In an era when US passenger rail was dying out, a refreshing young company offered Americans a new concept: bring your car with you on the train. In the span of a decade, the Auto-Train Corporation would see immense success, a complicated relationship with Amtrak, and eventually a severe financial downfall.
Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
2:47 – Just Reading Material
7:46 – Conservatively Groovy
10:43 – Retaliation
14:08 – Riding Rough
15:48 – Expansion
20:20 – Diversification
24:11 – Double Trouble
26:53 – A Fresh Start
30:04 – A Further Disruption
31:09 – A Hell of a Way to Run a Railroad
35:08 – New Life
38:43 – Epilogue & Credits
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Related viewing:
DCNRHS / Doug Riddell: “Auto Train: The Perfect Storm”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zMoUJEZkYU
Defunctland: “The Downfall of Disney’s Official Airline, Eastern Airlines”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpg95rJWAIs
Midway to Main Street: “The Fate of The Florida Fun-Train”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L–zRD5dwts
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This video is for educational purposes and is distributed for non-commercial use. It is not monetized or sponsored. All video footage, images and audio recordings are the property of their original owners and are used in accordance with Fair Use principles.
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Music:
“Harlem Spills“ by Nicky Dowling
https://open.spotify.com/track/7r6aDJHFPj77brXPpXPCCd?si=8b33b86e3cee4708
“Moonlight Night” by Martin Landstrom
https://open.spotify.com/track/0CbipWEeHHjQfEdXpHpNeP?si=84ec543d09c94b6c
“Sunny San Francisco” by Oakwood Station
https://open.spotify.com/track/5TEwIOAzgwy8pHYfnN5Bhw?si=d04182c8c11e435d
“At the Tropicana” by Chalalatas
https://open.spotify.com/track/6LoXl7Etx4ENVJSw9CcGDP?si=ac3bbad9c8734587
“Fica Frio Amigo” by Redeemin’
https://open.spotify.com/track/1wMVYASNbKixAbjtF5lVCB?si=68aa026112f44724
“Gatinha” by Cornelio
https://open.spotify.com/track/0otdvuCW81E3P1elNfNV5u?si=e8cb8b3a27db42d2
“Crossover Creek” by Guy Trevino and Friends
https://open.spotify.com/track/7j0WQTWnXKEGhp6Y745hkQ?si=d1958c35537e4389
“Canopy of Dreams” by Oakwood Station
https://open.spotify.com/track/5DbXxZVKydg2GnP6cq1tUX?si=e07598f943ce460f
“Feriado” by Cornelio
https://open.spotify.com/track/4665iqMc2qZ18vxGsaP9l4?si=364b52c4c28d42a6
“Thought You Knew Me” by Guy Trevino and Friends
https://open.spotify.com/track/62P8n8pzmwFVVCeB09kY1A?si=cafef73f29e94808
“The Stylish Traveller” by Martin Landstrom
https://open.spotify.com/track/5H8fGeOAUxIxnxPQttVi72?si=d8cf6ee1736d4bb3
source
I don't monetize my videos, but I'm thankful to everyone who has been helping me cover the costs to make them! https://ko-fi.com/peterdibble
Love the edit!!!
Always a joy when you post a new vid! Love your work
Fantastic story and film itself! The intro you made is cool, good work too) But I miss between chapters inserts today, maybe you should return them back.
So I wish you the best and thank you for your work, as always)
I recently rode on it,
If it covered more places I would only use it.
Nice humour touch rioght from start "US is no numer one". In what it is? I recall only crime stats. Another humour is the whole idea of free enterprise -as what this was a good example of not free anything, there is always plenty to put your efforts down just for envy. Perhaps the US main force?
I love every video you put out. Please keep it up
You know, i wonder of auto train would be around today of they made a coast to coast express train?, i mean, the train could easily have been used by both tourists and business people, as they could travel from say… orlando to san fransisco, or boston, tampa, chicago and then los angeles, or maybe they could have made commuter services in places like portland or boston, but who knows, its just an idea of mine.
I love how the credits are like a 1970s/80s movie.
Nice this is How Amtrack p052 in the early years and still used today.
Great documentary as always. I used to know a guy that was a steward on the Auto-Train, he said guys would ride down with a briefcase full of cash handcuffed to themselves and load the car with drugs for the return trip north. They tipped well though.
Thanks!! Very good video!
One of the best documentaries on one the most successful trains thanks to Garfield we now have a train to eliminate the awful drive from the north to the south in one of the most comfortable ways possible
the quality of videos you put out – unbelievable. As a librarian of all finer things of YT, this goes to the video library of Congress
Inventions like this make me think more and more that trains can strongly shape and reconstruct our travel systems
12:37 🤣🤣🤣 i heard steve’s “a f-ing datson a f-ing mustang 4 f-ing wheels and a seat!! “ 😂😂
I think if all of Amtrak's long distance trains were "auto-trains" travel would look much different in America today.
I think both Auto Train and Truck Train are perfect concepts if they can be offered for the right price. If it's significantly cheaper than flying, it could be a great deal for families looking to travel long distances without the cost of plane tickets and then renting a car at their destination. Truck Train could also significantly reduce the carbon footprint of road-based shipping, reduce fatigue-related crashes, reduce shipping costs, AND completely solve the "last mile" problem that trains sometimes have.
