X-Nico

16 unusual facts about Amtrak


AMTK

Amtrak - Brand name for National Railroad Passenger Corporation of the United States, which has a reporting mark of AMTK.

Amtrack

Amtrak, commonly misspelled as Amtrack, is the inter-city passenger railroad in the United States.

Campus of Drexel University

The campus reaches: from Chestnut St. in the south to Powelton Ave in the north; and from the Amtrak rail yard in the east to 34th St. in the west.

Davisville, Rhode Island

Both Amtrak and MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line pass through Davisville, though there is no railroad station here.

Dining car

In the dining cars of Amtrak's modern bilevel Superliner trains, booth seating on either side of a center aisle occupies almost the entire upper level, while the galley is below; food is sent to the upper level on a dumbwaiter.

Fred Weiderhold

Fred Wiederhold is the former inspector general of Amtrak and a 35-year veteran of the agency.

Gregory R. Dahlberg

In 1981, he joined the staff of the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, a subcommittee of the United States House Committee on Appropriations; there, he worked on the budgets of the Federal Highway Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, Amtrak, Conrail, and the United States Coast Guard.

John A. Volpe

During his administration as Secretary of Transportation, Amtrak was created.

Julie Seitter

Julie Seitter (née Julie Stinneford) is a professional voice talent who can be heard as "Julie", the interactive voice response agent for Amtrak's automated information and reservation telephone system.

Maryland Comptroller election, 2010

Incumbent Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot ran for a second term and faced off against former Amtrak CFO William H. Campbell in the general election, whom he defeated in a landslide.

New Jersey Chamber of Commerce

The guests board a chartered Amtrak train that leaves from Penn Station in Newark and then stops at various stations across New Jersey, as well as stops in Philadelphia and Wilmington.

NRPC

Amtrak (legal company name is National Railroad Passenger Corporation)

Overhead line

The Northeast Corridor in the United States has catenary over the 600 miles (1000 km) between Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. for Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express and other trains.

The position light signal aspect was originally devised by the Pennsylvania Railroad but was continued by its successor Amtrak and has been adopted by Metro North.

Single-phase generator

A power station at Safe Harbor Dam in Pennsylvania provides power generation for both public utilities and for Amtrak railway.

WZLO

Under its previous ownership, WDME referred to itself on-air as, "The only radio station in the world broadcasting from a railroad passenger car." WDME's studios were located in a converted Amtrak coach formerly situated beside Routes 6 and 15 to the north and west of Dover-Foxcroft.


ABB ALP-44

The ALP-44 based on the Rc6 model and designed specifically for New Jersey Transit as a variant of the EMD AEM-7 electric locomotive in use by Amtrak, MARC, and SEPTA.

Alexander Kummant

Upon his resignation, Amtrak COO William Crosbie assumed the role of interim CEO, but was succeeded on November 25 by former FRA administrator Joseph H. Boardman.

Amtrak California

Although not part of the Amtrak California brand, Caltrans also provides support for the Capitol Corridor.

The Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains are the two routes most identified with the Amtrak California image, since they extensively use "California Colored" equipment.

Ana Marie Cox

In 2009 on an Amtrak train from New York to Washington Cox had a severe allergic reaction after eating a lentil salad.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex Historic District

Plans backed by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative David Loebsack call for the station to be reopened and the newer Amtrak station to be closed, and for the station to be restored with interpretive displays.

Balloch, New Hampshire

The railroad, now operated by the New England Central Railroad, continues to feature daily trains through Balloch, including its own freight trains, as well as freight trains of Pan Am Railways and the daily Vermonter passenger train of Amtrak.

Bannered routes of U.S. Route 501

The business routes and US 221 pass through a commercial area and by the Anne Spencer House, then turn west onto 12th Street and cross Norfolk Southern's Danville District rail line a few blocks south of the Lynchburg-Kemper Street Station, which is served by Amtrak.

Betty Luster

Luster's last known sighting was on episode 7 of Michael Palin's 1989 series, Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days, on an Amtrak train heading east from Los Angeles, identifying herself as "Marna the Clown".

Broadway Limited

When Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, the Broadway Limited continued to use the all-PRR route, with a split at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for trains to Washington, DC via Perryville, Maryland along the former Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad, Columbia and Port Deposit Railway and Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad until November 30, 1975.

Caprock Chief

The Caprock Chief or Caprock Xpress was a proposed Amtrak inter-city rail service which would run from Fort Worth, Texas to Denver, Colorado, passing through the Texas Panhandle, which currently does not have passenger rail service of any kind.

Coast Daylight

Coast Starlight, run by Amtrak, formerly known as Coast Daylight

Columbus, Wisconsin

Columbus is served by Amtrak's Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle, with a train stopping at the station in each direction every day.

