NNG- 50 years ago - the great pre-Amtrak guessing game

Today is Amtrak's 50th Anniversary. Half a century ago today many passenger trains vanished and some survived. In the last few weeks before May 1, 1971 there was a big guessing game to decide which trains and routes would likely survive, and which trains to ride for a final time before "freight service only" took over. Here was my guess/choice as to which trains to ride those last few weeks:



The mileage is shown next to each segment along with the year's cumulative mileage to that date. Many of these trains became very busy in the final weeks. I think riding the North Coast Limited to Livingston via Butte and Homestake Pass was a great choice even though that route experienced a brief revival in later years.

Here is the initial Amtrak route system that has variously expanded and contracted over the years.



One highlight - a couple of months later, on the 4th of July weekend, Cumbres&Toltec initiated public trips on the narrow gauge (subject of a near future posting).