]

+wsp162 I'm glad you're familiar with that area.

[@doctorjingles]

You would never guess the sound was dubbed if it wasn't announced initially.

[@LeeWitten]

Thank you, I really worked to try and make the dubs as realistic as possible.

[@kurtarmbruster]

Great scenes here! Note: there was no Coast Starlight in summer 1971, only nameless 11/14 north of Oakland, 12/13 south. The Coast Starlight name debuted in November, along with North Coast Hiawatha and new numbers.

[@AVeryRandomPerson]

@Kurt Armbruster You are incredibly correct. No Amtrak train had names until the November 1971 timetable

[@suzcant3320]

The class of those engines are known as the SDP40F

[@ACLTony]

Lee this is OUTSTANDING! Thank you very much for sharing this here. Although I'm an "east coaster", this rekindled many fond memories for me as I often watched Amtrak in action back in the 70s when trains, like the Silver Meteor, regularly ran 15 cars long! I hope you don't mind just one corrective suggestion: At 10:28 where Chapter 2's intro page is, you should include the "SDP40F" locomotive in the info along with the F40 in Post Rainbow era as the SDP's ran in Amtrak's mainline service from 1973 to 1982.

[@LeeWitten]

+ACLTony Thanks for the comment Tony and the advise on the SDP40F. That was my ignorance of proper loco identification. I'll note that in my archival file copy.

[@oldwarrant4]

Minute 18:09 is Steilacoom, Washington not the Columbia River. That's the Southbound Coast Starlight. I worked on those engines when I was a machinist in Seattle.

[@jaiyanachowdhury5674]

The bilevel superliner coaches that were in the last scene were constructed for Amtrak in 1979 to replace Amtrak’s old singular level coaches. Amtrak still uses it today

[@dennisyoung4631]

Yes, rode in those last year on the Coast Starlight. Trip south needed climbing up and down those narrow stairs!

[@LeeWitten]

I'm with you Christopher. If I can't get there by train, car or walking, I don't go.

[@riogrande5761]

This video is pure gold to Amtrak fans of the 1970's. I'm working on building an HO model version of the San Francisco Zephyr and the run-by's are a great resource! I have managed to obtain quite a few Walthers passenger cars and a few Broadway Ltd to pull behind Athearn Genesis SDP40F's. The UP E8's would be interesting to add as well. I road the SFZ as a teen twice in 1975 and 1976 and have fond memories of those trips. The one disappointment is the SFZ did not travel through the D&RGW Rockies route, but instead you were treated to the "scenic wonders" of the continental divide in Wyoming at Sherman Hill.

[@LeeWitten]

Thanks for your comment. There must be a lot of people enjoying this as its my most watched video.

[@riogrande5761]

@@LeeWitten It's even better than the other 70's Amtrak video, which is also good!

[@markanderson6133]

Man, do I miss dome cars. Guess I'll have to ride VIA's this summer just for old time's sake. Great video.

[@LeeWitten]

You can always charter one! Ha Ha!

[@kirkzylstra7485]

Go ride the Grand Canyon Railroad dome cars!

[@jones_kid_tracy]

This video is great! Love seeing the passenger cars. I get a kick out of seeing Stephen Harris' car in nearly every scene.

[@LeeWitten]

tracy ehrig Do you mean Chris Fussel's car? Stephen Harris was a UP engineer

[@7554955]

Was Chris Fussel operating the camera?

[@MainTrack]

What a fantastic look into the past! This is a great video- I added it to my 'recommended' page so others can see!

[@LeeWitten]

+Locomotive Mike. Thank you for the compliment. I'll be putting more from the Harris collection up soon.

[@hotrail8295]

Outstanding. Thank you for taking the time to share this footage with us.

[@LeeWitten]

Thank you for the comment. Glad you enjoyed it. Lots more rare footage in other of my Harris videos.

[@bobbypaluga4346]

I've never heard of the SF Zephyr or San Francisco Zephyr, from the time I could remember such things The CALIFORNIA Zephyr went through the medium sized city I grew up in every night at 9:00 PM. The train terminated at Emeryville, CA or San Francisco, true, but the name never had San Francisco or SF in it, unless I've fallen off the turnip truck. The Desert Wind passed through sometime in the morning, my guess would be around 10:30 AM. The Zephyr was the memorable train with its Art Deco style cars, reminders of Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train". And at night the head lamp sweeping side-to-side cutting through darkness, you could see it coming from way back.

