This really takes me back in time when I was the Amtrak Ticket Agent at Effingham,IL. I see my 1978 Black Buick Regal and a glimpse of myself meeting Train #31 west bound. I was 23yrs old now 65yrs old. Those early years working the National Limited I will always hold special. It was so sad watching train 31 and 30 The National Limited making the last run.
I was the boy standing by himself away from waiting passengers in Dayton at 7:49. I heard that the train was going tobe axed and went to watch it arrive every chance I could. The station is long gone but these memories of the National Limited through my hometown are special.
I was a senior in high school in Dayton, Ohio when this was shot. I'm an engineer at Amtrak that's run everything from metroliners to the auto train and everything in between. Since moving back home, I have to drive to Indianapolis to go to work to run the Cardinal. I would love to run a train through my own hometown before I retire.
Hope so too Bruce! My father was on the last National Limited W/B out of Columbus in 1979. Prior to then, we took several trips to Dayton to visit family in Vandalia. Mom would drive there and we'd all head home in the car. Appreciate it much more now than I did as a kid. Really want to hop on the Cardinal and head east from Cincinnati soon. Looks beautiful, so much you can't see driving I-64...
3:08 wow! My dad and I used to sit there at the diamond when that tower was still there (mid 90s). One day when we were there the guy came down and invited up inside and gave us a tour of the building. I know it's gone now, but it was a cool experience for a kid to have
I rode the NL several times from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh and back. I remember how dilapidated Union Station was and all the brickwork platforms, now long gone. We took the NL through Xenia only a few days after the terrible tornado...in the middle of the night, by bright moonlight, the conductor told us what the wrecked buildings had been only a week before. Absolutely haunting. The train crawled along at less than 10 mph through all that hellscape.
Amazing footage. There is very little footage on RUclips (or anywhere) that I can find of Amtrak’s National Limited. Especially a cab ride. Beautifully done and wonderfully filmed. Loved every minute of it.
I remember growing up in the 80s and living next to the tracks on the north side of Terre Haute. The sound of Conrail engines roaring past the house. The tracks and city have changed so much over the years. Haley Tower is a good spot to watch trains. You get to see many locomotives from all the railroads come through. I've watch BC Rail, Metra, KCS, UP, NS, BNSF, SOO Line, CP, INRD, IHB, Terminal Railroad of Chicago, many shortlines and of course CSX (their trackage now north/south & east/west)
At the very end ridership SURGED because of the Amfleet cars, the air conditioning worked on them. But too late the hearings were held and the ridership numbers were when the train was a hot hell on wheels! I rode it Kansas City to NY a few times. And the train had to be knocked off . SO THE TRACKS COULD BE RIPPED UP. The air conditioning on the old cars did not work under 20mph. Because it was run off the wheels! Not the locomotives like today. And there was miles and miles of 10 mph, and lateness . It should never have been taken off! But the highway lobby runs Ohio Government and the Federal Government today. It just STINKS.
I rode the National twice from Indianapolis to Effingham. First time in Feb '78 (with 2 E units and 6 cars - 2 baggage, a unique sleeper with 6 roomettes, 4 dbl bedrooms and 6 open sections, diner/lounge, and 2 coaches). The second time was in September '79 with 1F40PH, baggage car, an "all electric"10&6 sleeper, am dinette and 2 amfleet coaches.
Dreary winter landscape delaphidated buildings, and rusty tracks, from an era long past - that's what makes it enthralling. Cool passenger stations with all the sheds and platforms.
At New Paris you can see that the "freight main" to Bradford is out of service. Conrail's work to shut down almost all of the PRR Main Line was well under way.
at 6:17 is where the old little miami(C&X) cincy to springfield used to cross,many years ago. this line used to see DT&I trains pass through at this spot, heading to cincy from springfield.
@@koirails8680 the C&X was a fantastic/scenic route. my mother would watch the trains in corwin as a kid. anything PRR is a favorite. PRR lines had that something extra.
8:42 the junction is still there although CSX Runs a short local to International Molasses, NVR Building Product's and Stratacache just outside trotwood but the rest was torn up.
9:24 West Manchester and the crossing with the old CN, 9:30 the connection PC pit in to connect the PRR and the CN together, then oos at the time of the video....
12:49 to 13:03 Interesting that they'd already ripped out one of the main tracks on the Richmond-Indianapolis mainline... Of course, by this late date there was little else besides Amtrak running that way...
in 1979, 6 of us rode the national from dayton to indy,,,fun trip. at 6:46 i was always told that the tracks on the left is the OLD coach yard. I am not old enough to remember coaches there. in trotwood today is a PRR painted N5C caboose on display. the tower at west manchester was torn down just a couple years before this film.
