Nostalgia & History > Early Amtrak Capitol Limited

Soon after Amtrak reestablished the Capitol Limited (as train nos. 440 and 441 between Washington and Pittsburgh, with through cars to and from Chicago carried west of Pittsburgh in nos. 40 and 41, the Broadway Limited), I shot the eastbound Cap in Cumberland Narrows, west of Cumberland, Md.

Among the cars visible in the consist are a former Union Pacific 10 roomette/6 double bedroom sleeper, an ex-Santa Fe coach, a former PRR lounge, and privately owned ex-Lehigh Valley business car 353 bringing up the rear.

In the first photo, the abandoned State Line Branch bridge of the Western Maryland (soon after dismantled) spans the B&O mainline.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/12 09:06 by aehouse.

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Great pictures. Thanks for posting them.

Mail car, baggage car, 1 sleeper, 2 44 or 48-seat coaches, a lounge. And the private car. Not much of a train, but a nice one.

I believe that LV353 was still owned at that time by Dick Horstmann, a Syracuse lawyer. A nice, nice gentleman, one of the best. Had a debilitating stroke, the family sold the car and his fire-engine collection to pay for his medical care, and the car is at Steamtown in Scranton, PA. I believe Horstmann has since passed away. One of the nicest private-car owners I ever met.

He died in 2009.

Nice, Art. I remember those days.

Posted from iPhone

What year would this be?

MILW16 Wrote:
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> What year would this be?


1982, if I recall correctly.
Art



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/12 13:07 by aehouse.

knotch8 Wrote:
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>
>
> I believe that LV353 was still owned at that time
> by Dick Horstmann, a Syracuse lawyer. A nice,
> nice gentleman, one of the best. Had a
> debilitating stroke, the family sold the car and
> his fire-engine collection to pay for his medical
> care, and the car is at Steamtown in Scranton, PA.
> I believe Horstmann has since passed away. One
> of the nicest private-car owners I ever met.

I knew Dick, though not well, but he was close friends with a number of close friends of mine. I never had the opportunity (in those days, more likely, the disposable income) to travel on one of his 353 trips, though he was kind enough to invite me on several occasions.

Art House

aehouse Wrote:
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> MILW16 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What year would this be?
>
>
> 1982, if I recall correctly.
> Art

Very nice set of photos. FYI, Amtrak began operating the Capitol Limited on October 1, 1981.

Great series of shots. I'm interested that the 7 car train has only a single F40 to go over Sandpatch. Good stuff.

Tominde Wrote:
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> Great series of shots. I'm interested that the 7
> car train has only a single F40 to go over
> Sandpatch. Good stuff.


Good old reliable EMD power,....unlike these damn P40/P42's.