Sorry that this video took so long to get done, it was a bit of a bigger project and some personal circumstances prevented me from getting it done sooner. Either way, special thanks to those listed in the description who provided pictures and videos for this project! The music used is also in the description! Also I'd like to clarify a couple things, the original Amtrak Arrow logo is officially called "The Arrow" and not the "Pointless Arrow". I'm also aware I used the typeface Arial when talking about Helvetica earlier in the video. The two are similar but have minor differences in the letterforms. Back when I made this (I'm typing these corrections out in 2024) I never noticed the differences.
The Attendant at 3:04-3:07 is Julie Byrne I worked for Amtrak and started working Onboard AutoTrain (Onboard Services) October 1995 and Julie was the Crew Chief on the Crew I was on
I'm a CG artist and I've been a graphic artist since grade school -- fascinated with company logos and the fonts used in them along with vehicle design including trains. This channel is enthralling for me because it has so many of my interests rolled into one. The most minute details of a design capture my attention and are meaningful to me because it keeps me reminded that the smallest nuance of a design can convey it's own thought or feeling.
Always found trains interesting but never was able to "get into" them as I rarely encountered them and it is a hard topic to learn about from the ground up, and your channel has helped with very digestible professionally made content. Thank you for these videos.
@@lemagnifique1573 Illinois “Highspeed Rail” was part of the 2009 Stimulus that Biden had a hand in. Everything has been in place to run trains from Chicago-St Louis at 110 but Union Pacific is holding it up.
Now that is one high class, well done, detailed, and eminently watchable video. Loved the walk through Amtrak's visual history from its inception up to the present. Outstanding job!
Great analysis. I first rode an Amtrak train in 1985 and developed a natural affinity for Phase III’s simplicity, but Phase V and the travel mark strikes me as stylish and in tune with the times…much like this resilient company that has stood the test of time and politics.
Amtrak certainly knows how to design their liveries. I absolutely love the bold colors on the new Avelia Liberty trainsets, I cannot wait to see them in action. Acela is begging for a modern refresh
My favorite Amtrak Paint Scheme is the original phase V because of the blue and red stripe along the bottom, as well as the new Amtrak logo being on the locomotive's cab sides.
A nice compilation of Amtrak's design history and stylish corporate identity. I really like the original logo and silver base for their rolling stock, both on locos and Amfleet coaches.
Great video! Sorry if I wasn't able to email any footage. I was busy with work and after reviewing my clips taken from a cell phone camera a few years ago, they could have brought down the quality of the video. Keep up these projects! Interesting to see a video focusing on topics like this on the channel which gave us Engines of Amtrak.
I love this video man! The in depth nature , explanations, editing, etc is so awesome and easy to digest, and I’m so glad this video led me to your channel!!
About the phase 4 P42s, the dark grey face was actually meant to deviate units specifically meant for use on the Northeast Corridor while the silver faced ones were meant for the rest of the Amtrak system. The NEC P42s also had “Northeast Corridor” applied below the reflective safety stripe on each fender of the nose. Amtrak gave a similar treatment to the heritage units applying the words “Beech Grove” on the units although it was put on the reflective stripes instead of the nose fenders. Also I never knew about that the Amtrak travel mark was designed to represent rails! Interesting fact.
The Coast Starlight used to have its own logo as well and I bought several mugs in the Parlor Car with the train logo. Crews on other trains told me that a long time ago, (I'm guessing 20 or more years ) the snack cars used to sell train-specific mugs.
Growing up in Philly, me and my father used to sit and watch trains from the upper level SEPTA platform at 30th street station. Mind you this was before they built the Cira center and you could see the whole yard. Not sure if I'm being obtuse but honestly I'm a bit tired/bored of the Acela and Am fleet passenger cars and it would be a really nice change up if they swapped them for "horizon fleet" on the keystone service/NEC... Do you think that would ever happen?? Thanks, awesome video! Very informative!
Wow, so many logos ! The Pennsy had pretty much one logo up to it's demise in 1968. It solidified in the mid thirties with Raymond Lowey's iconic pinstriped GG1s. After that the only change was a solid stripe and larger keystone.
When I was at Michigan Technical University’s Railcamp, one of the rail fans joked the Amtrak is indestructible. I too hope it has many more years of operation ahead
I’ve been a fan of Amtrak since I saw a video of a Surfliner racing against a Talgo, and I recently knew that Amtrak hasn’t changed it’s logo since 1971 before the year 2000. Pretty surprising for me.
