WASHINGTON — Almost a decade after Amtrak cancelled “National Train Day,” an outreach promotion launched in 2008 designed to familiarize potential customers with where its passenger trains go, organizations around the U.S. continue to use May 10 as a tentpole around which to generate interest.
The date commemorates completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869. Recognizing that many travelers never give passenger trains a second thought, Amtrak started staging events with big-name entertainment in major cities to call attention to its national network. The company would soon add an Exhibit Train that extended the celebrations throughout the summer and fall. Museums and smaller communities followed suit with events around the May weekend date.
Amtrak eliminated Train Day after 2015 [see “Amtrak: National Train Day is done,” Trains News Wire. March 7, 2016]. This coincided with less national network promotion; the elimination of printed timetables, station display maps, and route guides; and an increasing emphasis by management and its board of directors on cost cutting that generated performance bonuses.
But local traditions were born, and since then, the date has triggered new initiatives. Here’s a look at just some of the events in store this year, with links to more information.
Two Portlands
In Portland, Ore., Union Pacific is partnering with the Oregon Rail Heritage Center on the first scheduled public appearance of its “Lincoln Locomotive” [see “Union Pacific unveils …,” News Wire, April 30, 2025]. The [rather tenuous] connection with May 10, 1869, is that President Lincoln signed the Transcontinental Railway Act and a UP steam locomotive, No. 119, took part in the Golden Spike ceremony. But the railroad also noted it is the 50th Anniversary of restoration of Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449, now at the Rail Heritage Center.
Meanwhile on the East Coast, the Maine Train Fest “Full Speed Ahead” series kicks off a week of events beginning today (Tuesday, May 6). Featured are a Friday lecture at Maine Historical Society in Portland, Maine, and train rides over the weekend at participating tourist railways including the Belfast & Moosehead Lake in Unity, and the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington narrow gauge in Alna.
However, a most ambitious and unique aspect of the weeklong celebration is the theatrical showing of 17 railroad-themed Hollywood movies at 11 local theatres throughout the region from Tuesday through Sunday. They include Buster Keaton’s “The General” from 1926, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train” and “North by Northwest,” Cecil B. DeMille’s “Union Pacific,” and two films prominently featuring the Santa Fe, “Harvey Girls” (1946) and “Narrow Margin” (1952).
“The festival program, sponsored by 18 nonprofits in 16 locations, spans more than 125 years of history and includes beloved films of every kind for all ages, with live programs and activities related to Maine’s unique railroad heritage,” Maine Film Center executive director Mike Perreault said in a statement to News Wire.
Down at the depot
Though there is minimal Amtrak involvement, several events are taking place at or next to active train stations:
— Dodge City, Kan., its convention and visitors bureau, and Ford County are sponsoring an all-day event at the historic Santa Fe depot where Amtrak’s Southwest Chief operating crews change.
— The non-profit Friends of the GJ Union Depot will host an open house Saturday at the historic Denver & Rio Grande Western station in Grand Junction, Colo., adjacent to the platform where the California Zephyr stops.
— The Temple, Texas, Railroad and Heritage Museum promises family fun at its Saturday event at the Amtrak station served by the Texas Eagle.
— At Meridian, Miss., the Meridian Rails Historical Society annual event will be held Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. The museum is located down the platform from the Meridian Intermodal Transportation Center where the Crescent stops.
Among other venues holding National Train Day weekend events are:
— The Lake Superior Railroad Museum in downtown Duluth, Minn.
— The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Museum in Jackson, Miss.
— Williamsport, Pa.’s, Lycoming Valley Museum.
— The Lewes Junction Railroad, Lewes, Del.
One annual National Train Day gathering that won’t happen in 2025 is the celebration at Toledo, Ohio, which “has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control,” according to the event’s Facebook page.
IMO the equipment situation this year is dire. Amtrak cannot afford to take any revenue equipment OOS for any train days. But that does not excuse the other actions or lack of actions by Amtrak.
The lack of LD marketing is evident from the cited points in this news wire. More subtle is the lack of pushing the repair and keeping of LD equipment to meet demand. I will add the downgraded food service which is still less than adequate, We will never know if capacity had kept growing how many word of mouth additional riders Amtrak would now have. It should have been repeat passengers and new riders. We will never know or speculate if the growth curve would now have total riders around 42+ per year. Even the NEC and regionals would have some cross increase.