Questions about Amtraks past?

[TRNBUF]

In the latest TRAINS Magazine "Map of the Month" it shows passenger service
before Amtrak, then when Amtrak came about on May 1, 1971 until current
services.

But I noticed there WASN'T a line on the map showing when Amtrak was on the NS
from Belleville, IL to Centralia, IL. I wasn't dreaming this was I?

If I'm right, how long did Amtrak run on that NS line?

How many trains?

Was Belleville the only station in between that it stopped at?

I was too young to remember I guess. ;-)

Thanks,

[oltmannd]

I remember being at the Univ of IL for a seminar in the mid-80s and there being a Chicago to Decatur train the went IC thru Champaign-Urbana and then hung a right at Tolono on the ex-Wabash for Decatur. Is this the train you mean?

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The map does not show a continuum but only the routes in service as of the three dates mentioned, April 30, 1971, May 1, 1971 and the date in 2000.  There were several services that came and went between May 1 1971 and 2000 so they wouldn't show up on the map.

The service that you probably have in mind was the "River Cities" between Kansas City and New Orleans and ran combined with the "City of New Orleans" south of Centralia.

[timz]

As always, the first place to look to try to answer questions like this is

http://www.timetables.org/browse/

[schlimm]

Thanks for the great link!  I may be wrong but don't think there was ever any Amtrak train through Decatur to St. Louis.  That was the old Wabash route of the Bluebird. Trains to STL and beyond went via Springfield on the old GM&O route then and now. The old IC route to STL turned off at Gilman, I think.  

[VerMontanan]

Amtrak ran the "River Cities" from April 29, 1984 until November 4, 1994 between St. Louis and Centralia.  The train actually operated all the way to Kansas City to the west, and after October 25, 1987, was extended to terminate at Carbondale instead of Centralia (connection to the City of New Orleans).

Belleville was the only stop between St. Louis and Centralia.

[aegrotatio]

 Last month's Amtrak map drove me insane for weeks.  I really enjoy the before/after maps when there are two maps instead of just one with lots of notations on it.  The one that discussed the New Haven a couple of months ago twisted my mind up pretty good, too.

[BNSFwatcher]

Get in touch with Carl Loucks (sp?), in Connecticut.  He sells old timetables.  Without having all of them in your files, it gets kind of confusing.  His prices ain't bad, methinks.  No, you don't have to buy all of them!  The ETTs are wonderful.  Sorry.  I gave all my New York Central ETTs, and public TTs, to the NY State Library in Albany.  They seemed to welcome them.  Gettin' old, donch'a know?  Better that than my nephews trash them, down the road.

Hays