I noticed there was no footage going past Woods tower, Davis tower, Limedale tower, passing Prarie on the east side of Terre Haute or the Crawfordsville Branch jaunt to get between the PRR and Big4 in TH. Was there a time just before discontinuance when the National Limited was moved over to the Big4 between Indy and Terre Haute? The PRR between those cities had been single track with the CTC machine located in Limedale Tower, but I don't recall when CR pulled the plug on the CTC machine.
The National routinely ran the NYC west of Indy to Terre Haute once Conrail finished rebuilding it in 1977. After PC there was very little traffic moving over the PRR via Limedale since the NYC was now double-track with good rail, TCS and the direct connection to Avon. I think the “last hurrah” for the National on the PRR was during ‘77 due to all the track curfews on the NYC side.
Check out the "fireless" steam locomotive at 15:10. That is a steam plant to supply all the buildings around downtown Indy, so this locomotive didn't need to burn coal or oil, just get a bottle full of steam to work for a couple of hours. It didn't need to go very far to push coal cars into the unloading area for the steam plant.
So is the following basically correct: 3:11 LM / SciotoTower ~ 6:00 Xenia ~ 7:00 Dayton 9:25 West Manchester ~11:00 Richmond 13:10 Thorne ~14:00 Indianapolis (then ex NYC to Terre Haute) ~15:20 Haley Tower - Terre Haute Hard to believe just how bad the track was. It's amazing Conrail was able to survive that. But, I guess it couldn't get any worse.
The fact this part of the PRR was ripped up is beyond bullshit. It was the more direct route from the East Coast to Saint Louis, but was still torn up because of sheer mindlessness.
Crane was under pressure to show "progress" financially. Today alot of what was considered excess trackage back then would be a blessing to have. Not to be.
from cincy to xenia the line was called the "C&X branch." cincy-xenia. the C&X(cincy to springfield) was the second oldest RR line chartered in OHIO. the line from xenia to columbus was of different origin. the oldest chartered ran from sprinfield to lake erie. the C&X was created to connect the OHIO river to lake erie.
@@RailroadMediaArchive yeah the DUKX (iporates the line from germantown to carlisle) barely even operates they only go to the interchange about 4-6 times a year.
You can thank inaction from the Congressional delegations of Ohio and Indiana, as well as the Carter administration for the National Limited's discontinuance.
well, at 8:30, you can see the track at left behind the propane tank,,,this is where the blue ash line joins at dayton union. of course the blue ash line splits at hempstead in kettering and the other (eastern) segment joins near clement hill, east of dayton.
hi Dave I grew in Indy at 21st & Post rd and I used to hang out by Thorne tower , I was fascinated by it all, never had the courage to walk up and knock on the door, I wished to God I would have now . I’m a conductor for BNSF the last 21 years now, railroading is in my blood and always has been. Do you have any old photos of Thorne tower or Hawthorne yard that you would care to share ?
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
This really takes me back in time when I was the
Amtrak Ticket Agent at Effingham,IL.
I see my 1978 Black Buick Regal and a glimpse of myself meeting Train #31 west bound.
I was 23yrs old now 65yrs old.
Those early years working the National Limited
I will always hold special.
It was so sad watching train 31 and 30 The National Limited making the last run.
My name is Jeff Auxier,former amtrak ticket agent at EFG.
I was the boy standing by himself away from waiting passengers in Dayton at 7:49. I heard that the train was going tobe axed and went to watch it arrive every chance I could. The station is long gone but these memories of the National Limited through my hometown are special.
@16:16, an good old open frame auto rack when passing by and lots of interlocking switch towers along the way, Good classic footage!
I was a senior in high school in Dayton, Ohio when this was shot.
I'm an engineer at Amtrak that's run everything from metroliners to the auto train and everything in between. Since moving back home, I have to drive to Indianapolis to go to work to run the Cardinal.
I would love to run a train through my own hometown before I retire.
Hope so too Bruce! My father was on the last National Limited W/B out of Columbus in 1979. Prior to then, we took several trips to Dayton to visit family in Vandalia. Mom would drive there and we'd all head home in the car. Appreciate it much more now than I did as a kid. Really want to hop on the Cardinal and head east from Cincinnati soon. Looks beautiful, so much you can't see driving I-64...
How far east can you get on the Cardinal before you outlaw? Beckley or Hinton?
3:08 wow! My dad and I used to sit there at the diamond when that tower was still there (mid 90s). One day when we were there the guy came down and invited up inside and gave us a tour of the building. I know it's gone now, but it was a cool experience for a kid to have
I rode the NL several times from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh and back. I remember how dilapidated Union Station was and all the brickwork platforms, now long gone. We took the NL through Xenia only a few days after the terrible tornado...in the middle of the night, by bright moonlight, the conductor told us what the wrecked buildings had been only a week before. Absolutely haunting. The train crawled along at less than 10 mph through all that hellscape.
