AMTRAK E8's, late 1970's... Bonus, AMTRAK FL9's, 1996 

Amtrak was gritty and grimy in the 1970s, and I love it even though I was born decades after this.

I would do anything to see an E8 in action, some of my personal favorite six-axles. What a time it must have been to be alive...

This was great. If I could back in time to experience this in person, I would. Just long enough for a quick trip. Then back to the future.

Sad to think that AMTRAK was so poor, they couldnt afford wash racks!

Man I love these old good day trains

Boy, I would love to see one of those rust buckets in action.

This is real heirtege here! I rode the Broadway limited when PRR still operated, and when it was on it's last run, I rode it for the last time.

Those e8s and fl9s look beautiful! Wish I could say the same about the rolling stock tho:P

you were railfanning before railfanning was cool ! thats like finding an Armadillo in Alaska

I remember seeing these trains as a kid back in the 70’s. The Hudson line. What a cool sight. Nice flashback vid.

Give me Amtrak from the 1970's anytime, that was real RRing back then !!!

Early Amtrak was something one could model so easily.

I had family that worked for NYC then work for penn central and then Amtrak during that time and now work for the MTA on the Hudson line.

If I could go back in time to see E units I definitely would! Great video.

Great films and I love the old E-units. I wish that they would have run them through the wash rack a little more back then, even in winter. I used to see similar units (except FL-9s} here in ChiTown.

Agreed! Absolutely love the gracefullness of those classic E8's. When I think of railroading in the U.S, E8's always pop up in my imagination!

Thank you for the great film!!

Thank you for uploading this! It’s so great to see older videos from days which have long since passed, always been a fan of Amtrak despite living in New Zealand, so this is quite a treat.

The Penn Central paint scheme looked good on those E8s. Amtrak put all the Es through a reconditioning program when they took over, but they're looking pretty worn, at this juncture. Read in Trains Magazine, long back, that Amtrak approached EMD about building more of the E units, but the carbody blueprint had been thrown away, which made costs for such a locomotive - an E10, so to speak - prohibitive.

Thank you very much for uploading this! I especially like the consist at 6:46

The Classic e8 are My favorite Classic Locomotives on Amtrak even though they look dirty and old idc and they do go well with the train consist

I like sdp40f. They're a favorite of mine. I bought an ho scale model several years ago and i think I might still have it

Wow, those trains must’ve been really special!

the good times when amtrak was classic and old school.

I am a huge fan of early Amtrak and this video is super helpful for painting and modifying models of these engines. Thanks!

Old Amtrak is my favorite!! Thank you for the video!!

Oh, so classic! Get's the adrenaline flowing.

Ahh, if I could go back in time so I could see those oldies.

Excellent video. The E's were the backbone of every railroad coast to coast. Miss seeing them in service. Thanks for the memories and for sharing this footage.

Im amazed that Amtrak was able to nearly completely transform from a rusted company that people would forget even existed, 50 years later to a bright brand new era of passenger railroading, especially with the upcoming complete fleet modernization. But thats my opinion. The 1970s era looks neat though

Great video man I like the hard work look of these older engines kinda a shame their style is gone but God bless

0:54 there's a abandoned Amtrak train in my town that looks like that! It's sad to see that trains like these start to rot

Love this Jack! God really does bless people that's for sure. What nice scenery, all gone now. I have a Santa Fe F8ABA set also.... -Don

I’m moddeling Amtrak early stuff ,this is very useful,thanks,Geoff,UK.

Great video. Love those E's and F's.

There sure were a lot of beautiful trains in New Yuck.

. Thank you so much for this vision of days so recently gone by. :-) .

You wont believe how many Tyco Ho scale train sets I have that look exactly like those. Great catches, Jack!

Excellent!

7:49 omg beautiful horn

Fantastic horn on that FL9

Southern Railroad E8s in the snow bringing a 17 car Crescent south loaded with college students returning from Christmas break with a pint of jack daniels. I will never forget.

loved all that old Amtrak film Jack, also subscribed to your channel. Regards from one old trucker to another. Dave

Great old footage ,,,, many thanks ,,,

More great vintage motive power. I really liked SPS45'S at the beginning of the video. Thanks again Jack for posting! - Balerio

Great video! Thanks! Reminds me of living near Chicago in the mid seventies.

Ha, that's great! Thanks for sharing those movies. I grew up in California and it's always neat to see the East Coast railroading. Thank you for spending the money on an 8mm movie camera that you could capture sound with :)

I love how you remastered your old footage, it looks so much better!

I love these kinds of videos, they’re extremely fascinating to watch.

Great footage!

It’s so grimy... I love it..

I wish I could see the 'Rail Breakers' in their heyday.. Loved the video!

awesome video

Well done! It is fun watching the old Amtrak hand-me-downs. Som eof those units look as if they were held together with duct tape and spit.

Thanks again for posting another great video. watching your video is like being able to go back in time. I find modern railroading boring compared to the early years of amtrak and conrail.

7:45 Its weird hearing an FL9, a 50s locomotive, with Nathan K5LA horns (that’s what I think it has).

Starting off with the Lakeshore Ltd looking very gritty and grimy. It’s cleaned up and improved quite a bit since then. Guess those Siemens Challengers weren’t on the design board back then.

Awesome stuff you got there!!! Subbed!

Nice footage: lots of jointed track still around.

