This is 50% railroading 50% random local location history

Train names are one of the few things Amtrak does better than European rail operators. Our trains may not be fast, or frequent, or reliable, but traveling on the "Borealis" or the "Sunset Limited" is way cooler than traveling on the "TGV inOui 6603."

the proposed Scranton to Ronkonkoma service should be the Ronk Paper Scissors

I'm so glad you reached out to me for help on this series, and I enjoy the funny illustrations! Here's more on the Cardinal: The Cardinal is primarily the successor of the New York Central/Penn Central James Whitcomb Riley and the Chesapeake & Ohio’s George Washington. The James Whitcomb Riley was named after Hoosier poet known for Little Orphant Annie, which served as inspiration for the Little Orphan Annie comic strip by Harold Gray! The Penn Central petitioned to abandon the service in 1968, but the ICC refused! Under Amtrak, it was merged with the George Washington to become a Chicago-Washington/Newport News train, was once extended to Boston, rerouted to Chicago Union instead of Chicago Central in 1972, truncated back to Washington also in 1972, fully merged under one name (the Riley) in 1974, Newport News service ended in 1976, before being renamed the Cardinal in November 1977! As the Cardinal, it was extended back up the NEC to NYC, truncated back to DC in 1995, and then full service to NYC was restored in 2004! And some fun facts about the northern cardinal species itself: The name derives from the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church who wear red robes and hats! Catholic cardinal om turn comes from the Latin cardo meaning "hinge", as when they held great power, many of society’s norms and laws HINGED on their decisions! A group of Northern Cardinals is called a college, conclave, or VATICAN! Not all Northern Cardinals are red, as some can be yellow! Yes, different from the actual Yellow Cardinal, there can also be a yellow version of the Northern Cardinal. Cardinals with an orangish-yellow hue have been reported for decades. This deviation in coloration is caused by a genetic mutation that results in a bird missing the enzyme that converts yellow pigments in their food to red!

An amazing chunk of actual research that lasts as long as it takes to read an Avery comment, very digestible too - only question remains whether Avery will get in amongst the comments before Supreme Leader Kim \m/

I like you can hear a car in the background in your audio for the Auto Train, quite fitting! The Coast Daylight (which originally began in 1922 as a SF-LA service) in turn is named after the Coast Line, a line between Burbank and San Francisco. The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad built the first segment from San Francisco to San Jose in the 1860s. The founders of the SF&SJ then incorporated as the Southern Pacific. In the 1870s, they had completed a line from San Jose through Gilroy and Pajaro, arriving at Salinas in 1872 and then Soledad in 1873. They then started building north from LA in 1873, completing a line to Burbank, and by the 1890s, the line made it to San Luis Obispo. The 2,246 m Santa Susana Tunnel opened in 1904, reducing the distance between Montalvo and Burbank to 61 miles, and with new straighter track built between Chatsworth and Burbank to coincide with the new route, the original line through the San Fernando Valley was designated as the Burbank branch, now used by the LA Metro's G Line (and formerly used by the Pacific Electric). Finally in 1907, the Bayshore Cutoff opened from San Bruno to San Francisco

I would call a Niagara Falls, New York to Ronkonkoma (Long Island), NY the York Zipper. Keeping the route entirly within New York should get some extra buyin from the state and avoids the customs issues.

You should do former Amtrak routes at some point too!

Between San Jose in 1850 and Sacramento in 1854, Vallejo and Benicia were also once state capitals! While San Jose was the California's first state capital, it wasn't the colonial capital under Alta California, as the capital of Alta California was Monterey on the Central Coast! And because of that, at one point in time, the ARGENTINIAN flag flew over Monterey! This is because of Hipólito Bouchard, a French-born sailor who served under the Argentine Navy. In 1818, the Argentines sent a two-ship expedition led by Hipólito Bouchard to Monterey as part of their war for independence by countering the Spanish at their own game. After an attack failed, they made it on land the next day and the Spanish forces were no match as after an hour of combat with ineffective defense of a fort, the Argentines won. For six days, an Argentine flag was raised over Monterey! After raiding Monterey, he plundered Mission San Juan Capistrano in what's now Orange County. Toward the end of the voyage, Bouchard raided Spanish ports in Central America and raised the flag there as well, and Central Americans would see that flag and view it as their liberated flag, so they took it as an inspiration for their own flag, the former Federal Republic/United Provinces of Central America flag, which influenced the blue-white-blue flags of Guatemala, Costa Rica (though Costa Rica added a big red stripe after being inspired by the French in a French revolution in 1848), Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua!

Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh: Three Rivers (since it still fits with the Pittsburgh end point). For the time being, I’ve called the Detroit-Cleveland service the Jule Plante after a song about a ship of the same name that crashed in Lake Saint Clair, which Detroit sits on. *does research* the song comes from a poem written by

Here for the eventual Texas Eagle explanation

Quick note: the Rio Grande Zephyr was a private train, not a privatized train. Those two words do not mean the same thing. Privatized refers specifically to a formerly publicly owned service that has been sold or otherwise passed to a private operator. The Rio Grande Zephyr was never a government-run train.

I found this quite an informative video! Now, I know New Orleans is named after a French city, a duke, and an emperor; among other things. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. Thanks for the video! I'll subscribe!

great vid! cant wait to see the other parts. i'm at a loss for names or renames myself personally at this point.

lucky. while i do exams while you are on amtrak

interesting! can't wait for part 2 :)

I’ll be on the Borealis service back to Chicago! I’ll try to see you there!

This is very cool, and I love the artwork. Also, so cool to see another Avery collab! It's awesome that you'll be on the Borealis. I hope you're prepared for an unforgettable train trip! Don't forget to stretch your legs before departure

High quality graphics

See you on the Borealis!

You may be on the same train as @Thom-TRA. That would be quite the collab on an inaugural Amtrak trip!

Minor correction: The “Grande” in Denver & Rio Grande Western, is pronounced grand instead of the Spanish pronunciation. Other than that this was a great video.

not now caleb im flying 😤

I preferred The Borealis' original proposed name: The Great River. It's fitting because it follows the Mississippi River for much of it's route. I wonder what the reason for the name change was.

Please consider doing a video on radburn New Jersey

Amtrak flash sale out now

Most surprising detail is that 6 US states have the same State Bird😳

You should do a video about historic train lines in the US.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘? I would reapply the "Clocker" name to the NJT super-express trains that succeeded it.

I'm disappointed that there was no Steamed Hams joke for the Borealis

Know what, just going to say it. I think that the Borealis should’ve been called the Twin Cities Hiawatha. It was an already well established name along the route, being one of the premier trains of the Milwaukee Road as well as being briefly used by Amtrak. Along with this, when Amtrak operated the TC Hiawatha, it complimented the North Coast Hiawatha. And this modern train seems to be operationally at least more an extension of the current Hiawathas as well. That and Borealis just seems to grandiose. Like it’s a nice time, but it feels like it’s too much. And it doesn’t fit quite as well to that region either. Like, they get the northern lights in Minnesota, but mostly in the parts that the train won’t go to. Edit: I really need to pay attention to what I’m writing sometimes. Wrote the opposite of what I meant to.

Hey Classy. Is Jackson Betz and Jacquelin also going to be with you on the maiden Borealis?

***northeast regional left the chat***

Since it wasn't covered in the video, the Northern Cardinal got it's name due to the males of the species having a similar colour to the red ceremonial robes worn by Catholic cardinals during official events.

Limited is still used to refer to transport services that make fewer stops than all all stations or local service but more stops than an express. For example, Sydney Trains station displays will indicate trains in a gray box as LIMITED STOPS, ALL STOPS, or EXPRESS, while some Transport for NSW bus routes are called Limited if they make fewer stops than a paralleling local route.

Train

when another WHAT IF video

Nice

I'll be on Borealis eastbound on 5/27 and westbound the following day. Business class each way. I'm expecting an Amfleet cafe/club car but maybe a Horizon shows up? I'm kinda indifferent to the name. Great River seemed better to me, but it's of little consequence in the big picture.

Bro went "i will trace the railroads back to rome"

You need a better microphone.