Louis Mule and the Kansas City Mule) to provide service there this route has since been succeeded by the Missouri River Runner. Louis and Kansas City, stepped in on that part of the National's route, and introduced the Mules (the St. The state of Missouri, not wanting to see service lost between St. It also isolated Amtrak's primary maintenance facility, the Beech Grove Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana, near Indianapolis (inherited from Penn Central). The end of the National Limited spelled the end of intercity rail service in Columbus and Dayton. Amtrak officials said that eastbound trains frequently left Kansas City with fewer than 100 passengers even at the peak of the crisis. Although the National Limited saw increased patronage in early 1979 due to the oil crisis, it was not enough to spare the train. Two other former Penn Central trains inherited by Amtrak, the Floridian (formerly the South Wind) and the James Whitcomb Riley, were plagued by similar problems.ĭespite protests by local politicians, the National Limited made its last run October 1, 1979. Unfortunately, rampant delays caused by deteriorating Penn Central trackage in the Midwest led to a substantial decline in ridership on the National Limited. Any train not making enough money would be dropped from the system. In 1979, the Carter administration, in its plan to cut Amtrak's budget, required all routes to meet a minimum cost/farebox ratio. From that date until discontinuance the National Limited split at North Philadelphia station, : 62 which had long been used as the sole Philadelphia stop for east-west PRR/Penn Central trains. Until October 29, 1978, this section split at Harrisburg and reached Washington Union Station via the Port Road Branch. : 55įor most of its existence the National Limited operated a Washington section. It frequently ran late (and sometimes not at all), owing to the poor condition of ex-PRR trackage in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. However, it was fraught with problems almost from the start. Louisian had run along the route from 1913 until being replaced by the Spirit of St. Not only did it serve a myriad of population centers (New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St Louis and Kansas City), but its predecessor had existed for almost 60 years (the St. On paper, the route should have been a financial success. Louis train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which had been the Spirit of St. That name had been used by another New York-St. In July 1971, the train was renamed the National Limited to better reflect the scope of the route. Louis, extending it to Kansas City along the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Louis, originally run by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later inherited by Penn Central.Īmtrak initially retained the Spirit of St. The route was being served, prior to Amtrak, by the Spirit of St. This was later amended to run all the way to Kansas City, with a connection to the Super Chief running between Chicago and Los Angeles.
In 1970, the Department of Transportation, in its designation of endpoints for the Amtrak system, designated a train to run between New York, Washington and St. The National Limited switches from the Northeast Corridor to the Port Road Branch at Perryville, Maryland in the 1970s