R.I.P Old Amtrak Era 1970 1990

I remember seeing some of the old, rebadged locomotives they would purchase (or even lease) from the big railroads when I was a kid... Amtrak was just starting out then, and they still didn't have many of their own customized power units at that time...

4:51 Big Burly Horn.

NATIONAL RAILROAD MUSEUM in Green Bay Wisconsin formerly had E9A MILWAUKEE ROAD 38A donated in April 1987 that needed restoration but the Chief Director was Suddenly Fired in Sept. 1989. Yet several other managers come and go. But in 2008 the other new manager SCRAPPED 38A-E-9-A-M for onl a few dollars 💸 bye!!! He was fired 🔥 ; but sadly he sold out 7 diesels like the 2(two) unique 1949 E.M.D. BL-2's that arrived in 2001 from the WSORR Shortline; and the 2 BL2S were a perfect matching for the 1956 EMD AEROTRAIN 2 CLASS LWT12!!! BUT: the two BL2S were sold to NEW YORK and fully rebuilt for both freight and excursions, and repainted Blue, and many videos 📹 on RU-vid!! But The New York shortline rr went Bancrupt!!! But the 2/BL2S were re-sold to Ohio and still running in 2023 excursions.

The Fact that their was an EMD F unit pulling Passenger Trains in the 1990’s proves that Any locomotive, despite their age, could be used.

Anyone notice the SDP40F

I read somewhere Albany Station was the last thing Penn Central could afford to do on its own.

1996? Must have been asleep when I was there cos I missed all the Es.....

Looks like a forsythia blooming at 7:54 (yellow flowers and a yellow bush) They usually bloom in April...

at 6:42 that had to be the broadway with latch up, i remember the crescent when it was powered with E8s it was a long train like that

What a great video!

And those e units are so cool I want to see them and those are better than Amtrak's sdp40fs😇😇😇😇😇

For people who Don’t know, here is how to tell the difference between an EMD E unit, and an EMD F unit: First, look at the Number board. If the number board is squashed into the nose of the locomotive and has more rounded ends, then it’s an E unit. If the Number Boards are sticking out and have a more rectangular shape, then it’s an F unit. Second, look at the Number of wheels per Bogie and locomotive wheel arrangement. If it has a C-C (Co-Co) wheel arrangement, meaning 3 powers axels (6 powered wheels) per Bogie, and 6 powered axels (12 powered wheels) in total, then it’s an E unit, but if it’s a B-B (Bo-Bo) wheel arrangement, with only 2 Powerd Axels (4 powered wheels) per bogie, and 4 powered axels (8 powered wheels) in total, then it’s an F unit. Third, and Finally, look at the length of the locomotive. If it’s longer, it’s an E unit, if it’s shorter, it’s an F unit. PS, Don’t try to deduce E or F units by number of Nose lights, cause it can vary between one and two for both E and F units. And that, my friends, is how you Identify the difference between an E or F unit. And if you Already know this, then You’re welcome anyways.

Nice!

Also nice to see a SDP40f

Proof that Amtrak wasn't always terrible.

Walthers has the best replicas of those Amtrak passenger cars as well as phase I E8's and Fp-7's. Rapido has the best replicas of Fl 9's,

cool!

It’s a shame those beautiful locos were allowed to get so filthy. I wish they kept them cleaner.

hi, Jack. I live in Juniata county and have been thru Cove and Marysville. boy, I would have loved to have seen Enola yards in full swing.. I am a TCA member. if u live close snuff, we could connect

The E8's sound more tractor-y than the E9's.

6:20 what a bad s5t

I just love trains

Did I just see pen central e units🤨

I feel like the 70s clips look better than the 90s ones for some reason.

The rainbow era and phase I are my favs

The engineers don't wave from trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954.

Someone new to wash that dirty E8 locomotives… look dirty for a year… however this is the workhorse of the engines.2… I’ve seen many E8 when I was little

trains 30-31, "national limited" transitioned to SDP40-Fs in the 1970s. Then PC/CR got a burr up the @SS regarding the dash(-2)trucks, which SDP40-Fs ran on. so, amtrak went back to E8-9s almost till the end when some F40-PHs showed up. remember, CR ordered SD40-2s with the older SD40 truck assemblies.

Also at 7:59 was that amtraks last working fl9 because it looked freshly painted when it passed was it like on its last run or something because I know some railroads usually they try to spruce up the engine cosmetically when it's on its last run

The one thing that triggers me is that they have all the coaches but there’s no observation car!

Great video Jack! Are some of these Rail lines still around?

why cant i find any video of a SCL e8 with family lines paint? ive seen pics but no video

What exactly did you mean by the text you put in on 5:17 ? Also, nice catch on that SDP40F at the beginning. Do you have any other videos showing those?

youtube is the closest thing we have to a timeline

Spot right off in the first view, SDP40F's, which had a nasty habit of detailing.

Are there any o scale models of these types of Amtrak locos and cars ? I’m looking for the e unit ones I love this paint and look

Early AMTRAK and Early VIA were the shit, hell even now VIA is great to railfan, although come next year the P42s will be gone and the F40PHs and HEP2s will likely be transferred to Keewatin to finally replace the old yellow and blues.

These trains look like they wanted to run you over and went through a fire I love it!!

Well done! Who did the Super-8 to digital transfer for you?

@AmtrakGuy365 - I have a question. Where did streamliners like the ones at 1:05 fit in? Where those legitimate engines for people? And what did Amtrak do with them?