| On January 19, 1973, Dad shot Auto-Train U36Bs 4008, 4007 & 4009 leading southbound Louisville & Nashville train #867 through Etowah, Tennessee. The Auto-Train engines were built to Seaboard Coast Line specifications and had a toggle switch in the cab for "freight" and "passenger" - with the idea being that if Auto-Train folded within a year or two the engines could be sold to SCL for freight use. Auto-Train actually operated for 10 years on two routes - the original and primary route was from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL and a second route from Louisville, KY to Sanford. When Dad shot this one in 1973 the engines were making test runs from Louisville to Florida for Auto-Train to determine which route to actually use. They would eventually settle on a route that took the train through Nashville along the same route as Amtraks Floridian - and in fact the Amtrak and Auto-Train trains would sometimes be combined into one. On one of the test runs these units ran on the K&A route of the L&N, Dad got to ride home in the cab, to Etowah from Morley, TN. |