[@MrZeldalove]

Amtrak paint schemes have always been gaudy, but that bloody nose scheme on those SDP40's and E-units were a nice touch.

[@wasatchrangerailway6921]

that place in question is on the old SP 100 miles north of Mt. Shasta on the old Siskyou. You can see Mt. Shasta in the background in the last shot.

[@bluedorissmith6352]

Wow! I'v been waiting ages for a good early amtrak post. thanks so much Geoff. U.k. the sound is perfect too.

[@LeeWitten]

Geoff, nice to get a response from across the "pond". Thanks for your comment.

[@AngelSusie57]

Outstanding video. I am going to "share" it. I love Amtrak and I love trains.

[@LeeWitten]

+AngelSusie57 Thanks for the nice comment. I hope those you share it with will enjoy it also.

[@elperroazul9992]

These are literally the only clips of phase II SDP40F’s i could find

[@Robbi496]

Very cool! I jpoined the Army in August 1971, so missed alot of this!

[@bluedorissmith6352]

Excellent, I model HO early Amtrak. a great help. Geoff. /England

[@LeeWitten]

+bluedoris smith I model HO also and have had fun combining different Walthers train cars to make up a "rainbow" consist powered by my UP E8's. Thanks for the comment.

[@enriquediaz4629]

Best Amtrak video I've seen so far. I loved it! Congratulations from Spain! El mejor vídeo sobre Amtrak que he visto hasta ahora. Me ha encantado! Felicidades desde España

[@LeeWitten]

Muchas Gracias Enrique! You are my first to comment from España.

[@christopherchoice106]

I never knew that the sdp40f pull the superliners I love when it was leading the f40ph and six cars on the desert wide I model that train but my cars are in phase 5 paint but hey it's still beautiful good job on the clips of early Amtrak trains you give me some good ideas to model

[@LeeWitten]

I have a nice set of phase 3 bilevel and amfleet cars in HO.

[@Mike_Turcott]

Awesome! My favorite Amtrak era.

[@slorznovitch]

Great stuff! He really did well with the SP full length domes.

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, that was a great car.

[@tommythomason6187]

Rode an early Amtrak. Had two cars and a C&O E8. Don't know if it was the beaten up old Union Pacific car, or the track, but that was a shaky, bumpy ride between Main St. Station in Richmond, VA. and the C&O depot at Charlottsville. Was maybe 1973.

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, Amtrak has a rough beginning and still struggles in places where the owner railroads have not maintained their track.

[@HSMiyamoto]

Thanks for reminding people that Amtrak used to ascend historic Sherman Hill and cross Wyoming. Long time ago.

[@LeeWitten]

A lot of us still miss that and the Pioneer that was the final regular until 1997.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

Amtrak has gone back with a rainbow painting scene on most of its trains. The passenger cars are painted in phase 4 scene which is a thin red and purple stripe while the locomotives are painted in phase 5 which is a painting with light blue and with a wave design. This painting scene also has the current Amtrak logo on it. A few Amtrak baggage cars and other passenger cars are painted in the iconic phase 3 painting scene which is the red. White, and blue stripes painting scene.

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

Norton Hatfield Passenger cars are painted in Phase VI, not Phase IV. The official Amtrak documentation supporting this acknowledges that Phase VI is very similar to Phase IV, but is in fact a separate scheme. The reason for this mainly comes down to the shades of colors being different and the Travelmark logo being applied, along with the fact Phase V has already appeared on passenger cars in the form of the Capstone Amfleets.

[@daleburrer1546]

Enjoyed this early years of Amtrak, especially when they were inhereting a mixed consist of passenger cars and locomotives

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, that rainbow era is a fun one for model railroaders to emulate.

[@Simo-nk1oq]

I used to see all those F40s sitting in the Beech Grove shops, but no more.

