Birmingham-New York train 18, the overnight “Birmingham Special,” waits for its 7 AM departure on a summer morning in 1969 at the Bristol passenger station. This head-end heavy train managed to hang on (at least between Bristol and Washington) until the arrival of Amtrak in 1971, handling quite a bit of storage mail and express (and a few rare passengers in its two or three coaches). The train is now on the N&W, but Southern power ran through. [Editorial Note: Thanks to Ron Flanary for the caption assistance.]
What did passenger trains look like before Amtrak in America, and Via Rail in Canada? Find out in this album with 2,700+ Historical Photos from early passenger trains of North America from the 1900's up until the early years of Government passenger trains
