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Amtrak's Southwest Chief with Mail & Express, Fort Madison, IA June 2004

4,364 views · Published 31 January 2015 · 4:26 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: Bobby Harvey Video Productions · 2015 · Autos & Vehicles

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This is a video I filmed on June 16th, 2004, of Amtrak's Southwest Chief making its station stop at Fort Madison, Iowa. This was my first ever recording of this train, as I'd just started shooting video with my mom's RCA 8mm tape camcorder. I was 12 years old at the time.

During this time Amtrak was still running mail and express boxcars and RoadRailers on the end of their trains. This would soon end, though, in the following months of 2004. The Southwest Chief was one of the heaviest-hauling mail & express routes near the end, sometimes requiring 4-5 engines to make it over Raton Pass in the west. This consist featured a lighter load, only requiring three units. There's a nice mix of boxcars, an "ExpressTrak" refrigerated boxcar, and three RoadRailers. After Amtrak discontinued mail & express, some of the RoadRailers were bought by Norfolk Southern for their "Triple Crown" trains. ExpressTrak continued to roll for a couple more years before ending in late 2006.

The Fort Madison station and trackage hasn't changed a whole lot since I filmed this, except the searchlight signals are gone, replaced in 2013.

Units on train:
AMTK 193 (P42DC)
AMTK 153 (P42DC) - "high belt" Phase V scheme
AMTK 39 (P42DC)

Copyright © 2004-2015 by Bobby Harvey. All Rights Reserved.

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