Conrail Shared Assets Operations

The North Jersey Shared Assets Area stretches from the North Bergen Yard in North Bergen, New Jersey south into Jersey City and Newark, and beyond to Manville and Trenton, much of which is operated over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Transit lines through trackage rights.

Dayton, Newark

The stop was built in 2001 to connect NJT's commuter lines and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor services with the AirTrain at Newark Airport.

Framingham Subdivision

Its south end is at Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, over which CSX has trackage rights to reach the Middleboro Subdivision at Attleboro and the Boston Subdivision in Boston (via the Dorchester Branch).

Fraser, Colorado

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Fraser and nearby Winter Park, operating its California Zephyr daily in each direction between Chicago and Emeryville, California, across the bay from San Francisco.

GE Genesis

Amtrak has returned 15 of their P40DC units to service as part of a project funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Illinois Zephyr

Between Chicago and Galesburg, Illinois, this train service uses the same double track (BNSF, old CB&Q) as three other Amtrak routes: the California Zephyr, the Southwest Chief, and the Carl Sandburg.

John W. Olver Transit Center

Currently, Peter Pan Bus Lines and Greyhound Lines intercity bus service to Greenfield stops at the Olver Center and is a proposed passenger rail station on the rerouted Amtrak Vermonter line, currently serving communities from Union Station in Washington, DC to St. Albans, Vermont.

Kingston, Rhode Island

West Kingston is also the site of the historic 120-year-old Kingston Railroad Station, which is served by Amtrak on its Northeast Corridor.

Lapeer, Michigan

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Lapeer, operating its Blue Water daily in both directions between Chicago and Port Huron.

Maricopa County, Arizona

The county has no other passenger rail transport as Amtrak's Sunset Limited, which once served Phoenix, has its closest stop in Maricopa, Arizona in neighboring Pinal County.

Middleboro Subdivision

Its north end is at Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, over which CSX has trackage rights to reach the Framingham Subdivision at Mansfield and the Boston Subdivision in Boston (via the Dorchester Branch).

National Railway Historical Society

The NRHS sponsors the popular RailCamp summer orientation program in partnership with Amtrak and the National Park Service, offering high school youth hands-on experience in the railroad industry.

Packwood, Washington

The general aviation Packwood Airport is located three blocks west of highway 12 in downtown Packwood, and L.E.W.I.S. Mountain Highway Transit provides multiple weekday public transportation to Centralia-Chehalis, including connections to Amtrak and Greyhound.

Panama Limited

Amtrak hoped to capitalize on the popularity of the eponymous song written by Steve Goodman and recorded in 1972 by Arlo Guthrie.

Safetran

The Northeast Corridor of the United States utilizes hardware and software developed with the Alstom corporation to offer an Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System solution for Amtrak services along the Corridor.

Schuylkill Expressway

At this narrow point are Amtrak/SEPTA 30th Street Station, Cira Centre, the city's former main Post Office facility, and streets leading to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University to the west, and Center City Philadelphia to the east.

Simcoe Street Tunnel

Morrison Hershfield the project managers, designers, contract administrators and site engineers, worked with the railway companies including Via Rail, CNR, Amtrak and Go Transit to ensure the services of 177 daily scheduled trains that passed over the tunnel were maintained.

Spuyten Duyvil

Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, a swing bridge that carries Amtrak's Empire Corridor line across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, in New York City

Stephanie Kopelousos

Months before the issue came to a vote, Florida Senator Paula Dockery, an opponent of the legislation, made a public records request for all emails to and from the FDOT concerning SunRail, CSX and Amtrak.

Strata-Dome

The "High Dome", painted blue and lettered "American Railroads 1869–1969", was part of the 1969 Golden Spike Centennial Limited to mark the centennial of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. Both cars later ran on the final Capitol Limited run April 30, 1971 when the train was discontinued at the start of Amtrak.

Trainriders Northeast

Today Trainriders Northeast may be most well known for their role in bringing passenger service back to Portland, with the Amtrak Downeaster.

Trip Payne

Magazines that have run specially commissioned puzzles from Payne include Golf Magazine, Manhattan File, American Times, Out, and many more; corporate clients have included IBM, NPR, Amtrak, MetLife, Dodge, Fox TV, Hanna-Barbera, Fruit of the Loom, and Kleenex.

Twin Cities Rail Transport

Rail transport in the Twin Cities currently consists of Amtrak service between Chicago and Seattle, the METRO Blue Line light rail service running between downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America, passing by the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, and the Northstar Commuter Rail line between downtown Minneapolis and a number of northwest suburbs.

Walter Rand Transportation Center

Northbound service is available to the Trenton Transit Center with connections to New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor Line, SEPTA trains to Philadelphia, and Amtrak trains.