The pointless arrow is still used for the Amtrak America and the prototype paint scheme on the alc-42 is actually phase 6 the first 5 will use the CURRENT phase 5b paint scheme. Anyway good video lots of good info as always.
UPDATE: Since then Amtrak now intoduced the Phase VI & Phase VII Livery. Phase 6 would be used for the ALC-42 for Units 300-308 (except for 301 as the unit is a HU) Phase 7 is the now current Paint Scheme for Amtrak for Amtrak's ALC-42 Chargers and as of 2024 some P42 Units will be given the Phase VII. Units 174, 82 138, 167, 125 & 187 now carry the new Colors.
This is good 👍 video thanks I have lots of Amtrak passengers car's no locomotives just CN T4 red reflectors on my Amtrak passengers car's n white . I have Amtrak heritage Budd diner from the 70-80s ho scale no more diner car's on Amtrak Veiw liners only Cafe car's. I been liking Amtrak since 1970s before Southern railway Amtrak took over I Saw the F40s 1977 strobe lights atlanta ga brookwood station.
I don't know if anyone else mentioned it in the comments below, but Amtrak is not the official corporate name. That would be the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, what was printed on my paychecks for the 14 years I worked there. If you look at any official company document or form, it's ID number starts with "NRPC".
The original logo was often referred to as the "headless" arrow. "Pointless" arrow sounds like a bad Jay Leno joke. " Headless" is preferable and is not likely to be the liability that a term like "Pointless" can be turned into by detractors. Other than this pet peeve of mine, great video. I've been a rider and supporter of Amtrak since 1974 and appreciate this very informative and positive piece.
@@blackbirdgaming8147 yes there is…the p40s when first introduced had their own version of phase III using a darker red and darker blue hence phase IIIB
@@jw9658 Incorrect. Amtrak does not recognize false names for paint schemes. They recognize variations, but the variations are simply variations, and nothing more. Please do your research and take the time to look at the Amtrak logo and branding guide.
@@blackbirdgaming8147 Please do YOURS. Ever heard of Phase IVb? You’re arguing semantics. Amtrak adopted the system from model railroaders so it’s not their nomenclature to begin with.
One little thing to add. Those Blue stripe Tyco passenger cars back in the 1970s actualy DID have a prototype. Amtrak repainted one of their sleepers, Palm Springs, into an experimental color scheme with an all blue stripe through the window section, just like the Tyco cars.
Sorry that this video took so long to get done, it was a bit of a bigger project and some personal circumstances prevented me from getting it done sooner. Either way, special thanks to those listed in the description who provided pictures and videos for this project! The music used is also in the description! Also I'd like to clarify a couple things, the original Amtrak Arrow logo is officially called "The Arrow" and not the "Pointless Arrow". I'm also aware I used the typeface Arial when talking about Helvetica earlier in the video. The two are similar but have minor differences in the letterforms. Back when I made this (I'm typing these corrections out in 2024) I never noticed the differences.
Lol the CDTX NPCUs use the original Caltrain Scheme from 1987.
Nah you did ok don’t worry
It's doesn't matter if it's late or not it only matters if it gets uploaded at all
Please request CENDLoveGaming to react to your videos
Great vid
Somehow I'd never quite "seen" the rails in the Amtrak logo until now, and now I'll never be able to unsee them LMAO
Same
me too
I still don't see rails in it; the thing looks far more like a flag that fell on the ground.
How about ConRail? Their logo is "wheels on rails" and once I saw it I was the same way. Can't unsee it.
Same
The Attendant at 3:04-3:07 is Julie Byrne I worked for Amtrak and started working Onboard AutoTrain (Onboard Services) October 1995 and Julie was the Crew Chief on the Crew I was on
You have the mark of a truly high quality UA-camr, a constantly increasing quality in your videos
I'm a CG artist and I've been a graphic artist since grade school -- fascinated with company logos and the fonts used in them along with vehicle design including trains. This channel is enthralling for me because it has so many of my interests rolled into one. The most minute details of a design capture my attention and are meaningful to me because it keeps me reminded that the smallest nuance of a design can convey it's own thought or feeling.