Amazing footage. There is very little footage on RUclips (or anywhere) that I can find of Amtrak’s National Limited. Especially a cab ride.
Beautifully done and wonderfully filmed. Loved every minute of it.
I am so glad you posted this video. Love the train's ride through the west side of Columbus towards Alton.
it’s crazy how much has changed since this video
I remember growing up in the 80s and living next to the tracks on the north side of Terre Haute. The sound of Conrail engines roaring past the house. The tracks and city have changed so much over the years. Haley Tower is a good spot to watch trains. You get to see many locomotives from all the railroads come through. I've watch BC Rail, Metra, KCS, UP, NS, BNSF, SOO Line, CP, INRD, IHB, Terminal Railroad of Chicago, many shortlines and of course CSX (their trackage now north/south & east/west)
I enjoyed seeing the signal.progressions. Approach medium to advanced approach -- very cool.
At the very end ridership SURGED because of the Amfleet cars, the air conditioning worked on them. But too late the hearings were held and the ridership numbers were when the train was a hot hell on wheels! I rode it Kansas City to NY a few times. And the train had to be knocked off . SO THE TRACKS COULD BE RIPPED UP. The air conditioning on the old cars did not work under 20mph. Because it was run off the wheels! Not the locomotives like today. And there was miles and miles of 10 mph, and lateness . It should never have been taken off! But the highway lobby runs Ohio Government and the Federal Government today. It just STINKS.
Wow! This is amazing! I had no idea Amtrak ran through the ex-D&U line west of Dayton! Incredible footage!
And the freight cars at 4:45 - not one hint of graffiti on any of them! God I miss that era.
I rode the National twice from Indianapolis to Effingham. First time in Feb '78 (with 2 E units and 6 cars - 2 baggage, a unique sleeper with 6 roomettes, 4 dbl bedrooms and 6 open sections, diner/lounge, and 2 coaches). The second time was in September '79 with 1F40PH, baggage car, an "all electric"10&6 sleeper, am dinette and 2 amfleet coaches.
Dreary winter landscape delaphidated buildings, and rusty tracks, from an era long past - that's what makes it enthralling. Cool passenger stations with all the sheds and platforms.
9:48 is New Paris, and off to the right is the then abandoned line that went to Greenville and Bradford...
9:09 is the station @ Brookville, OH (now standing tall over the damn bike trail)
Great to see a glimpse of Xenia and London.
At New Paris you can see that the "freight main" to Bradford is out of service. Conrail's work to shut down almost all of the PRR Main Line was well under way.
The line to Greenville was shut down in 1976.
at 6:17 is where the old little miami(C&X) cincy to springfield used to cross,many years ago.
this line used to see DT&I trains pass through at this spot, heading to cincy from springfield.
You can see where a switch was to the C&X Branch is the C&X branch one of ur most favorite Abandoed lines?
@@koirails8680
the C&X was a fantastic/scenic route. my mother would watch the trains in corwin as a kid.
anything PRR is a favorite. PRR lines had that something extra.
8:42 the junction is still there although CSX Runs a short local to International Molasses, NVR Building Product's and Stratacache just outside trotwood but the rest was torn up.
9:24 West Manchester and the crossing with the old CN, 9:30 the connection PC pit in to connect the PRR and the CN together, then oos at the time of the video....
12:49 to 13:03 Interesting that they'd already ripped out one of the main tracks on the Richmond-Indianapolis mainline... Of course, by this late date there was little else besides Amtrak running that way...
in 1979, 6 of us rode the national from dayton to indy,,,fun trip.
at 6:46 i was always told that the tracks on the left is the OLD coach yard. I am not old enough to remember coaches there.
in trotwood today is a PRR painted N5C caboose on display.
the tower at west manchester was torn down just a couple years before this film.
I noticed there was no footage going past Woods tower, Davis tower, Limedale tower, passing Prarie on the east side of Terre Haute or the Crawfordsville Branch jaunt to get between the PRR and Big4 in TH. Was there a time just before discontinuance when the National Limited was moved over to the Big4 between Indy and Terre Haute? The PRR between those cities had been single track with the CTC machine located in Limedale Tower, but I don't recall when CR pulled the plug on the CTC machine.
The National routinely ran the NYC west of Indy to Terre Haute once Conrail finished rebuilding it in 1977. After PC there was very little traffic moving over the PRR via Limedale since the NYC was now double-track with good rail, TCS and the direct connection to Avon. I think the “last hurrah” for the National on the PRR was during ‘77 due to all the track curfews on the NYC side.
