Passenger Trains > Question about Amtrak National Limited

Did the Amtrak National Limited ever take a detour off the panhandle route

Steve

When you say "detour", do you a permanent change of route, or simply a detour due to a derailment? If you spaek of the latter, the detours were so numerous as to be legendary. Remember, this was the Penn Central Railroad and the track quality was terrible. So freight derailments were VERY frequent.

I can't speak about Columbus - Pittsburgh, but Columbus to Indianapolis detoured thru Union City, IN; Indianpolis to St. Louis thru Mattoon (NYC); Pittsburgh to Johnstown on the Conemaugh; Altoona to Harrisburg thru Lock Haven; Harrisburg to Parkesburg, PA thru Columbia, PA. I am just scratching the surface with the above routes.

Due to derailment or a wheel rail interface discrepties
I know the PC train was bad.I remmberd that as a teenager
Steve

Coming into Pittsburgh, I recall the regular route for #30 was via the Panhandle Bridge into Downtown Pittsburgh. But I'm pretty sure, the National Limited also entered Pittsburgh via the Ohio Connecting Bridge onto the Fort Wayne Line and then entered Pittsburgh over the Fort Wayne Bridge like the Broadway Limited. I don't know if the National was being routed around derailment or if the second routing became the "normal" path into Pittsburgh.

If I'm thinking of the right bridge, the "Panhandle" bridge is now part of the Pittsburgh trolley system.
I don't know when the bridge was officially no longer used by heavy rail trains, but the OC bridge routing
for the National Limited was standard by 1977.

RuleG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Coming into Pittsburgh, I recall the regular route
> for #30 was via the Panhandle Bridge into Downtown
> Pittsburgh. But I'm pretty sure, the National
> Limited also entered Pittsburgh via the Ohio
> Connecting Bridge onto the Fort Wayne Line and
> then entered Pittsburgh over the Fort Wayne Bridge
> like the Broadway Limited. I don't know if the
> National was being routed around derailment or if
> the second routing became the "normal" path into
> Pittsburgh.

For most of its existence the Amtrak National Limited came into Pittsburgh on the Ft. Wayne Line via the Ohio Connecting Bridge. If my memory serves me right, the Panhandle Bridge was never used by Amtrak National Limited.

Jishnu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RuleG Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Coming into Pittsburgh, I recall the regular
> route
> > for #30 was via the Panhandle Bridge into
> Downtown
> > Pittsburgh. But I'm pretty sure, the National
> > Limited also entered Pittsburgh via the Ohio
> > Connecting Bridge onto the Fort Wayne Line and
> > then entered Pittsburgh over the Fort Wayne
> Bridge
> > like the Broadway Limited. I don't know if the
> > National was being routed around derailment or
> if
> > the second routing became the "normal" path
> into
> > Pittsburgh.
>
> For most of its existence the Amtrak National
> Limited came into Pittsburgh on the Ft. Wayne Line
> via the Ohio Connecting Bridge. If my memory
> serves me right, the Panhandle Bridge was never
> used by Amtrak National Limited.

The National Limited did use the Panhandle Bridge.

After the National Limited was discontinued, Conrail used the bridge for a year or two.