As a Sanford native I appreciate this topic. The most frustrating thing about the current Auto Train is that you cannot ride simply as a passenger, you must be bringing a vehicle. The train always has seats available that people would be willing to buy if they simply allowed it.
Very good video and I especially liked the animated opening credits. They were very unique. Keep up the good work!
Awesome video 🚄🚅👍
Thanks for the video!
So a Land Ferry
Amazing job as always. All of your videos are so beautifully done. Keep up the great work! PS i love the train content and hope you have more of it coming.
This is a phenomenal video, extremely well-done. I had heard about and was always intrigued by the original Auto Train, and you have captured their story in such fine detail. I never even knew about the fourth derailment, and information about the other three are hard to find. I also never knew about the Truck-Train concept. Please keep up the good work of these professional, informative and enjoyable videos. I will be checking back for more!
As I recall, the locomotives purchased by Auto Train were tacked onto a Seaboard Coast Line order, which helped keep the cost down a bit.
Wow!
What an intro!
I’d love a period movie about Auto Train..
'When Us does full nationalisation for all express passenger trains'
*removes 90% so it can be sold
The Poinciana site where the Auto-train loaded/unloaded the mid-west runs is now the southernmost station for SunRail. Shame that they couldn't make it work but one of the reasons was left off. They had a wreck on that route that almost put them out of business. That was the reason for dropping the Louisville runs. Shame as it would have saved us an hour's drive on both ends to our place in Ohio over the Sanford to Lorton route.
Superb! Excellent, fascinating work.
Truly engrossing. Thank you.
I remember taking a trip on the (pre-Amtrak)Auto Train…my seat was in one of the dome passenger cars.it was a great trip.
The Midwest-Florida travel market is bigger than Northeast-Florida because more cities and bigger region. Trains originated in Cincinnati, Chicago and St Louis with connections from Cleveland and Detroit. Trains like the City of Miami, South Wind, Royal Palm and Dixie Flyer plus lesser trains like the Seminole and pieced together itineraries on shorter distance trains funneled travellers from the Great Lakes and plains to Florida.
Northeast-Florida is a better defined corridor, not a far flung network. One Auto-Train proposal would have had a terminal in central New Jersey, likely the Trenton or Princeton area, and begun the route there either as well as or instead of Lorton just south of Washington. It could have been almost as problematic as the Louisville route plus several tunnels may not have been tall enough to take Auto-Train's auto carriers or dome cars. It would have followed the Reading and B&O RR lines, not Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
Early news stories said Auto-Train was getting the Santa Fe hi level car fleet, maybe confusing those cars for the full length dome cars Auto-Train did get. Amtrak might have wanted dome cars from Santa Fe and Union Pacific but were told those cars had other buyers. Auto-Train also got cars from Western Pacific RR, idled by discontinuance of its segment of the California Zephyr in March 1970.
Note Auto-Train never owned any conventional coaches. Coach class was in the dome cars, often in the upper dome levels.
Auto-Train got almost 70 two deck auto carrier cars from Canadian National when it began. Between 1974 and 1977 it bought 41 new trilevel auto carrier cars from Southern Iron & Equipment. Both types of auto carrier cars had high speed trucks for passenger train speed operation.
The several derailments during the 1970s may explain why Amtrak only got 40 of the ex-CN cars from the Auto-Train estate.
I have been a railfan for years, damn near as long as I can remember. There was just something facinating about Auto Train. I never got to ride it. I remember when I was in Jr high or maybe my sophomore year of high school …begging my dad to take Auto Train. Sadly it never happened. This vid is very good, and Sir…Job well done. I learned alot from this vid. Little known facts that I did not know.
You have no idea how long I was waiting for this
Dam, amtrack sounds like it was evil or the villain. I live in Louisville Kentucky and I might look up where this track went, have any tips of the area of anything that can helo me find it and possibly go see it?
Damn. This was the best documentary I've ever seen on the Auto train and it's founder. That upbeat music you used of the time is in my computer file too. Very nice work.
My sister just moved her family from Mass to Florida. More affordable than carfrieghter plus airline tickets, and smarter than selling the cars up north and no cars available for purchase in FL at the time, and drivers too old or too young for the full journey, they were happy to drive to DC then catch the AutoTrain to FL.
Fantastic job. I’m in my 30s and discovered the auto train ten years ago and have ridden it multiple times. I even used it to bring my muscle car to Florida with no problems. There’s definitely a different level of service on the train as well but after watching your documentary it has definitely been cut down to control costs but it’s definitely better than riding the silver meteor bc it’s so much more comfortable
The intro is probably the best into I have seen, I love it. Great video too
I find it weird that amtrak has never expanded it's autotrain past the east coast
16:05 We need an expansion from Sacramento to Chicago.
I love taking to Auto Train when I go to Florida every chance I can.
I remember Bill Murray doing a goofy SNL skit about this train.
Fun fact: Amtrak’s roster of 24 GE P30CH locomotives spent most of there later life pulling the Auto-Train and Sunset Limited until there retirement in 1992.