#nationallimited

[railwayhistorical]

Ghost Train

Amtrak’s National Limited, departing eastbound from Indianapolis Union Station. Looking at a timetable for this period, the train was scheduled here from 11:15 to 11:35 PM.

Along with the train gliding out of the train shed, IU Tower can be seen in the middle of the image. This rather large brick tower built was built in 1930 by the Indianapolis Union Railroad, closed in 1980, and razed in 2018. Amtrak's National Limited ran from 1971 until 1979, when it was discontinued.

Image by Richard Koenig; made on April 17th 1976.

[railwayhistorical]

Hustling Across Illinois This is a westbound Amtrak National Limited in Altamont, Illinois.

We on the Conrail line between Terre Haute, Indiana, and St. Louis (former Pennsy/Penn Central). That’s a relatively new EMD F40PH (built in December of 1977) on the point of the train, which means the legacy cars here have been retrofitted for head-end power (HEP). The red Ford pickup truck completes the snowy Midwestern scene.

The National Limited would be discontinued on October 1st later that same year. One image by Richard Koenig; taken in February of 1979.

[railwayhistorical]

Hustling Across Illinois This is a westbound Amtrak National Limited in Altamont, Illinois. We know we’re on the former Pennsy due to the distinctive signal. That's an EMD F40PH on the point of the train, which means the legacy cars here have been retrofitted for HEP.

As I understand it, F O R D stands for "fix or repair daily". One image by Richard Koenig; taken in February of 1979.

[railwayhistorical]

Receiving Orders/Station Stop

Train orders, in the form of paper flimsies, are set up in both the upper and lower forks here at Effingham, Illinois. The train approaching the station is an eastbound Amtrak National Limited.

While the fireman is ready to grab the orders while rolling by, it seems the conductor might get his by walking over and snagging them while on foot in this case, once the train is stopped, but I can’t recall if this happened. Once the train is at rest, we see the Amtrak employees ready to gather some baggage on an ancient cart.

This is all happening on the Conrail line between Indianapolis and St. Louis, which is the former Pennsylvania (and then Penn Central) here seventy miles west of Terre Haute. The diamond for the Illinois Central north-south mainline is just behind the locomotive in this image.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken in June of 1979.

[railwayhistorical]

National Limited

Here's a shot of a westbound Amtrak National Limited on the former Pennsylvania Railroad (Penn Central/Conrail) in central Illinois. The train is two miles east of Teutopolis.

One can see that new welded rail has been installed recently, here in June of 1979. One image by Richard Koenig.

[railwayhistorical]

Receiving Orders/Station Stop

Train orders, in the form of flimsies, are set up in both the upper and lower forks here at Effingham, Illinois. The first image shows an eastbound National Limited approaching the station.

While the fireman is ready to grab the orders while rolling by, it seems the conductor might get his by walking over and snagging them while on foot in this case, once the train is stopped, but I can’t recall. Once the train is at rest, we see the Amtrak employee gather some baggage on an ancient cart.

This is all happening on the Conrail line between Indianapolis and St. Louis, which is former Pennsy here west of Terre Haute. The diamond for the Illinois Central mainline is just behind the locomotive in the first image.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken in June of 1979.

[railwayhistorical]

Train Schedule Board

This was seen in the passenger station in Effingham, Illinois. The board lists trains that once operated on the Illinois Central Railroad. By this time, I think two Amtrak trains would have been in play: the Panama Limited and the Shawnee. The Illini was operating as well but would turn at Champaign for its return to Chicago.

Ninety degrees to this would have been one for the Pennsy line that crosses the IC at that location—don't know why I didn't shoot that! One Amtrak train was operating on Conrail, former PC/Pennsy: the National Limited.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken February of 1979.

[railwayhistorical]

Receiving Orders

Train orders, in the form of flimsies, are set up in both the upper and lower forks here at Effingham, Illinois. This images shows a westbound National Limited approaching the station.

This is happening on the Conrail line between Indianapolis and St. Louis, which is former Pennsy here west of Terre Haute. The diamond for the Illinois Central mainline is just behind the photographer. It seems the train will make a stop given the baggage person at the ready. While the fireman is ready to grab the orders while rolling by, it seems the conductor might get his by walking over and snagging them while on foot in this case, but I can’t recall.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken in June of 1979.