Amtrak in the Heartland

Craig Sanders

Description

A comprehensive, fully illustrated history of Amtrak operations in America's heartland

"Craig Sanders has done an excellent job of research . . . his treatment is as comprehensive as anyone could reasonably wish for, and solidly based. In addition, he succeeds in making it all clear as well as any human can. He also manages to inject enough humor and human interest to keep the reader moving." —Herbert H. Harwood, author of The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story and Invisible Giants: The Empires of Cleveland's Van Sweringen Brothers

A complete history of Amtrak operations in the heartland, this volume describes conditions that led to the passage of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, the formation and implementation of Amtrak in 1970–71, and the major factors that have influenced Amtrak operations since its inception. More than 140 photographs and 3 maps bring to life the story as told by Sanders. This book will become indispensable to train enthusiasts through its examination of Americans' long-standing fascination with passenger trains. When it began in 1971, many expected Amtrak to last about three years before going out of existence for lack of business, but the public's continuing support of funding for Amtrak has enabled it and the passenger train to survive despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

Preface and Acknowledgments
1. The All-Time Transportation Comeback
2. In the Shadows of Titans
3. A Tale of Two Trains
4. When Tradition and Politics Intervened
5. The Hard Luck Floridian
6. No Mo' Disappearing Railroad Blues
7. The Eagle Has Survived
8. The Epitome of Western Travel
9. The Everywhere West Train
10. Scenery and Social Responsibility
11. The Almost Forgotten Corridor
12. Michigan's Bootstrap Campaign
13. An Uneasy Home in Indiana
14. Agony and Ecstasy in the "Can't Lose" Corridors
15. Prairie State Populists
16. Front Doors and Back Shops
Notes
Index

Sujets

• Railroads
• Transportation
• Rail transport
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 11 mai 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253027931
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

AMTRAK IN THE HEARTLAND
Railroads Past and Present George M. Smerk, Editor
A list of books in the series appears at the end of this volume.
AMTRAK IN THE HEARTLAND
CRAIG SNADERS

I NDIANA U NIVERSITY P RESS   /   B LOOMINGTON AND I NDIANAPOLIS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404–3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800–842–6796 Fax orders 812–855–7931 Orders by e-mail [e-mail]
2006 by Craig Sanders
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sanders, Craig.
Amtrak in the heartland / Craig Sanders,
p. cm. — (Railroads past and present)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–253–34705-X (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Amtrak—History. 2. Railroads—United States—
Passenger traffic—History. I. Title. II. Series.
TF25.A57S35 2006
385′.220977—dc22
2005026056
1 2 3 4 5 11 10 09 08 07 06
CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgments
 
  1. The All-Time Transportation Comeback
  2. In the Shadows of Titans
  3. A Tale of Two Trains
  4. When Tradition and Politics Intervened
  5. The Hard Luck Floridian
  6. No Mo’ Disappearing Railroad Blues
  7. The Eagle Has Survived
  8. The Epitome of Western Travel
  9. The Everywhere West Train
10. Scenery and Social Responsibility
11. The Almost Forgotten Corridor
12. Michigan’s Bootstrap Campaign
13. An Uneasy Home in Indiana
14. Agony and Ecstasy in the “Can’t Lose” Corridors
15. Prairie State Populists
16. Front Doors and Back Shops
 
