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| Amtrak E8A #284 pauses at St. Thomas, Ontario with eastbound train #64, the Empire State Express. Three locomotives for five cars seems a bit excessive! Date is approximately August 20, 1975. Uncredited Ektachrome, author's collection. |
Our Throwback Thursday today takes us back to August 1975 on a sunny morning at
St. Thomas, Ontario. Amtrak E8A #284 is piloting train #64, the eastbound Empire
State Express, and has stopped in front of the massive Michigan Central (or
CASO to die-hard fans) station to entrain passengers heading to the Big Apple.
Today’s train is unusual for a couple of reasons: first, the second E8A (the
train typically ran with only one locomotive), but far more interestingly, the
Delaware & Hudson PA1 sandwiched between the two Amtrak engines. What was
the classy ALCo doing in southern Ontario? Delaware & Hudson, long a proponent
of Schenectady-built locomotives, had contracted with Boise, Idaho-located
Morrison-Knudsen to rebuild a number of 244-powered locomotives with 251
engines. Included in the program were the four ex-Santa Fe “blue-bonnet”
painted PA1’s. Somehow, after their overhaul, the PA1’s took the scenic route
back to home rails, part of which included a stretch across southern Ontario by
way of the CASO. As the PA1's were completed one at a time, the locomotives were sent back east in the consist of various Amtrak trains, though I believe one PA actually lead #64 from Detroit to Buffalo. Naturally, it was in the dead of winter, in a snow storm, though there are a few shots of the train out there. Suspiciously, a number of railfans were purported to call in "sick" to work that day, or perhaps blamed the snowstorm instead...
Running from Detroit, Michigan, to New York City, the Empire State
Express was initiated in 1974 (renamed the Niagara Rainbow in 1976) and provided
a connection between two major business centers in the American northeast, via
a shortcut through the southern Ontario countryside. Prior to Amtrak’s
formation in 1971, the route had previously been served by New York
Central/Penn Central trains The Wolverine
and the Motor City Special; under
Amtrak operations, the former train had been truncated to Detroit and the
latter abolished altogether. The train ran seven days a week and featured a
snack car as well as baggage car. Despite the name, until 1978, the train did
not actually go through Niagara Falls but instead crossed the border at Fort
Erie/Buffalo. In 1979, however, both Michigan and New York states withdrew
their funding contribution to the operation of the train and the route was
truncated from New York City to Niagara Falls, New York.
What about the lead unit, Amtrak 284? It began life as Pennsylvania
#4276 in September 1952. No doubt enjoying its’ share of time in the lead of
the railroad’s premier passenger trains, the engine eventually became the
property of Amtrak upon formation of the American national passenger carrier in
1971. After surviving the early Amtrak years as engine #284, it was renumbered
to Amtrak #495 and subsequently rebuilt with an HEP system, a move that likely
extended its’ life considerably. Following its’ stint on Amtrak – apparently,
primarily in the US northeast – the engine began a new life as BMRG (Blue
Mountain & Reading)/“PRR” 5706 – no, not the original Pennsy 5706, but a reasonably-convincing
throwback to its’ former appearance. Not only in its’ former colors, the engine
continued to operate in and around Pennsylvania, hauling excursions under
ownership by Andy Muller. The details of the engine’s next few years are a
little fuzzy, but somehow the engine came to live in Sumiton, Alabama,
functioning – of all things – as a wedding chapel! Current photos show the
locomotive (with most mechanical components removed) on a small piece of track
in front of a shopping complex in Irondale, Alabama, wearing a shiny new coat
of Southern green and white paint. Like a cat with nine lives, it’s incredible
that the unit somehow managed to dodge the scrapper’s torch! A long, long way
from the southern Ontario rails it once frequented, hopefully the engine will
enjoy its’ retirement in the Alabama sunshine for many years to come!
Incredibly, the trailing unit D&H #18 is also still around and in
fact is probably much more famous than poor old 284 ever was; the engine
survives today as “NKP” 190, the PA-1 that Doyle McCormack is lovingly
restoring back to operating condition. Acquired from Santa Fe in 1967, the
engine served D&H’s passenger needs until it was sold in 1979 to a broker;
a resale to Mexican interests took the engine south of the border where it
evidently ran for a number of years before being parted out. One of only two
semi-complete (cosmetically, anyhow) PA-1’s in existence, the locomotive is indeed
a rare bird. In the summer of 2014, the engine moved for the first time in 14
years (not yet under its’ own power) to the large gathering of carbody units at
the North Carolina Transportation Museum, in Spencer, NC. It’s original 244
engine and the 251 that was used to repower it are long gone, and instead a
12-251 salvaged from a BC Rail M420B has been installed. Though the engine has
been started, much of the electrical gear to power the traction motors still
needs to be repaired or replaced. Though neither unit is likely to ever visit
Canada again, we can look at the above photo and think of what it must have
sounded and felt like to stand next to this rather unusual train…
‘Til next time,
Cheers,
Peter.
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