Prairie State with Heritage equipment, 1972.

Color photograph showing the Prairie State (Milwaukee-Chicago-St. Louis) departing Chicago in April 1972.

<i>Prairie State</i> with Heritage equipment, 1972.

Photograph Details

Date Archived:: April 13, 2011
Geography:: Midwest
Decade:: 1970s
Data Format:: Image
Route:: Prairie State
Date Created:: April 1972; Download the full-sized version of this photo

When Amtrak took over the operation of most of the nation's passenger rail services in May 1971, it purchased or leased equipment from the predecessor railroads. The mix of different cars with varying paint schemes was affectionately known as the "Rainbow Fleet." It would take a few years for Amtrak to repaint the cars with the company's own red, white and blue paint scheme.

Photo courtesy of Phil Gosney.