[@elwhagaming9477]

18:07 That's actually Steilacoom Washington, you can see the old Northern Pacific Steilacoom station on the right side of the screen, it was closed to passenger service in the 60s and fright service in 1972 it is now used by BNSF as a storage facility

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, that was pointed out to me by a previous commenter.

[@johnnyjames7139]

The only time that I was served a cocktail in my lounge car seat on Amtrak was on the Transcontinental Steam Excursion between Phoenix and Los Angeles. I mentioned the fact to my server who responded, "Honey, you come ride my regular train and I will serve you at your seat". Dick Reynolds and David P. Morgan were sitting across from me, such royalty! I long for the Santa Fe and Union Pacific days of fine service.

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, I remember the days of personal servie in lounge cars. Also the fact that from California you had to dry up as you crossed the Utah State border!

[@SmithConductor]

2:52 That epic Nathan M3

[@jmream2618]

Lee Thank you for sharing these videos with us

[@LeeWitten]

Glad you've enjoyed them. It was a fun project to work on.

[@ScottJohnson4449]

Excellent collection. I use it for inspiration for my Rainbow era train videos on KZbin.

[@RailFanRick]

Fantastic video's Mr. lee.... Thanks for posting!

[@Beargizmo3]

I'm loving this video. Thank you so much for posting it. I'm new to railfanning but a loooong time Amtrak fan and I love the history. At one point a train is slowing to pickup orders..in Granger I believe. The guy at the tower handed off to 3 people. Engineer I think a few cars later a conductor and a few cars later another person. What is that about? Thanks to anyone!

[@LeeWitten]

That was a rare catch for Harris, filming that handoff to the Engineer, Conductor and Brakeman. The days before digital communication. Glad you enjoyed the video. Early Amtrak appears in many of Harris videos. Check them out.

[@Beargizmo3]

Thanks very much. I've watched several of those videos. Love them!

[@nortonhatfield7312]

At one, Amtrak painted all of its units in one scene, phase 3, the red, white and blue scene which Amtrak used that scene during the 1980s and early 1990s, and all Amtrak trains had this painting scene which made them streamlined trains. In fact that painting scene was iconic and some people considered it to be an invert painting scene of American airlines because it was like the American airlines scene but the red and blue stripes are reversed.

[@alexandergrube6437]

The thing I miss the most about steam generators is how the locomotive will just disappear (or appear) into a cloud of steam

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

This never gets old. Love it

[@LeeWitten]

Thanks, I like hearing that.

[@historyboy08]

At 19:04, that is Auburn, Washington. The train coming onto the main was the North Coast Hiawatha, a passenger train that was discontinued in 1979 due to low ridership.

[@LeeWitten]

Kevin, thank you for that information. I've wondered about where that location was. I'm going to take yours and several others and make a corrected version of this video. Will be posting it in the near future.

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

Low ridership? That was not the cause.

[@historyboy08]

Marcelo Benoit budget cuts

[@kurtarmbruster]

North Coast Hi ran via Everett and Wenatchee; train via Auburn was the Empire Builder.

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

Kevin Renner yes, that and other trains were cut by budged cuts but trains run packed because of the oil crisis.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

17:09, that amtrak train had an f40ph and burlington northern unit and also a steam generator car too.

[@dennisyoung4631]

Yes,and some of these trains have ample *Soot,* too! Awesome! Alco?!

[@ScottJohnson4449]

I love seeing the leased Southern Railway FP7s along Puget Sound! After SR discontinued the "Piedmont" after Thanksgiving weekend 1976, Amtrak leased a few and sent them West.

[@LeeWitten]

Interesting bit of railroad history. Thanks Scott.

[@ScottJohnson4449]

@@LeeWitten You are welcome. I grew up watching the Southern Crescent, James Whitcomb Riley and the Piedmont at mp 17 on Southern, just outside Washington DC. Loved being in Ogden this spring for the Spike150. I just put some of my N scale videos on KZbin.

[@LeeWitten]

@@ScottJohnson4449 I'm glad you got to be in Ogden for the 150th. I was deeply involved with our R&LHS convention during that week. Very exciting time. I'm an HO modeler and belong to the Hostlers Model Rail Club in the Ogden Area. We're a modular club and put or participate in shows in the area...Idaho, Wyoming, Utah. I'm more familiar with Western railroads. My father was a UP Conductor so I grew up with trains in my blood.

