Today in History

May 01, 1971
Riding the Rails
After more than a century of private-run American railroads, the nation's trains are turned over to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak. The number of intercity trains in the country drops from 20,000 in the 1920s to 186 after the creation of Amtrak. While officials of the newly nationalized railroad system are optimistic for its success, the New York Times reports that "many transportation authorities doubt that the United States, which has embraced the automobile and the airliner more than any nation, will come back to the train."



Today's Feature History Article

Easy Riders

For whistle-stop campaigning or just rolling down memory lane, nothing could be finer than your own railroad car




 



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