Nostalgia & History > The Georgian near the end...

In June of 1970, some friends and I rode L&N's Pan American from Louisville to Nashville, killed some time, then boarded the remnant of the Georgian for the overnight ride to St. Louis. That afternoon was spent taking photos of the various trains that still called at St. Louis Union Terminal in the days before it became an entertainment and shopping complex and long before light rail arrived in the Gateway City.

We saw MoPac trains to and from Kansas City with standing-room only but no more than two coaches, we saw GM&O's fine trains and the remnant of B&O's National Limited. We also heard of Penn-Central's bankruptcy that day.

The business at hand was taking photos of the trains, though, and here is the same Georgian we had come in on, leaving St. Louis for Evansville, Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta that afternoon. The ex-C&EI E-7 was a bonus. The stainless coach is also ex-C&EI, and although it was never mentioned in L&N's spartain public timetable, it had a small galley serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, snacks and pastry at fairly reasonable (for a train) prices.

I must suppose that some of "The Old Reliable's" dining car crews had been around long enough that they would draw full pay until retirement age even if they were furloughed.

It was an overcast day, appropriate, I suppose, for the news about PC and the condition of rail passenger service in general.

da timecruncher

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Just wondering, is that a "3rd Rail" I am seeing? I am not up on that area, as I spent most of my RR employment on the west coast.

Nice Pic.

Nudge

spnudge Wrote:
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> Just wondering, is that a "3rd Rail" I am seeing?

It's the wooden conduit that held the code line and air line from Tower 1.