Trains on this day in the past:

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Eight hours late....That's almost on time for 1978 :o .
You don't happen to know who the original owner of the E-unit was ???

I did a little research based on the number 427 and came up with this: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2416593">http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2416593</a><!-- m -->

Seems its a former UP E9.

My books "Amtrak By The Numbers" and "Amtrak Annual 1978-1979" say it was UP 953, rather than UP 954, but the other data in the photo description seems to be consistent.

This is why I enjoy modeling Amtrak (and to an extent, NJ DOT as well), since almost everything it runs came from somewhere else. It exposes you to trains and histories that one might not necessarily encounter on my own.

In January, 1977 there were still many units yet to be patched. I caught this westbound with two originals 37 years ago.
Charlie

The same thing applies to these Conrail diesels. Each of them had slightly different details that even if they were repainted, would give away their original ownership. I have an ex EL-SD45, and I'd love to do an Ex-Reading SD45, which will be especially challenging due to their bi-directional cabs ( a challenge that has prevented me from attempting an ex-PRSL GP38 as well).

January of 1978 was a bad month for everyone as far as cold weather and snow but Amtrak was really troubled by it. They were still using steam to heat the Broadway and with temperatures dropping to 20 and 25 below zero the steam lines were freezing and the passengers were cold.
This is train #41 running 7 hours late with a fairly new F40PH on the head end. The E's still try to provide steam heat as well as power.
Charlie

Do you know if any of those E8s were the demotorized Steam heat variety? These would have been numbered between 660 and 676 (though prior to 1977 some were int he 1900 series).

The reason I ask is that many of these units ran out west, so it would be unusual to see them here. On the other hand, trains like the Empire builder needed two steam heaters, and I have a photo of a pair of F40PHs hauling an E8A and E9B, which had been demotored and used exclusively as heating cars.

The full Broadway Limited looks like a train long enough that it might need those two heaters (then again, the normal consist had at least three E=-units anyway).

Either way, cool pics!