10:30 what was left of Richmond yard and the then closed hump...
12:05 N&W's newly renovated New Castle District sure looks nice in the distance...
Check out the "fireless" steam locomotive at 15:10. That is a steam plant to supply all the buildings around downtown Indy, so this locomotive didn't need to burn coal or oil, just get a bottle full of steam to work for a couple of hours. It didn't need to go very far to push coal cars into the unloading area for the steam plant.
So is the following basically correct:
3:11 LM / SciotoTower
~ 6:00 Xenia
~ 7:00 Dayton
9:25 West Manchester
~11:00 Richmond
13:10 Thorne
~14:00 Indianapolis
(then ex NYC to Terre Haute)
~15:20 Haley Tower - Terre Haute
Hard to believe just how bad the track was. It's amazing Conrail was able to survive that. But, I guess it couldn't get any worse.
Never mind, I just saw the description!
And I thought the DT&I had bad track.
If you thought it was bad here you should've rode The Broadway up on the Fort Wayne Div west to Chicago! Even by 79 it was still rough.
The fact this part of the PRR was ripped up is beyond bullshit. It was the more direct route from the East Coast to Saint Louis, but was still torn up because of sheer mindlessness.
Crane was under pressure to show "progress" financially. Today alot of what was considered excess trackage back then would be a blessing to have. Not to be.
THIS IS AWESOME !
Sadly Amtrak Trains Don't Pass On CSX Any More Most Of Them Are Seen On CN
Amazing footage! Do you know if these tracks still exist? I was trying to follow the train on the map.
From Columbus to London, yes. London to Indianapolis is mostly gone. Indianapolis west are still in.
Coming out of west Columbus, yeah, that's NS now
That's on what's now CSX's St. Louis to Indianapolis line
Mmm love vids like that I've seen the one from Cincinnati to Columbus and back what was that line called in the Pennsylvania days?
from cincy to xenia the line was called the "C&X branch."
cincy-xenia.
the C&X(cincy to springfield) was the second oldest RR line chartered in OHIO. the line from xenia to columbus was of different origin.
the oldest chartered ran from sprinfield to lake erie. the C&X was created to connect the OHIO river to lake erie.
Thanks! I thought the name was something like that
@@jeffreymcfadden9403 il miss that line a line I never got too see u that branch ran right behind my cabin at 6th grade camp.
The ol lands of the E8s
When was the crossover removed at cp Russ?
When did the Carlisle branch get torn up
Carlisle Branch from Germantown to Greenville was taken OOS in 1983 and the Rails were pulled in 1984
Ok thanks
@@RailroadMediaArchive yeah the DUKX (iporates the line from germantown to carlisle) barely even operates they only go to the interchange about 4-6 times a year.
4:01 - I-270
You can thank inaction from the Congressional delegations of Ohio and Indiana, as well as the Carter administration for the National Limited's discontinuance.
Do u have video of the blue ash sub?
well, at 8:30, you can see the track at left behind the propane tank,,,this is where the blue ash line joins at dayton union.
of course the blue ash line splits at hempstead in kettering and the other (eastern) segment joins near clement hill, east of dayton.
What was the Pennsylvania railroad line. From Cincinnati to columbus called if u got a little confused lol
The PRR line in this video was just nicknamed the Passenger main to St. Louis. The line from Xenia to Cincinnati was called the little Miami railroad.
Track looks rough.
I worked Thorne Tower & Pine Block Station.
hi Dave I grew in Indy at 21st & Post rd and I used to hang out by Thorne tower , I was fascinated by it all, never had the courage to walk up and knock on the door, I wished to God I would have now . I’m a conductor for BNSF the last 21 years now, railroading is in my blood and always has been. Do you have any old photos of Thorne tower or Hawthorne yard that you would care to share ?
Early defect detector at 17:22....
Last I knew there was still a DD at that spot (Teutopolis, IL). It was made a radio talker in the mid 80s.
Not much going on between Dayton and Indianapolis by 1978 79. Conrail was pretty much done with it.
02:23 could see the back of a non metal but cats eye cross buck and a wishbone gate black and white.
10:48 Richmond Indiana
The poor "National" - constantly sabotaged by PC & Conrail's bad tracks; finally killed by budget cuts. Now most of the trackage shown here is gone.
Not really... everything from Indianapolis to St Louis is still here and well. Not sure about everything east of Indianapolis, though.
@@kyleb06 The only parts (that I know of) that still remain in Ohio is the Columbus-London section and the downtown Dayton section.
@@kyleb06 gone
Fall 78-79 consist
Gold!
Appropriately gray and gloomy, showing the nadir of American railroading.