The Best of Amtrak: America's Railroad

Triple Crossing

These images were made in Elliston, Indiana. Three railroads once crossed at this one spot, two at grade while one flew over…

Illinois Central’s line to Indianapolis

Monon’s so-called B&B Branch (for Bedford and Bloomfield)

Evansville, Indianapolis & Terre Haute Railroad (Big Four, NYC)

The two roads that intersected physically are both gone while the former Illinois Central line is still very much alive as the Indiana Rail Road. It should be noted that my images were made looking eastward, while the historical one in the opposite direction.

Pere Marquette

Here is some former roadbed of the Chicago and West Michigan/Pere Marquette/C&O south of Traverse City, Michigan.

The location is the exempt road crossing at a place once known as Beitner; I gather we are 163 miles from Grand Rapids.

Like a Mirage

The westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief appears along former Santa Fe at Colmor (between Raton and Las Vegas, New Mexico), looking like she’s doing every bit of the 79 miles-per-hour speed limit.

Note the main is jointed rail here and the semaphore facing us is in the process of rising to denote that the block to the east is now clear.

Sunset at Beevers

After exploring Abo Canyon a couple of years, I paused to watch the sun set just to the west. This spot, what the BNSF calls Beevers, lies between Belen and the mouth of the canyon; I believe that is Ladron Peak in the distance. This is along the Belen Cutoff, built by the ATSF in 1908.

Waiting for a Meet—Glorieta Pass

This is a westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief waiting to meet the eastbound atop Glorieta Pass. This is the original route of the ATSF through New Mexico.

I recently read that this meet usually happens one siding to the east, at Fox siding, but the eastbound train was running a bit late, which allowed the westbound to come on over to Glorieta for the meet.

Amtrak’s Southwest Chief—as seen from Wagon Mound

Walking up this relatively small mesa was more difficult than I had imagined it would be—due to rocky footing and my not being accustomed to the altitude of more than 6200 feet. In any case, I made it about two thirds to the top before I figured I should stop and set up for the westbound train.

Wagon Mound, the geological formation, is named for the shape of the covered wagons used by pioneers traversing the Santa Fe Trail, while the accompanying town was then named for the formation. The rail line one sees here, formerly the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, was named (in part) for the destination of that pioneer trail, and was built through these parts in the first half of 1879.

Wolverine Service

This is eastbound Amtrak 352 accelerating out of Kalamazoo, Michigan; the sun is setting on a on an unseasonably warm day. The train has just left the downtown station, is seen passing boarded-up BO tower, and will soon cross the Kalamazoo River on its way to Detroit and ultimately Pontiac. The line here was once the Michigan Central, then NYC, Penn Central, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern before becoming a property of Amtrak.

Milky Way

It was the night of the New Moon, so I thought I would try to shoot some stars. This image was taken at Summit City, in the upper lower peninsula, as it’s called here in Michigan. This spot is along the former Grand Rapids & Indiana branch to Traverse City (later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad).

One will note that Saturn and Jupiter are becoming close to each other for their meeting later in the fall.

California Zephyr

Here we see a westbound California Zephyr in Byers Canyon, just west of Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado. This scenic beauty can be found on the former Denver & Rio Grande Western as it follows the Colorado River.

Amtrak at Fifty

A half century ago, on May 1st 1971, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) was born. I wasn’t taking pictures at the time, but here are a few shots of Amtrak’s Floridian on the former Monon in the state of Indiana.

The first shot was taken of a northbound train over the White River south of Bedford. The second image shows a northbound train conquering the hill at Hunter Switch. The final picture has a southbound train making its station stop in downtown Bloomington.

The trains seen here appear close to how they would have in the early years—with an E-unit or two and legacy passenger cars provided by the participating railroads.

Inter-American

Amtrak’s southbound Inter-American speeds by the depot at Lexington, Illinois. The train is headed up by a rounded-nose E-unit, with a rounded-end observation bringing up the rear—how the visionary designers of the 1940s imagined how things should be.

This line belonged to the Illinois Central Gulf at the time of the photograph being made, but it was once Alton’s main line between Chicago and St. Louis, and the GM&O after that.

KIngston, Rhode Island

An elephant casually stealing and then returning a wildlife photographer’s hat