Passenger Trains > Amtrak #4, Ft. Madison, Iowa.

Amtrak #4, the eastbound Southwest Chief at Ft. Madison, Iowa in 2002.  Pulling lots of mail and express typical of rhe time.  Viewed from Riverview park and just before crossing the Mississippi river bridge on the BNSF.

Thanks for viewing.

Ron Hirsch
Springfield, Mo.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/20 10:13 by hank.

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How is it that all that mail and express was not a money maker?

viatrainrider Wrote:
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> How is it that all that mail and express was not a
> money maker?

In many cases Amtrak underbid the contracts to the point that they were "loss leaders" and never made any money.  The so called high speed trucks on the box cars and refrigerator cars were a modified 3 piece freight car unit with a fabricated swing link and shock absorber added.  The fabricated portions tended to crack; Oakland had a special track set up just to dismantle and replace portions of these swing motion links.  The retired MHC trucks were a better design.

David Gunn, who was Amtrak's president when Mail-and-Express service was discontinued in 2004, said in a timetable introduction letter that one of the reasons why it was discontinued was it created huge delays at terminals; trains would have to wait to have their freight added or taken off. Plus, I've read that the host railroads weren't too fond of Amtrak cutting into their business, and I think there may have even been legal questions regarding that, too, since Amtrak is technically a passenger service.

Were the roadrailers allowed 90 mph on BNSF?

Yes