Always found trains interesting but never was able to "get into" them as I rarely encountered them and it is a hard topic to learn about from the ground up, and your channel has helped with very digestible professionally made content. Thank you for these videos.
7:35 *Angry Dutch noises*
Itwaseas
lol
"clop, clop, clop."
@@Vanilla0729clogs or Pixar lamp
2020 and we’re still waiting for “Highspeed Rail” in Illinois.
Don't worry man, Biden is die-hard train enthusiast. I'm pretty sure that he'll invest so much on Bullet Train
@@lemagnifique1573 Illinois “Highspeed Rail” was part of the 2009 Stimulus that Biden had a hand in. Everything has been in place to run trains from Chicago-St Louis at 110 but Union Pacific is holding it up.
@@lemagnifique1573 lmfao
You should see us with our Highspeed Rail here in California.
@@StocktonSubber daddy!😂
I'm so glad you posted. Tonight I've been having a very bad day as my little brother and WOTB made things hard and exhausting
as a World of Tanks Blitz player I feel you man
I assume that's what you meant by wotb?
@@trainboi777yall6 yes that is
Ah yes a fellow blitz player *flexes in 16 tier 10s*
@@buccaneerrailfanning1776 I'm not even on tier 8 I'm on TR7 which is impressive considering I got the game in like June
@@trainboi777yall6 woah i have a similar name on other social media its train_boy642 and 642 is the veterans unit on the ACS64's
Splendid video as always, Jared! Really liked how this turned out!
Why am I reading this like a gentleman in a movie
@@Kaithelegoguy same
Amtrak Phase IV for the win! (especially the Superliner and Viewliner cars look great!)
Now that is one high class, well done, detailed, and eminently watchable video. Loved the walk through Amtrak's visual history from its inception up to the present. Outstanding job!
Great analysis.
I first rode an Amtrak train in 1985 and developed a natural affinity for Phase III’s simplicity, but Phase V and the travel mark strikes me as stylish and in tune with the times…much like this resilient company that has stood the test of time and politics.
8:52 you accidentally said 2408 yellow instead of 7408 or is it a typo?
That's my mistake, oops! Thanks for pointing that out but yeah it should be 7408, not sure where I got 2408 from.
@bfdi firey nice
@@AmtrakGuy365 you do awesome videos
What a great documentary showing the overall history of Amtrak.
Amtrak certainly knows how to design their liveries. I absolutely love the bold colors on the new Avelia Liberty trainsets, I cannot wait to see them in action. Acela is begging for a modern refresh
Well done - teaching all of us about Amtrak's history.
• Cheers from the Detroit & Mackinac Railway 🚂
Great video. I model Amtrak from its inception thru the late 70s Phase III.
My favorite Amtrak Paint Scheme is the original phase V because of the blue and red stripe along the bottom, as well as the new Amtrak logo being on the locomotive's cab sides.
2:30 nooo you can't put “Helvetica” in Arial ;_;
Haha fonts go brrrrr
And also on 7:43, forgot to mention GP40TC and F69PHAC. They also were painted into phase 3.
Grand Forks Station still has the old pointless arrow logo sign. I just wish they fixed the blue lights on it.
So does my home station they stopped servicing it but they kept the sign
Our Vancouver Washington Amtrak station building also had a pointless arrow too
Phase 2 is my favorite because of how long it lasted, short but sweet.
This is very informative and a nice tribute to celebrate 50 years. Happy birthday Amtrak
A nice compilation of Amtrak's design history and stylish corporate identity. I really like the original logo and silver base for their rolling stock, both on locos and Amfleet coaches.
I enjoyed this video alot, i took a trip on the Empire Builder last year and since then ive been studying Amtrak and its beginnings.
Once you see the rails on the Amtrak logo you can’t unsee it
I like the Phase V on the P42s
Great video! Sorry if I wasn't able to email any footage. I was busy with work and after reviewing my clips taken from a cell phone camera a few years ago, they could have brought down the quality of the video. Keep up these projects! Interesting to see a video focusing on topics like this on the channel which gave us Engines of Amtrak.
I love this video man! The in depth nature , explanations, editing, etc is so awesome and easy to digest, and I’m so glad this video led me to your channel!!
