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My factcheck capability is curtailed today, thanks to the internet "strike."
I have a question about the early 70's, and the existence of one or two trains that ran between NY and MO. I distinctly remember taking the "National Limited" between NYP and St. Louis back around 1972-1973, but a friend of mine remembers a similar trip on something called the "Spirit of St. Louis" maybe a couple of years later. Were there two trains, or was there a name change or what? The times he mentioned leaving Newark, NJ and arriving St. Louis were consistent with my times, so I can't figure out what went on here.
Of course, that old PC route is no longer used by Amtrak.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Mike, Spirit of St Louis was a PRR name that was gone by A-Day; Amtrak's name for their NY-KC train was the "National Limited", which pre-Amtrak was a Wash-StL B&O train that "expired" on A-Day. Train names were all conveyed to Amtrak as part of the May 1 1971 Operating Agreement, and Amtrak was free to use them as they chose.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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So, Gil, my friend is probably mistaken about the name of his train in, say, 1975? Is it possible that some Amtrak literature or adverising still used the "Spirit of St. Louis" tag?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Possible; as that name was also conveyed to Amtrak.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Of course 1975 was also the era of the short-lived American Basketball Association franchise 'Spirits of St. Louis'!
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Since the route of Amtrak's National Limited was essentially that of the Spirit of St. Louis, it could be simply that some of the passengers and maybe even crew referred to it by that name from old habit.
Prime example: In L&N territory the Floridian tended to still be though of as the pre-Amtrak South Wind. In, fact despite the train number in tne Amtrak timetable being different in the L&N employee timetable in the early 70's at least the train still carried the South Wind's train numbers.
TwinStarRocket Member # 2142
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In 1977, we began our honeymoon trip to Arizona by hopping on a cross-country sleeper on the National Limited, that was switched to the Chief in KC.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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My "The Trains We Rode" book (Beebe/Clegg) lists a whole bunch of Pennsylvania Railroad trains with national or patriotic names. Among them:
"Spirit of St Louis", 1927-1971, New York-St. Louis "The Liberty Limited" (1938-1957) "The Uniform" "The Congressional Limited" New York-Washington, DC 1885-1960's "The General", Chicago-New York, 1941-1971 "The Admiral", Chicago-New York, 1941-1971 "The Jeffersonian", New York-Washington, DC-St. Louis "The American", New York-Washington, DC - St. Louis "The Senator", Washington, DC to Boston, 1929-1960's "The Rainbow", Chicago-New York (named after an Army division)
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In the summer of 1973 Mom and I took the Southwest Li accommodation mited (I think the renaming had happened) back from Kansas City to LA. Our space was a DBR in the ex-PC 10-6 TORONTO ISLANDS (nee Scioto Rapids). The car was the transcontinental car exchanged from the National Limited. The car went hot in the middle of the night, and the next day we were re-spaced to one of the ex-Santa Fe cars in the consist.
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