N&W Amtrak service

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

I thank you all for the responses and glad that the question was throughly answered. I did not remember Amtrak's Mountaineer pasenger train for some reason, but do recall the Hilltopper. In fact, the "wye track" was rebuilt that ran behind the old N&W Yard Office in Petersburg to accommodate the Hilltopper, thus the Seacoast connection was eliminated and the train ran straight through Petersburg via Dunlop to the area of the N&W station. Amtrak placed a shed in Petersburg at the Fleet Street crossing for passengers catching the train.  Having grown up in the Petersburg area I was very familiar with the N&W passenger trains and would take every opportunity to see 3 & 4 when they arrived Petersburg in the afternoon during the 1950's.

Herman Wilkins
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  To: N&W Mailing List 
  Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 11:34 AM
  Subject: Re: N&W Amtrak service


  Norfolk was served by the Mountaineer.  It ran daily from the Lamberts Point station, departing, as I recall with fading memory, sometime around mid-day.  You could ride as far as Petersburg (downtown Union stattion, not the ACL Ettrick station) and still catch the returning train to Norfolk.  At that time - mid-to-late 70's - downtown Petersburg was a dismal place.  You felt like you were being dropped off in the middle of nowhere! with nothing to do for over an hour until your returning train arrived.  Looking back on it with 20-20 hindsight, I wish that I had splurged a little and taken the trip all the way to Roanoke or Blufield, but by the time that I could afford such luxury, the train was long gone.

  Jerry Kay, Portsmouth, VA


    -------------- Original message from nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org: -------------- 
    The last N&W passenger service to Norfolk ended May 1, 1971 with the formation of Amtrak.  Trains 3 & 4 were the last.  15 & 16, and 25 & 26 were gone by 1969 or 1970.  The only other service by this late date was the remnant of the joint N&W-Southern service between Lynchburg and Bristol.  Amtrak assumed no service on N&W routes.  "The Hilltopper" which appeared later, operated over part of the N&W mainline.  It did not serve Norfolk.  The only passenger service to Norfolk was, and continues to be that operated on CSX (former C&O) to Newport News.

    Rick Morrison 







    At 11:03 AM 9/22/2004 -0400, you wrote:

      Would like information as to when N&W ended passenger train service from and into Norfolk, primarily trains 3 & 4, 15 & 16, and 25 & 26? Also, did Amtrak take over operation of these trains to and from Norfolk, and if so when and for how long?
       
      Thanks, 
      Herman Wilkins
      ________________________________________
      NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
      http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  ________________________________________
  NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
  http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/private/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20040925/5aae12b2/attachment-0001.html