[@ScottJohnson4449]

@@LeeWitten Yes, it was awesome seeing both engines fired up. Everyone involved just did a phenomenal job. I have a small N scale of Brooklyn yard and Oregon City, and then a generic Cascades mountainside. I have written a few pieces in TRAINS you might have read; Grief and Joy along the Southern Pacific, Riding the rails with Riley, One fast GG1 on a roll, etc.. just anecdotes in Railroad reading. I love to run a rainbow era Amtrak with SP, UP, GN and BN cars, then turn around and set up a 1976 Southern Crescent with the Bicentennial stickers on the E8s ! My son does HO , Timber, OR, in the 40s.

[@LeeWitten]

@@ScottJohnson4449 I went to the national Train Show in Salt Lake City during the NMRA convention. There was an N gauge Freemo layout that was phenomenal. It took up a huge chunk of the exhibition hall. They were from California. I wonder how long a train would take to make a complete circuit at scale speed. Like you, I enjoy running my version of the Rainbow with a UP A and B E9's pulling a mixture. Its a fun hobby!

[@Vector_QF8]

Great sound work,and love the captures of the rainbow era!

[@LeeWitten]

Thank you, appreciate it.

[@BNforever2009]

beautiful video, loved it!

[@kae4466]

mom and i went on the el cap / super chief ( later known as the sw chief) to new mexico in 1970 that was great fun.

[@LeeWitten]

Sounds like Amtrak has reached agreement with New Mexico and Colorado to keep that section of the SW Chief intact so they won't be using bus connection.

[@kae4466]

eggscllent . bravo

[@zeeteavathepipe3184]

@@kae4466 What kind of railway cars did you ride?

[@jaggedben]

The sequence starting around 5:39 shows San Diegans (I think), and definitely not SF Chief. Great video.

[@grated_lemon5630]

Excellent footage, greetings from the UK!

[@LeeWitten]

Thank you very much. Nice to hear from the UK. I watch KZbin videos of train travel through Britain. Love the cab rides. I was only there once in 1976. Rode the train from London to Edinburgh. Great trip.

[@riogrande5761]

The caption says 5 E units at 17:30, but looking closely at the trucks under the 4 trailing diesels, those are 4 FP7A's. The first two are Southern FP7A's borrowed for a time and the 2nd two are former SP FP7A's. Only the lead unit is an E. Indeed, these are treasures.

[@LeeWitten]

Thanks. Some time ago a viewer pointed out that error..

[@Mike_Turcott]

19:55 is Scenic, WA.

[@AtTheCrossingProductions]

18:07 I believe that isn't along the Columbia river, but rather the Puget Sound. That is Steilacoom, Washington.

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, that was pointed out by Michael 2 years ago. I can't change the video without making whole new upload. But thanks for pointing that out.

[@mrvontrips]

The rainbow Era is just the best.

[@AlexTrain5249]

Now I know that this gorgeous and colorful era existed. I can possibly create any first class passenger train I want. I'm still deciding on what locomotive (e.g. SDP40F, E8, PA, F40PH) I'm going to use to pull them. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know it's just models and not the real thing but I'm trying to be realistic.

[@LeeWitten]

Being a UP fan, I use an ABA set of E9's

[@nortonhatfield7312]

You know what is interesting is that Amtrak still used emd fl9 locomotives on a few passenger trains, mostly in the northeast until the 1990s.

[@ScottJohnson4449]

@@nortonhatfield7312 I use an Amtrak SDP40F that looks new, a beat up Amtrak E8, then a variety of older e and Funits. Anything goes!

[@tramwayjohn]

Great movies and some fine dubbing of suitable sound. A fine video indeed!

[@LeeWitten]

Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it.

[@tramwayjohn]

Lee, your movie was a great find on KZbin. I rode some of the trains that are now long gone. NORTH COAST HI, FLORIDIAN, NATIONAL LIMITED and the first run of the PIONEER in 1977! Much more including the Georgia RR mixed from Atlanta to Augusta in 1977. I am on both KZbin and Flickr.

