There were several significant schedule modifications to Eastern Amtrak service in October 1979. I'd guess that the '5th' train lost would have been the 'Hilltopper', which was discontinued outright. The 'Hilltopper' was a truncated and rerouted remnant of Amtrak's failed Chicago-Norfolk 'Mountaineer'. It originated in Washington, DC (but was teamed with the Night Owl with through cars to/from Boston for a time) with a morning departure, operated south to Richmond and Petersburg where it left SCL rails and entered N&W to travel westward through Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Bluefield. The train terminated after midnight in Catlettsburg, KY where passengers could continue westbound on the Cardinal after a 6 or 7 hour layover. By the end the 'Hilltopper' was mostly a two car train....an amfleet I coach and an amcafe.
During the same round of cuts the 'Cardinal' (which had operated daily BUT overnight through WV at that time) was also discontinued. The Cardinal returned several months later in early 1980 as a tri-weekly train following heavy lobbying by WV legislators.
Finally, the 'Shenandoah' which operated Washington-Cincinnati on the old B&O route through Cumberland and Parkersburg, WV was discontinued. Amtrak's 'Capitol Limited' now maintains service on this route east of Cumberland, MD.
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David Pressley
[This message has been edited by notelvis (edited 06-04-2004).]
[This message has been edited by notelvis (edited 06-04-2004).]