Amtrak Vignettes 1970's
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- A look at the early Amtrak years in California (with a short side trip into Nevada) from the Ebay vault and the films of Red Moser. We see the transition from secondhand first-generation power, through the era of the SDP40F, to the early F40PH's. The film dates from 1975 through 1982. There was a huge variety of equipment in the early Amtrak consists, and trains shown include the Coast Starlight, San Francisco Zephyr, and various California service trains. Also included is a rear end ride on a private car on SP's Coast Line. Again, sounds are from Arkay records and my video collection. Enjoy!
Sometimes I Want To Buy A Time Machine And Go Back In Time To See This!
I agree big time
That is if we could go back in time…
Passenger cars had a certain smell when you passed between them. Kind of oily greasy sometimes you could see below the tracks flying by. I sure love the old days riding passenger trains that were built in the 40s and the 50s.
Thank you so much for putting this up. Brings back a lot of great memories of the many trips between Milwaukee, WI and Boston, MA every summer for the family vacation. Riding the Hiawatha, Broadway Limited, and whatever the local was between NY and Boston were great treats for my sister and I. Mom refused to fly so we did a lot of traveling by train in the late 60's and through the 70's. Dad would come out a couple of weeks later and we'd all go back by train together. I remember some great sleepers and coaches, and some really crappy ones (mostly the coaches between NY and Boston; a lot of VERY old New Haven stock running in that area). Again..thanks!
Thank you so much sir for revealing this personal footage to us in the rail fan community!
Wow! Looks at all that classic Amtrak equipment! Sure is different from what we see today!
Most of this equipment incl the motive power was obtained 2nd hand from various railroads. Not in the best of shape, especially the power.
I love Amtrak Vignettes is great! Amtrak 49th Anniversary collection, almost Amtrak 50th anniversary birthday.
I wouldve absolutely loved to see the SDP40Fs. But i was born to late. I was born during P42 era
Wow, great videos. I always like the early Amtrak era. Was a fan of the sdp40f. Had the boxy, powerful look. Thanks so much for sharing.
When I was a little kid, Amtrak services had only just been set up in Maine, which was around the turn of the millennium.
Ding ding! I'm a tram 🚋 and I approve this video! Great footage :)
I would like to have a cab view of that train, that would be really awesome to see what its like from the engineers view & hear stories from him!
This is why I love modeling Rainbow Era trains on my Southern Pacific layout. I am grateful I got to ride on some of them .
It was when the Southern Pacific was the Southern Pacific. Union Pacific treats the patch Southern Pacific, Cotton Belt & Rio Grande units like they are poison. Union Pacific doesn’t want to restore service on its line between Wellton, AZ & Palo Verde, AZ, it gave away the Yuma to Phoenix locoal freight traffic to the truck companies and most of the Los Angeles to Phoenix ground freight traffic to the truck companies,
@@christopherorourke6543 That doesn't make sense to me...weird.
Such beautiful footage
I loved the early Amtrak days. Even though it was the end of the great passenger era, it was fun seeing the hodgepodge of equipment on the rails, some still in their old livery. I grew up in the New York area and it was fun seeing New York, Central, Pennsylvania, Penn Central, CNJ and Erie Lackawanna all mixed in together
There were never any EL or CNJ cars on Amtrak trains. Commuter operations were not included in Amtrak and at the time of Amtrak's startup both CNJ and EL were commuter only.
@@fmnut Fair enough. memory sometimes gets fuzzy after 50 years.
That reno shot was so cool
Some great views for us modeler’s of early Amtrak consists
Very nice indeed! Rode the SF Zephyr, even got a turn in the dome
I rode on Amtrak 53 times, most of my Amtrak rides were on theSan Diegans which are now Pacific Surfliners. My most favorite long distance Amtrak route is the Coast Starlight route.
There’s only 1 Amtrak SDP40F that’s preserved today, and that’s 644, currently undergoing restoration alongside Amtrak F40PH 231 by Dynarail, at the Nevada Southern Railway at Boulder City, Nevada.