[@LeeWitten]

My experience with Amtrak includes the California Zephyr, Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Texas Eagle, Crescent, Lake Shore Limited, Capitol Limited...whew! Until I started writing these down, I'd forgotten how many I've experienced. Grew up riding the UP and SP passengers in the west.

[@tramwayjohn]

Fantastic Lee. I only started in 1974, but I am so pleased to have ridden a good number of HERITAGE cars. Plus a trip from Mexico City to Nuevo Laredo which was ALL former US equipment.

[@LeeWitten]

I was fortunate to ride a private charter behind the Capitol Limited. Two observation cars and a former UP sleeper. It was to attend a national railroad history convention. The charter cars was our hotel at the Wash. DC Union Station. Videos of that trip are on my channel under Star Spangled Rails.

[@brucetharpe762]

exactly! These Locomotives were replaced by their successors the F40s because they didn't work very well. They still look very cool! I wonder if there is a Museum with these engines that have their old Amtrak livery.

[@cpufreak101]

Bruce Tharpe you talking about the SDP40's? Only one was preserved and it's wearing contrail paint from what I remember.

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

Justin Noker it is 644 and was modified into a Maersk unit by Santa Fe. Now it is being restored as an SDP40F.

[@riogrande5761]

At 10:30 on the video, The caption shows Post "rainbow" era it says F40 locomotives, but I see SDP40F's pulling Amtrak trains. It was the EMD SDP40F that took over from the E8's on the San Francisco Zephyr around 1974.

[@LeeWitten]

Sorry, My mistake. Thanks for the correction.

[@riogrande5761]

@@LeeWitten No worries!

[@ovationpdh]

Awesome video!

[@elperroazul9992]

It would be nice if Amtrak privatized it’s busiest routes because they’ll make enough money to not require government support. Oh how nice it will be to see a NS acs-64 or UP P42DC

[@packr72]

No they don't. UP and NS want nothing to do with passenger service.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

Wow, the California zephyr had a different name at that time, the san Francisco zephyr. Also, the California zephyr traveled on a different route at that time, too. That being routed through Wyoming instead of the Moffat tunnel route through the rocky mountains.

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, the route through Wyoming was made because the Rio Grande was still operating the Rio Grande Zephyr on its route between Denver and Salt Lake City

[@nortonhatfield7312]

That's surprising, amtrak no longer serves the state of Wyoming, but the California zephyr may detour through Wyoming should the route through the Moffat tunnel be closed.

[@LeeWitten]

Wish they would restore the Pioneer then Wyoming, northern Utah, Idaho and Oregon would have service.

[@6680thSOG]

Absolutely amazing!!!!!

[@LeeWitten]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Stephen Harris left a nice legacy of 1970's railroading

[@Mike_Turcott]

18:13 is not "along the Columbia River". It's Steilacoom, WA along Puget Sound.

[@Mike_Turcott]

+wsp162 Coast Starlight

[@LeeWitten]

+wsp162 Thanks for the correction. The notes that the fellow who made the films wasn't complete and I was guessing on some of those. I'll make the correction in our archival video.

[@SunsetRailMultimedia]

That's one of my favorite train-watching spots.

[@jmream2618]

The Amtrak F40 wasn’t meant to be used as a long distance passenger locomotive

[@kyotokid4]

...too bad there aren't any films from the Great Lakes Region. We had probably the most eclectic mixes considering they used rolling stock from a number of different Eastern, Midwest and Western railroads.including the Milwaukee Road (including the Hiawatha "Super Dome" and "Skytop" lounge cars), Union Pacific, New York Central, Penn Central (both the older "Tuscan Red" and Budd Stainless Steel cars), Great Northern (the sky blue ones), Northern Pacific, Chesapeake and Ohio, Seaboard, Burlington, Illinois Central, Gulf Mobile and Ohio (I remember riding an old GM&O steam era coach that still had transverse leaf springs and windows which opened on a run from Milwaukee to Chicago). Interestingly, no ex Chicago and Northwestern Railway cars or locomotive units ever became part of the "Rainbow fleet". The Bi-Level cars were moved to commuter operations in the Chicago metro area. and all locomotives were moved to freight operations.