Notes
Index
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I F YOU TRAVEL ON AMTRAK from one region of America to another, you probably will change trains in Chicago. With 148 Metra commuter and 48 Amtrak trains coming and going on weekdays, Chicago Union Station is the last of the great midwestern train stations that is still as vibrant as urban union stations were when trains were a dominant mode of transportation.
Whenever I am at Chicago Union Station, I make it a point to spend time in the Great Hall. This cavernous expanse of a room is delightful for its stately architecture, rich history, and a quietude that makes it an ideal place to be alone with your thoughts. Train-boarding announcements inspire me to imagine what it would be like to be taking a journey tonight on the Southwest Chief and waking up tomorrow in western Kansas where the bustle of Chicago must seem like a million miles away. Passengers boarding the California Zephyr surely are anticipating the scenic passage the next afternoon through the Rocky Mountains. I long to stay on board the Capitol Limited all the way to Washington rather than disembark in Cleveland, where I live. Train boarding announcements are a summons to travel to distant places even if only in the mind. Such is the romance of train travel.
I also find myself pondering the business side of Amtrak. There are many Amtrak trains whose boarding announcements no longer echo off the Great Hall’s marble walls. Some, such as the Chief to Los Angeles, the Mountaineer to Norfolk, Va., and the Prairie Marksman to East Peoria, Ill., were shooting stars that flamed out shortly after they appeared. Others, such as the Lone Star to Houston, the Floridian to Miami, the North Star to Duluth, Minn., and the Black Hawk to Dubuque, Iowa, ran for several years before ending due to funding cuts. The demise of these trains left scores of cities without rail passenger service.
Even trains that still operate have changed. The Cardinal to New York and Washington used to be the James Whitcomb Riley and has had four different routes through Indiana. None of the previous routes could be resurrected today because of rail route abandonment. Dome cars have given way to Sightseer lounges. Horizon, Amfleet, and Superliner equipment built to Amtrak specifications have replaced the streamliner era equipment that Amtrak inherited. Equipment billed as the future of train travel—the Turboliners, for example—have come and gone. Also gone are the distinctive services that differentiated one railroad’s service from another. Amtrak’s standardized service often bears only a faint resemblance to railroad service of the past.
That Amtrak exists at all 34 years after its 1971 creation surprises some who have witnessed the yearly fights in Congress and state legislatures over Amtrak funding. Amtrak’s survival is a tribute to its countless supporters who have besieged lawmakers to preserve some semblance of a national intercity rail passenger network in this country. Yet passenger train supporters remain frustrated that the type of reliable high-speed rail service that exists in Western Europe and Japan has yet to develop in the United States outside of the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington. Many transportation policymakers consider government funding of Amtrak to be an unnecessary subsidy, whereas public funding of highways and aviation is considered to be an investment.
This book is a history of Amtrak trains and routes in the Heartland, a region that many scholars identify as the midwestern states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Virtually all of the Amtrak trains that have served these states began or ended their journey at Chicago Union Station. A handful of Amtrak trains have operated elsewhere in the Heartland, but only one, linking St. Louis and Kansas City, has survived. In most of the Heartland, Amtrak offers only nominal service. Vast regions of some states have never seen an Amtrak train, including all of South Dakota.
Why focus on one region of the country when Amtrak is a nationwide rail system? Mid-westerners see themselves as living in a place with a distinct history and culture, even if many of them have only a sketchy understanding of its origins. There are distinct social, economic, and political differences among Heartland states, but the residents of the region still perceive common threads that bind them together and create a midwestern identity. Amtrak service in the Heartland has distinguishing characteristics that create a distinct identity even if the trains have much in common with Amtrak service elsewhere.
In the heyday of rail passenger service in the early 20th century, most travelers passed through the Heartland, the nation’s railroad capital, to get from one region to another. All regions have suffered significant losses of rail passenger service, but the loss has been greater proportionally in the Heartland, particularly in such railroad hub cities as Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Kansas City. Amtrak’s long-distance route network still follows the historical pattern with trains serving the East, West, and South converging in the Heartland. It is possible to board an Amtrak train in New York and disembark in Seattle without having passed through the Heartland. But only a die-hard rail enthusiast is likely to do that, because it would involve changing trains in New Orleans and Los Angeles and an interminably long travel time.
The Heartland features a small core of Amtrak trains scheduled to serve midwestern travel needs. The Heartland, though, lags behind other regions in rail passenger service development for reasons that have a decidedly midwestern character. The Heartland historically may be steeped in rail passenger service, but it looks longingly toward the Northeast, California, the Pacific Northwest, and even North Carolina for examples of how rail passenger service should be developed. James H. Madison wrote in Heartland: Comparative Histories of the Midwestern States that change in the Midwest has been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Jon C. Teaford wrote in Cities of the Heartland: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Midwest that more often than not the Heartland imitates trends established on the coasts rather than leading the way. Hence, the incremental development of midwestern urban corridor service pales when compared with what has occurred elsewhere. Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri pay Amtrak to operate trains in their states, but no Heartland state has helped Amtrak purchase locomotives and passenger cars. Heartland trains use off-the-shelf Amtrak equipment wearing whatever livery is in vogue with Amtrak management, meaning that these trains present an outwardly Amtrak appearance rather than a midwestern identity.
Numerous proposals to expand rail passenger service in the Midwest have yet to leave the drawing board. The latest of these, the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, envisions a 3,000-mile network of frequent service on routes using existing railroad rights-of-way. Some trains would travel no mph, and most ro