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Journey To Amtrak By Harold Edmonson The year history rode the passenger train
Journey To Amtrak By Harold Edmonson The year history rode the passenger train
Hard Cover
Copyright 1972.
104 Pages
The Grand Conveyance, Railpax rescue, countdown to May, the parting hours, Amtrak arrives, table of trains.
Contents
The Grand Conveyance2
Railpax Rescue8
Countdown To May12
The Parting Hours48
Amtrak Arrives92
Table Of Trains102
The Grand Conveyance
THE American passenger train was too grand a conveyance for any one individual to define all of its characteristics, for any single expert to expound its appeal, for any one mourner to write its epitaph. Some 50 years ago poetess Edna St. Vincent Millay penned her famous lines, "Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going." Author Lucius Beebe viewed the passenger train as an extension of the grand hotels. Indeed, he likened the departure of Santa Fe's Chief to a sailing, and expanded the metaphor by proclaiming that every sailing inaugurated the transcontinental landfaring of a grand hotel. Publisher A. C. Kalmbach once wrote, "There's no walk quite as exhilarating as that stroll down the platform past luxurious bright-windowed lounge ears and cozily curtained Pullmans to the porter or brakeman who says, 'Right in here, sir.' " This, then, in whole or in part, was the Grand Conveyance: accommodations such as roomettes, drawing rooms, and master bedrooms with showers; gastronomic delights that included Rocky Mountain rainbow trout, big baked potatoes, and even complete meals called "King's Dinners"; amenities on the order of freshly cut roses, polished shoes, and en route haircuts; magic names such as Broadway Limited, Super Chief, and Panama Limited; and the lure of faraway places, coupled with the scenic spectacles of the Royal Gorge, Feather River Canyon, and Horseshoe Curve. Yes, the Grand Conveyance was a wonderful, beautiful thing. If you need further proof, study the photo of Southern Pacific's Coast Daylight, called "the most beautiful train in the world." More important, trains were accepted-by businessmen, by celebrities, and by everyday people. For example, this same Coast Daylight at one time earned its Espee sponsor $5.09 per train-mile, and was bestowed with the additional accolade of "most profitable train in the world."
Table of contents:
The Grand Conveyance
Railpax rescue
Countdown to May
Amtrak arrives
Table of trains
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