If you rode the San Diegan, you would sit on the right side of the car so you could see the ocean going south. On the return trip you would sit on the left side which would have the ocean views. Sometimes I would ride in the cab with my dad... Great times. @George Klass My Dad, being a devout union man and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, was not happy about the government takeover of the rails. I told him on occasion that I wanted to work for the AT&SF he actually talked me out of it. Not taking sides here, just for information.
Wow, thanks for the Roy Orbison photos. I don't think I have ever seen those. I presume that was his first wife who was killed, very sad. He was terrific. I stood about 10 ft from him as he was about to go onstage at the NOLA Jazzfest around '85. He put on a great show and was in fine form. I was glad he had a comeback before his sudden death.
As usual, dads are usually right. The federal government is great at screwing things up. Amtrak was formed in 1971. With almost no budget. The railroads that had been running passenger trains were very happy to give their old locomotives and passenger cars to Amtrak. The first few years, people that road the rails with Amtrak called it the "rainbow era". The passenger cars didn't even match each other, they all came from other railroads. As in this case, even the locomotives didn't match. Most of the rolling stock was junk. But Amtrak needed passenger cars. If they had wheels, seats and windows, Amtrak used them. It took many years before Amtrak had enough cash to purchase new rail cars. Another problem was that Amtrak did not (nor does it now except in the Northeastern corridor between Washington DC and Boston) own the tracks. Amtrak has to pay a fee to run on Santa Fe or Union Pacific or Southeren Pacific or any other railroads tracks (Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) own the tracks between L.A. and Chicago, and Warren Buffett owns the BNSF railroad). I grew up with this railroad, the Southern Pacific, in the steam era, riding between L.A. and San Francisco on the Coast Daylight, which had to be about the most beautiful train in the world (at least to me). Amtrak runs on the same tracks today, as the Coast Starlight. The steam train made the trip about an hour quicker than the diesels do today. The Coast Daylight ran up to 85 mph on a good part of the trip. Amtrak, by federal law, cannot run more than 79 mph, unless the tracks have been updated to certain specifications, but Amtrak does not own the tracks, and the railroads that do own them are unwilling (it seems) to pay to upgrade their tracks. But Amtrak has made major advances over the years. The new locomotives being purchased now are magnificent. Manufactured by Siemens, and built in Sacramento, CA. Each locomotive puts out 4,400 HP and runs in an RPM range between 600 (at idle) and 1,800 RPM (pedal to the metal). They are geared to run over 125 MPH (and do on the Northeast Corridor). The long distance Amtrak trains usually have between 10 and 12 passenger/sleeping/dining/and lounge cars combined, and each train is powered by two of these locomotives in tandem (or, 8,800 HP). Another interesting tidbit. By federal law, freight trains are required to pull off the main lines when there is an Amtrak train coming up from either behind or in front of them. What the freight railroads do is to hook up so many freight cars to make up a freight train, the trains are too long to fit on the sideings. A lot of freight trains today are over 3 miles in length, which won't quite fit on sidings that are only two and a half miles long. One other thing, Amtrak trains are controlled exactly the same way the FAA controls pilots. Rail Traffic Control (or whatever it's called, I forgot) is in constant communications with the engineers driving the trains. Every Amtrak train is connected via satalite up in space. I have been in the locomotive cabs of many trains, passenger and freight, and it is an amazing experience. And with new technology with cell phones, etc., there are Apps that let you listen to everything said between the engineers and the people in the control centers...
Morris Island, South Carolina. The shattered muzzle of a 300-pounder Parrott Rifle after it had burst, photographed in July or August of 1863. (Haas & Peale/LOC)
19 year-old Shigeki Tanaka was a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima and went on to win the 1951 Boston Marathon. The crowd was silent as he crossed the finished line.
Al Capone started one of the first soup kitchens. The kitchen employed a few people, but fed many more. In fact, preceding the passage of the Social Security Act, “soup kitchens” like the one Al Capone founded, provided the only meals that some unemployed Americans had. Soup kitchens rose to prominence in the U.S. during the Great Depression, before WWII, in the early 20th century.
i live about 30 miles from peoria il. , former home of big john BBQ. i can remember when john closed this local to make way for the peoria civic center arena