Nostalgia & History > The 'Hoosier State' day #1

On October 1st, 1980 I initiated a round trip excursion to & from Spartanburg, SC. I traveled from Emporia, KS on train #4, the “Southwest Limited” to Chicago. I connected with train #40, the “Broadway Limited” to Washington, DC. From there I took train #19, the “Southern Crescent” to Spartanburg. I spent 3 days with a railfan pal who had recently attended graduate school at Kansas State University in my home town of Manhattan. Of course, I took reverse routing back to Emporia. I booked a roomette both ways between Chicago & DC: which was a first for me. So far it’s been the only time I've ever experienced sleeping accommodations aboard an Amtrak train. I gotta say it was an extraordinary pleasure!

During the eastbound layover in Chicago I had some time to roam the immediate area, including the passenger platforms. I was able to shoot a lot of stuff. This included Amtrak’s business car #10000. I could sense there was something unusual going on, but there wasn’t a soul around! The car seemed to be all lit up, and I had no idea what the hoopla was about until I got the slides back and actually read the drumhead. It reads: “First Day of Revenue Service” with “The Hoosier State” inside the Indiana state outline.

I consulted Wikipedia and here is a partial quote: “The Hoosier State entered service on October 1, 1980. On April 27, 1986, the Cardinal was rerouted to use the same tracks as the Hoosier State between Chicago and Indianapolis, and began running on days the Cardinal did not operate. The Hoosier State was restored to daily operation on a separate schedule from the Cardinal on October 25, 1987. But funding cuts led to its discontinuance on September 8, 1995 while the Cardinal continued tri-weekly operation between Chicago, Indianapolis and the East Coast. Amtrak restored the Hoosier State on July 19, 1998, as a tri-, later quad-weekly train. From December 17, 1999, to July 4, 2003, the Hoosier State was extended south from Indianapolis to Louisville, Kentucky, and renamed the Kentucky Cardinal. After the discontinuance of the Kentucky Cardinal the Hoosier State returned to operating four days a week in tandem with the Cardinal.”

I guess the old adage is true: “A blind squirrel [railfan] can find an acorn [opportunity photo] every now & then”…

1. Amtrak car #10000 on the inaugural “Hoosier State” at Chicago Union Station in Chicago IL on October 1, 1980.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/22 21:43 by santafe199.

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That car is at Greenwood IN -Owned by Mid America Leasing

That scan came out great. Very nice.

Marty Bernard

MartyBernard Wrote: > That scan came out great...

Thanks, Marty! I'm getting an extensive dose of scanning done with a wide assortment of slide exposures. I'm learning all the dos & don'ts with certain exposures a lot easier than I anticipated. I'm also relieved to find that scanning my "night/available light" slides is going better than expected. I had a handful of slides that just would NOT scan well with the stubborn HP. Another bonus is how the new Epson will kick out each scan individually. I can save time in locating & ID-ing each new image that way. I can also re-scan on the spot if I don't like it the first time. My old HP stored ALL scans internally until I clicked on the "done" box.

Now that I'm back on track (pun intended) I'm thinking 2015 will a very productive year with the scanning! There's quite a bit of the Gibson collection I haven't even looked at yet...

Lance



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/14 01:44 by santafe199.

Lance, we are all ready to look at all you can generate. I guess the wording is, "I hope you have a prosperous New Year".

Marty