Early on the morning of May 1, 1971, Penn Central train #235 departed New York's Penn Station. For many, this would be fairly inconsequential...but that nameless train was the first ever operated under the aegis of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak.
The road...railroad...to get here was not fast and the future was not bright. After all, this train was being operated by a bankrupt company, and thousands of miles of American railroad lines, where people of all shapes and sizes could have boarded a passenger train the previous day, now had only freight trains to offer. But, on this day, that bold experiment in rail transportation continues, albeit always under a cloud of questionable funding, perplexing operations, and a skeptical public who clamors for trains, but cannot always be relied upon to use them.
So, we hope you will enjoy Episode 043 of The All Aboard Podcast, where we talk about several trains that Amtrak is NOT running, as we examine America's intercity rail provider on its 53rd birthday.
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