These SDP40’s are very cool, especially going through Reno, I feel as though they were sort of a modernized design kind of like today’s GE Dash unit’s but in Amtrak still extremely cool but the nostalgic E-8’s in Amtrak’s livery, in my opinion, was second to none. Another Excellent piece of footage by fmnut and their crew. Thank You.
Those SDP40Fs and stainless steel cars looked very clean. Amtrak really was trying to, "make the trains worth riding again," their motto, early on. Great overhead shots of trains wending s-curves and traversing mountainous terrain.
Awesome! My Dad might have been on one of those. He worked for Southern Pacific from 47’- until the mid 80’s . The last 6 or so years as Amtrak Conductor from KFS to Oakland
Very enjoyable. Thank you for the upload.
Really great stuff - the scenes around SLO are fantastic. Almost forgot how good the SDP40Fs looked in phase 1 paint!!
fabulous shots of the E and f units! Nice view of the rotating headlight on #119 at 2:05.
Thanks ,I model this period, love those SDP,s
Excellent stuff, second scene is at Ozol and then the third is the Mococo Line. The first half of this could be called Central California Dreamin' with all that action at Martinez, Benicia and the Mococo.
2:45 and they say the Genesisises sometimes produce a lot of smoke ... some tasty two-stroke exhaust there
It was cool to see the pair of those on the Coast Starlight leaving some soot as they were climbing those long swirly grades a ways out of LA.
May, 2021. Turned me into something of a train-nut.
At 23:18, the cameraman is riding on the platform of a private car on the rear of the Coast Starlight north of San Luis Obispo. The car is sporting an Amtrak stripe (an Amtrak requirement in the early-mid 70s for PVs), but I can't identify the actual car. However, at 42:47, we see a southbound (eastbound) San Diegan with SP #100 Airslie on the rear.
maybe Amtrak could paint up a few heritage units (+ cars even?) in the scheme of the railroads that used to run their 'name' trains? would look awesome
8:20 a heavyweight observation car in Amtrak colors
16:54 a business car in Amtrak colors on the tail end of a train. Amtrak seemed to like putting the observation lounge cars in the middle of the train with the dome and diner rather than at the end.
20:06 both SP and Amtrak heavyweight observation cars on the end of the train.
At 20:45, 2 SP "Tunnel Motors" lead the SFZ with 2 SP business cars on the rear (possibly SP #100 Airslie and SP #106 Oregon)
At 17:21 private car "Happy Hollow" (Autoliner Corp #100, ex UP Imperial Drive) carries the markers of the SFZ.
Beautiful! The SDP40Fs will always be my favorit Amtrak engines. Those coupled on to E's & F's make for a nice lineup. Forgot all about the Amtrak heavyweight observation car. Neat! The F40PH is ok.... still not a fan of the soup cans. Great vid, keep 'em coming!
Those heavyweight obs cars painted for Amtrak were either SP or Private Cars. Early on Amtrak required all equipment hauled on their trains to have Amtrak striping (but not branding) to blend in with the consist. This restriction was later dropped. You can see this from the 1980's scene at the end with the SP car in SP paint.
Yeah how come those sdp40fs didn't work out?
@@dakotamurray7184 The SDP's had a poor truck design that didn't like switches & crossovers at higher speeds. Once they were sold off & re-trucked, they put on quite a few more miles in freight duty.
I love those old bulldogs in the Amtrak mk1 colours. What model of locomotive are they ? FP9 or something?
FP7
At 8:20 private cars "National Border" (ex UP) and "La Condessa" (ex ATSF) bring up the rear! :-)
I believe EMD E & F units should still be utilized. Though they may be outdated, but they can be refurbished and refitted for modern equipment.
Also, the same can be said for the EMD SDP40F’s, because they could have been refitted with HEP.
(Edit): also, my favorite scene’s are at 4:15 & 5:34 with the F unit in front of Two SDP40F’s. The height difference in the roofs of the two types of engines is what appeals to me, as well as the full width cowl bodies of the engines.