[@MichiganRailProductions]

Wow! There's not too many videos on KZbin with Phase II F40s!

[@BILL-2002hst]

Michigan Rail Productions most of them are SDP40Fs

[@MichiganRailProductions]

I meant the few scenes that did show Phase II F40PHs. Footage of those are somewhat rare.

[@BILL-2002hst]

Michigan Rail Productions i thought you comfused SDP40Fs with F40s.........sry

[@MichiganRailProductions]

That's okay man! Don't worry!

[@BILL-2002hst]

Michigan Rail Productions ok

[@gregbrown6430]

The station at 19:00 in the video is Auburn, Washington and the train is the westbound Empire Builder.

[@LeeWitten]

Greg, thank you for that information. Appreciate it.

[@LeeWitten]

I just looked at my earlier comments. Kevin Renner said it was Auburn Washington but the train was the North Coast Hiawatha. So I'm confused.

[@gregbrown6430]

Lee, to make a long story short, that is the Empire Builder. It went from Chicago to Spokane on the faster GN line across northern Montana. The North Coast Hiawatha took the slower NP route across southern Montana. So the trains would have approximately the same running times from Chicago to Seattle, west of Spokane the Builder took the slower NP route via Pasco, and the Hiawatha took the faster GN line via Wenatchee. See this link: www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19790429&item=0043

[@LeeWitten]

Thanks Greg, I appreciate the information. I wasn't aware of that timetable website. In our museum archives at the Union Station we have quite a number of them for different roads.

[@tw-77038]

Thank you friends for sharing, it's very good 😄🌏🌍🌐

[@LeeWitten]

Appreciate your comment. Thank you.

[@nate9331]

These are beautiful trains!

[@LeeWitten]

They are but I would prefer the original company trains with their unique color schemes and services.

[@nate9331]

@@LeeWitten I always thought so too. Even now, if for example, the empire builder was painted in its own unique scheme like the GN colors, and like the Southwest Chief in ATSF colors, it would give the trains a lot more soul.

[@riogrande5761]

The first scenes headed by caption 'Post "rainbow"era F40 locomotives ...' shows trains led by EMD SDP40F's

[@LeeWitten]

OK. I just didn't know the difference when I titles that scene.

[@riogrande5761]

@@LeeWitten Thanks for posting these video's - they are treasures for many rail fans and modelers!

[@LeeWitten]

@@riogrande5761 You're welcome, I'm enjoying doing it.

[@travelguyable]

18:07 is Steilacoom, WA, in the Puget Sound, not Columbia River.

[@LeeWitten]

Edward, thank you for that correction. I was working without specifics from the fellow who filmed these. Now that I look at it again, I can see its not the Columbia. I'll make that correction in my archived video file.

[@daylightbigboy]

Gotta love the early 70s :D

[@bobmoyer8569]

I wish we had a passenger train running out of Tulsa Oklahoma, we have to drive 1 3/4 hours to Oklahoma City to catch Amtrack

[@LeeWitten]

I have to go to SLC to catch the California Zephyr...11 p.m. westbound and 3:30 a.m for eastward. Not that convenient here either.

[@roachaximus5899]

Wait isnt that ATSF at 5:40 the San Diegan? I recognize those locations, first one is approaching Middletown, 2nd one is leaving Old Town, you can see the airplane factory in the back, the 3rd one by the beach is Del Mar. Regardless this is the only footage Ive seen of the San Diegan during its ATSF days, so this is a rare catch! Thank you

[@LeeWitten]

Thanks for your input on that. I had no idea just where those scenes were. Glad you took a look at the video and recognize something.

[@AVeryRandomPerson]

The one on the beach is Del Mar, I'm not sure about the other 2.

[@christopherdibble5872]

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did BACK in 1954.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

The sd40fs have had a short life on amtrak trains compared to other locomotives on amtrak's roster.

[@geomodelrailroader]

The Evolution of the train that would become Zephyr.

[@rottenroads1982]

Idea: Amtrak should bring Back the SDP40F’s and P30CH’s, but with better Bogies, better ventilation for Tier 4 Standards, and just better. Also, Bring back the EMD E & F units into service. And I don’t want to hear anything about how bad the Locomotives were. All I will say is this: They weren’t given a chance.

