Amtrak 284 Niagara Rainbow Arrives Buffalo-Depew - 5/92

[08reed]

I wonder if 288, 281, 283 and 280 had names like the Niagara Rainbow.

[sasilv1129]

@08reed They did. 288 was the Water Level Express. 280 and 281 were the Mohawk. 283 was the other Niagara Rainbow. 285 and 286 were the Empire State Express.

[Amtrak1194]

Nice Gp unit!

[Trainlover4ever2006]

I saw Amtrak # 284 in Schenectady NY yesturday. Today nobody say that 284 is The Niagara Rainbow...they just say Empire Service. I wonder what happened to the name "Niagara Rainbow".

[sasilv1129]

@Trainlover4ever2006 In 1994, Amtrak started an overnight train from New York to Toronto to complement the Maple Leaf. The name "Niagara Rainbow" was transferred to this train, numbered 62 and 65, and it featured a regular amfleet consist with a heritage sleeper on the end. The train was discontinued a year later. 284 was renamed the "Mohawk." I don't know when they stopped calling it the "Mohawk."

[RailfanDaniel]

Nice video! Man the 90's were great! I wish the Niagara Rainbow was still around. I kinda like that name better than the Empire Service. 5/5!

[BadCivilServant]

I remember in the mid 1990s, the Niagara Rainbow - or at least part of it - used to originate in Toronto. I think they attached a Heritage Coach and Sleeper to a VIA train and Amtrak picked it up at Niagara Falls. If I'm not mistaken, DECADES ago, the Niagara Rainbow passed through Ontario from New York to Chicago. Too bad they couldn't do that again and reinstate rail service between Chicago and Toronto.

[sasilv1129]

You are right. The two train #'s were 62 and 65. They used a traditional empire service consist of 4 Amfleet I coaches, an Am I lounge, and a heritage sleeper. It ran NYC to TOR just like the Maple Leaf. I know it started in Summer 1994, and I believe it ended a year or so later. I saw it several times at Depew VERY early in the morning. That would be nice to do again.

[Great0ne1]

wow a Amtrak GP40! Nice video!

[Daveabbey]

This video is 16 years old, and here are a few of the things that stand out in my mind that are different than today:

1) Nobody had digital cameras, cell phones, PDAs, iPods, etc.

2) The clothing looks a bit different than today

3) The Amtrak Employee asks: Smoking or Non-Smoking to the people boarding the train! It's all non-smoking today.

I enjoyed watching the candidness of it all..Kids going off to a school function "Who wants to go to the United Nations?"

[flannmann]

Wow, a GP40-TC, very cool. I think the last time I saw one of those was back in the late 90's in Albany.

[coryrusch]

Nice Catch!

[RCdash9]

Again, thats pretty nice. They don't even use those engines anymore. What were the kids doing anyhow?

[sasilv1129]

They were headed to NYC for some school related function. Not sure what kind of function. Long long time ago. Those kids were older than me, and I'm now 24!

[RCdash9]

Yeah. This was the year before I was born. So I don't really know much from that time.

[mdamttc199]

YES! You've got awesome footage! My favorite GP40TC no less! Please post all you got, man!

[railmogul2]

wow, ive never seen a Geep pulling an amtrak before. That video must have been before they covered the platform

[furryfurball1221]

Iws that a GP-38?

[sasilv1129]

Yes it is... Amtrak had 3 of them, #'s 197-199, that ran regular on the empire service through the mid-90's.

[free2rtmey]

No that is a GP40TC. Amtrak aquired more of them including those from GO Transit in the mid 1980s.