First, many E and F units WERE refurbished in the 70s and 80s for commuter operations. Many of the preserved Es and Fs we have today had their lives extended into the preservation era by these rebuildings. That said, issues such as corrosion and metal fatigue make rebuilds uneconomical on diesels that are over 50 years old.
As to SDP40Fs, they were originally designed for HEP conversion as the coach fleet transitioned away from steam heat. These conversions were never carried out due to derailment issues and the fact that it was essentially a freight locomotive design. The F40PH proved to be a superior design for the intended use. Many SDP40F's did soldier on effectively as freight units for the Santa Fe long after their retirement from Amtrak.
@@fmnut, thanks for the information.
But still, it would have been nice for more engines of the SDP40F class to be preserved and fitted with Head End Power (HEP).
The SDP40Fs would’ve lasted long if they where equipped with a HEP generator instead of a steam boiler
Not true. Their lack of longevity had nothing to do with train heating capabilities. At the time they were built, Amtrak's fleet was predominantly steam heated, so the steam heat installation when new made sense. As built, the SDP40Fs were DESIGNED for easy conversion to HEP with drop in units. The reason the SDP40Fs were retired early in favor of F40s was the series of derailments they were suspected of causing, revolving around a combination of the HTC truck and the weight distribution of the unit. They were banned on BN and speed restricted on Conrail, thus affecting a big percentage of Amtrak's routes. The F40 was the solution chosen rather than expensive rebuilding.
May I use this footage for a documentary(
Yes, feel free to download. I don't do that copyright BS.
@@fmnut thank you!
It would add so much if dates and locations were included in the description section.
It would. Too bad I don't know most of them as I didnt film this. I bought the films on ebay. I'm from the east so I'm unfamiliar with the locations. As to dates, you can infer time periods from the advancement of locomotive types and paint schemes.
@@fmnut Thanks for the explanation re: locations.
@@fmnutMost of the scenes in the first half of the film take place around West Oakland, Martinez, Benecia, and Port Chicago around 1972-1973. The UP E-units only lasted during that brief period of time on the SF Zephyr.
Transitions to the Donner line between Reno and Norden, probably around 1973 after the SDP40Fs came on.
Next is the Coast Line, not familiar with this area so I can't say much other than Horseshoe Curve
The final segments featuring F40PHs appear to be around 1977-79 on the San Joaquins trains at various locations between Martinez and Stockton, CA. Most definitely on the ATSF segments of the line. Note in the final scene SP business car Oakland has yet to recieve its 1981 rebuild.
How do I contact you about using some clips from this video?
Email me at: fmnut@msn.com
0:13 a southern Pacific E9 was pulling the Amtrak coahes at 0:35 a union Pacific F7 was pulling the Amtrak coaches
You need a better Diesel Spotters Guide. 0:13 is an FP7. 0:35 is an E8.
Oh I know
Mind if I use some of the SFX with credit?
Sure, no problem.
1:26 what's that for a passenger car? It looks like articulated...??
SP had a fleet of twin unit articulated chair cars (coaches) as well as a few triple unit diner-kitchen-coffee shop cars.
@@fmnut i thought that too but wasn't sure it is. thanks for the confirmation. i really love your channel! great videos from past times! many greets from germany
California, before it went completely "off the rails"!
How true. Craziness.
It was back when Conrail was being formed in the 9 state Northeast region when 9 railroad were bankrupt and were heavily taxed in my no giodrotton birth state of New York which back then couldn’t even get back on the rails and will never get back on the rails. California is far& much better than New York State. The railroads are the only big business that New York State taxes and taxes the dead.
Where is the viaduct at 32:48?
The viaduct spans Stenner Creek just northwest of San Luis Obispo CA at the start of Cuesta Pass.
Guys plz tell me is it pantograph on them
No. All diesels.
@@fmnut oh ok
Is this dubbed audio? I really cant tell
Yes, it's dubbed. Original film was silent. The fact that you can't tell is a compliment. Thanks for watching.
baru tau