Amtrak is running a Snow Train from the Bay Area to Reno several times this year.
This is the train returning West today with a Snow Bear on the front coupler and a few cars painted in the City of New Orleans colors. It looked like an abreviated City of New Orleans train with domes! Nice paint on those cars.
http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Trainsforyou/Amtrak/?albumview=slideshow
Illinois Central's Monday morning mail.
John WR Illinois Central's Monday morning mail.
I was raised in Illinois and watched the IC in the fifties. The colors give great memories.
CZ
Did you watch the City of New Orleans? I rode that train once or twice.
Best regards, John
Living in Wesson, Mississippi for three years, I had many opportunities to see the IC passenger trains--the Louisiane, the City, and the Pannyma (as the IC men around there called them--and to ride them and the Southern Express and the Creole. Of course, all the cars were painted in the IC passenger cars--even the sleepers that were owned by other roads, such as the EL. I regretted that I was unable to see the northbound Panama the second day after a hurricane forced the northbound Panama of the afternoon after the hurricane had passed to be backed back to New Orleans from less than fifty miles above McComb because of high water in a bayou. It would have been interesting to see what cars Pullman had put into service to replace the cars that did not get into Chicago the day after the hurricane. (The only time I saw the southbound Panama was when I rode it from Brookhaven to New Orleans.)
The IC also painted the CG engines that regularly ran into Chicago with the Seminole IC colors, just as the CG, ACL, & FEC cars that ran regularly in the Florida service were painted. Also, the NP dome cars that were run on the Panama and the City of Miami in the winter were so painted--and the IC repainted them in NP colors before returning them in the spring. Mr. Johnston liked uniformity in the color of his passenger trains.
Johnny
John WR CZ Did you watch the City of New Orleans? I rode that train once or twice. Best regards, John
Yes, the City of New Orleans and the Panama Limited came via Effingham and I got to see them many times over the years. They were always great to see and steam was on freight trains until laste 1956 on the Main Line to Chicago.
The picture below is in Effingham in 1955 where we watched the Illinois Central. Sorry about the quality, but the old box camera was all that I had.
Deggesty Living in Wesson, Mississippi for three years, I had many opportunities to see the IC passenger trains--the Louisiane, the City, and the Pannyma (as the IC men around there called them--and to ride them and the Southern Express and the Creole. Of course, all the cars were painted in the IC passenger cars--even the sleepers that were owned by other roads, such as the EL. I regretted that I was unable to see the northbound Panama the second day after a hurricane forced the northbound Panama of the afternoon after the hurricane had passed to be backed back to New Orleans from less than fifty miles above McComb because of high water in a bayou. It would have been interesting to see what cars Pullman had put into service to replace the cars that did not get into Chicago the day after the hurricane. (The only time I saw the southbound Panama was when I rode it from Brookhaven to New Orleans.) The IC also painted the CG engines that regularly ran into Chicago with the Seminole IC colors, just as the CG, ACL, & FEC cars that ran regularly in the Florida service were painted. Also, the NP dome cars that were run on the Panama and the City of Miami in the winter were so painted--and the IC repainted them in NP colors before returning them in the spring. Mr. Johnston liked uniformity in the color of his passenger trains.
I never saw any domes on the IC, but that must have been later on after 1962. That was the year I went into the USAF. The railroads changed a lot after the mid sixties and I was not aware they actually ever used any domes.
Thanks
IC bought some dome-coaches from MP in the late 1960's for assignment on the "City of New Orleans". The winter assignments of the NP dome-sleepers on the "City of Miami" began around 1965.
CZ,
Thanks for your picture. Somehow a box camera seems an appropriate way to take a picture of a steam engine. I rode the IC City of New Orleans in the late 60's and the same train when Amtrak ran it in the 70's. It was clear both times that the train had seen better days.
Those cars actually belong to Iowa Pacific and are part of their new PULLMAN SERVICE offering:
http://www.travelpullman.com/
CMStPnP Those cars actually belong to Iowa Pacific and are part of their new PULLMAN SERVICE offering: http://www.travelpullman.com/
Yes, I should have mentioned their ownership. The Iowa Pacific is using the great colors that the IC had for so many years. They have at least one of their F units painted in the color scheme also.
This is the Heritage unit that was assigned to the 40th Anniversary train for Amtrak. It has been on the Capital route between Auburn Ca and the Bay area recently.
The picture was taken early in the morning at Rocklin prior to sunrise.
I remember these colors very well. Rode with my parents on the Creole and Louisiane to New Orleans. I think McComb, MS was the first place that I saw separate drinking fountains for "colored and white".
We also rode IC to Birmingham where we were switched over to CofG and again at Jacksonville to ACL for travel to Punta Gorda, FL I think that might have been on the Seminole, the name sounds very familiar.
Since we were traveling on a pass, we never got to ride the first class trains, but we still had wonderful trips. Lots of good memories when I see the roads we used to ride in their original paint. I don't remember seeing any domes on IC, but they would have been on the fancier trains. First time we did get to ride in a dome was UP City of St. Louis to CA
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