[@mikehawk2003]

No, the P30CHs and their predecessor U30CGs were given plenty a chance to prove themselves in service for over a decade and yet were among some of the worst, most unreliable in the fleet. As for the E and F units, it really isn't a good idea to be rebuilding 70+ year old locomotives for modern service. They no doubt would have many (often irreverseable) frame and corrosion issues due to age that can't be remedied with a simple rebuild. Add to that is a crew would likely die in a serious wreck with a tanker truck compared to more modern models. The older locomotives are not up to modern FRA crash-resistance standards.

[@rottenroads1982]

@@mikehawk2003, I said I didn’t want to hear about how Bad they Were. Also, maybe just revamp the E and F unit styles. Make new E and F unit locomotives like the originals, but with better technology, and make them follow FRA Crash-Resistance standards.

[@granskare]

the guy who did these videos made the same errors that I did when I got my first movie camera, trying to get everything at the same time :)

[@LeeWitten]

I don't quite know what you mean. You Realize that I have taken clips from a number of his raw reels and spliced them together to make this video. He didn't take all these shots at one time. But my concern was that his camera had auto exposure so when he lifted it towards the sky, the Fstop would lower making the train in darkness until he lowered it again out of the bright light.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

Amtrak still uses f40phs, but they have converted them into cab cars

[@MusicCitySirens]

12:00-12:03 love the classic S-4T

[@LexusRXGuy]

the engine is either an SDP40F or an FP45

[@barroningram7286]

at 17:35 check out the southern railways E units in that latch up

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, wasn't that unusual. Fun to see mixtures of power units.

[@russellgxy2905]

When Part 2 started, I was excited about seeing the F40s in their original paint schemes. I was disappointed when I saw the first scene was of a pair of SDP40Fs. Ugh...what was EMD thinking? Also, the 5 E-units at 17:41...that's just an E-unit on the point of four F-units.

[@jeanalbano1842]

Dose anyone have 70s nyc amtrak videos? thses are great videos. but its surprising i haven't seen an vintage 70s Amtrak nyc videos

[@johnalder6028]

Early Antrak Silver Meteor with Seaboard rolling stock and still staffed with Seaboard conductors. The club car was great fun drinking and smoking was permitted the club car was comfy as a living room.

[@LeeWitten]

Loved those club cars. When travelling from Calif. to Utah, the club car had to quit serving drinks when they crossed the Nev/Utah border.

[@rottenroads1982]

4:33, I noticed a little inconsistency here. Notice how it read "E Units?" Well, those Aren't E units, but rather F units. How to tell? First off, E units have their number boards inside their nose end and have fully rounded ends, while F units have theirs poking out and are more rectangular. Also, E units are long, and F units are short, as well as E units having the C-C (Co-Co) wheel arrangement, and F units have the B-B (Bo-Bo) wheel arrangement. It may be easy to mix them up because they look So Similar, but E and F units do have their differences, you just need to know where to look.

[@LeeWitten]

Yes, that has been pointed out to me. Thanks.

[@rottenroads1982]

@@LeeWitten, Your Welcome.

[@Guillotines_For_Globalists]

Those Amtrak units only seem to have one Gyralight in the two-light array, similar to Chicago's current-day Metra trains. What is the bottom light for that never seems to be used, on the top Gyralight array?

[@Edwards-Videos]

A-B-B-B-A at 2:15, impressive.

[@joekabira3986]

for the location request, it might be Billings MT

[@myFailedProductions]

I thought it might be Greeley, CO back when the Pioneer route ran through it, 1977ish.

[@jeanalbano1842]

i had no idea union pasific ran passenger service at onetime.oh wow

[@LeeWitten]

City of Los Angeles, City of San Francisco, City of Portland, City of St. Louis, Overland Express just to name a few.

[@zeeteavathepipe3184]

And they had some intresting cars as far as I seen in picture.

[@chrish3329]

2:41 ahhhhhhh sd40; my favorite passenger engine

[@myeyeisnotblue]

Those are SDP45s.

[@mike32277]

At 17:40 that was one E unit and four F units.