The North Coast Hiawatha isn’t shown on this 1980 map, as it was one of six trains eliminated by President Carter in a futile effort to show that he was fiscally conservative. Deleting the train made no more economic sense … Continue reading
In 1980, $82 (double occupancy; almost $250 in today’s money) would buy you a ride on the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles or San Francisco (via bus to Oakland) to San Luis Obispo, an afternoon tour of Mission San Luis … Continue reading
Like the 1979 lunch menu shown a few days ago, this one is protected in plastic lamination. The only crass advertising is a two-paragraph blurb on the back cover, which also lists wine and beverages. Click image to download a … Continue reading
Although this brochure prominently mentions Amtrak, and advises potential customers to “See Amtrak or your travel agent,” the tour was actually organized by a private company called Grand National Tours. Notice that the cover illustration shows the Great Northern Empire … Continue reading
In 1980, $36 ($105 in today’s money) would buy you a night in a hotel, admission to Disneyland, tickets to 11 Disneyland rides, and transportation between Amtrak’s Fullerton station and the hotel and between the hotel and Disneyland. Even after … Continue reading
In 1980, with support from the state of Oregon, Amtrak added two trains per day between Eugene and Portland–a route already served by a third train, the Coast Starlight. I was on the inaugural run of the Willamette Valley trains … Continue reading
This menu quite obviously goes with yesterday’s lunch menu. The cartoon locomotive on the cover is exactly the same, though the sky is darker suggesting an evening rather than a noon meal. The other cars in the train shown on … Continue reading
This menu was obviously designed to go with yesterday’s breakfast menu, but unlike yesterday’s plain paper menu, this one is printed on both sides and laminated in heavy plastic. Two of these menus could be laid side-by-side to show a … Continue reading
This menu was printed on one side of lightweight paper. It looks like it could have doubled as a placemat, but from the fact it is folded I suspect instead that it was meant to be inserted in some sort … Continue reading
Amtrak’s Superliners were more reliable than the worn-out long-distance cars Amtrak inherited from the private railroads, but that’s about all the good I can say about them. Amtrak selected the wrong builder–Pullman instead of Budd–which delivered the cars late and … Continue reading
