Happy 50th Anniversary, Amtrak!

Happy 50th Anniversary, Amtrak!

This weekend, Amtrak, the corporation that operates intercity
train service across the United States, celebrates its 50th Anniversary.

It was created to consolidate and save intercity passenger train service
from what was left of the once proud network operated by the private railroads,

Congratulations, Amtrak, from a guy who remembers the tenuous beginnings and the
polyglot "Rainbow Fleet" of locomotives and passenger cars inherited from the railroads,
most of which were happy to shed the burden of passenger train operation.

You've come a long way since those early days. May you roll successfully forward for the next 50 and beyond!

In the photo, taken in summer 2019, the northbound Amtrak Carolinian enters Southwest Washington
after crossing the Potomac. It will pass through L'Enfant Plaza, parallel to the National Mall, then tunnel
northward under Capitol Hill and arrive shortly on the lower level of Washington Union Station, where the
diesel will be replaced by an ACS-64 electric locomotive for the sprint up the Northeast Corridor.

©2021 Steve Ember