L&N E7A 796

Robert W. Thomson
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L&N E7A 796
L&N E7A 796

Reproduced 35mm Slide
Photo shot by my Dad, Jay Thomson, in South Louisville, KY August 1971

These two units were obviously part of the standard power for the train at the time as Dad photographed them six days apart in Louisville on the same train.

The "South Wind" was a venerable passenger train dating to the 1930s. It originated in Chicago and was operated from there to Louisville, Kentucky over the Pennsylvania Railroad. At Louisville the train made its way onto Louisville & Nashville tracks to continue south to Montgomery, AL. In Montgomery it switched over to Atlantic Coast Line rails for the run to Jacksonville, FL. In Jacksonville the train finally switched over to Florida East Coast tracks for the final run down the coast to Miami. Most things I can find about the train indicate that it often ran south all the way to Miami with Pennsylvania E units and the respective northbound counterpart often ran all the way to Chicago with ACL or FEC units. Though L&N crews operated the train from Louisville to Montgomery, they were often driving foreign power. L&N Es were usually only used if the PRR, ACL or FEC units failed.

Here, in August 1971, a few months after the formation of Amtrak, Dad caught the "South Wind", now an Amtrak operation, on its way out of Louisville with two L&N Es on the front. In the first few months, before Amtrak bought their own power (used or new) they used power provided by other railroads. Not long after this shot was taken the trains old and classic name would be changed by Amtrak to the "Floridian". Sadly, the train was cancelled completely in 1979.

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Taken on: June 28, 2007
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