About the phase 4 P42s, the dark grey face was actually meant to deviate units specifically meant for use on the Northeast Corridor while the silver faced ones were meant for the rest of the Amtrak system. The NEC P42s also had “Northeast Corridor” applied below the reflective safety stripe on each fender of the nose. Amtrak gave a similar treatment to the heritage units applying the words “Beech Grove” on the units although it was put on the reflective stripes instead of the nose fenders.
Also I never knew about that the Amtrak travel mark was designed to represent rails! Interesting fact.
These are some of the most well produced railfan videos on UA-cam. Job well done once more!
Wow, your video quality has downright exploded. Excellent work!
Man this is my favorite video of yours so far
They really need to bring back the pointless arrow. Burger King just brought back it's old logo.
Early amtrak:
Star Trek
Modern Amtrak:
Star Wars
Super Modern Amtrak:
Babylon 5?
Superb pictures and history!
Thank you for making this video,
This will be a good reference for
making custom painted shells for some of my model trains!
I kinda suprised i'm here after watching your first vid on UA-cam.
Always a great joy watching your content!
Thanks for posting this. I am a huge fan of the Phase 3.
11:07 Normies: Travelmark
Legends: *"Three Sheets to the Wind"*
Dude what an awesome video, thank you.
The Coast Starlight used to have its own logo as well and I bought several mugs in the Parlor Car with the train logo. Crews on other trains told me that a long time ago, (I'm guessing 20 or more years ) the snack cars used to sell train-specific mugs.
Amtrak is my favorite
Growing up in Philly, me and my father used to sit and watch trains from the upper level SEPTA platform at 30th street station. Mind you this was before they built the Cira center and you could see the whole yard. Not sure if I'm being obtuse but honestly I'm a bit tired/bored of the Acela and Am fleet passenger cars and it would be a really nice change up if they swapped them for "horizon fleet" on the keystone service/NEC... Do you think that would ever happen?? Thanks, awesome video! Very informative!
Excellent informative and entertaing vide.
Phase 3 is my personal favourite Amtrak livery
Wow, so many logos ! The Pennsy had pretty much one logo up to it's demise in 1968. It solidified in the mid thirties with Raymond Lowey's iconic pinstriped GG1s. After that the only change was a solid stripe and larger keystone.
When I was at Michigan Technical University’s Railcamp, one of the rail fans joked the Amtrak is indestructible. I too hope it has many more years of operation ahead
This is cool
It made me cry great vid
It's a good thing that they changed the name because "All Aboard Railpax" sounds really off.
I’ve been a fan of Amtrak since I saw a video of a Surfliner racing against a Talgo, and I recently knew that Amtrak hasn’t changed it’s logo since 1971 before the year 2000. Pretty surprising for me.
Amazing video!
Damn these videos are getting better.
Great video! Sure helped me learn more about Amtrak.
Just wanted you to know, I loved the video and I learnt a bunch of new info! :D
Great video man!
*_"IS THAT THE EFFING OLD EMTRAK LOGO?!"_*
“Furries be like ‘minors DNI 🔞‘ and this is their-“
@@THRESHOLDln ?
Thanks for the info, good video
About a year ago I saw one of the Illinois High Speed rail Amfleets in Maine
The pointless arrow is still used for the Amtrak America and the prototype paint scheme on the alc-42 is actually phase 6 the first 5 will use the CURRENT phase 5b paint scheme. Anyway good video lots of good info as always.
WoW
I still can’t get over the fact that one of the cascades colors is called “Nugget”
Funni
@@West_Coast_Mainline nugget
@@cadenthecadburyengine8198 *continues eating chicken nuggets*
@@ivangenov6782 Dino nuggies
i love Amtrak & your video 👍🛤️👍 , I'm a Model Railroder i have the Amtrak Big Game Locomotive & the Amtrak Vet's Locomotive 😊🇱🇷🇱🇷
excellent!
12:53 has anyone ever noticed how on the Phase V Genesis the blue swoops down towards the back, but only on the Genesis and no other locos in Phase V
Thank you very much for this wonderfull informative video! Much appreciated
I’ve always loved the pointless Arrow over the tracks. I miss the old designs and I wasn’t around for them
UPDATE: Since then Amtrak now intoduced the Phase VI & Phase VII Livery.
Phase 6 would be used for the ALC-42 for Units 300-308 (except for 301 as the unit is a HU)
Phase 7 is the now current Paint Scheme for Amtrak for Amtrak's ALC-42 Chargers and as of 2024 some P42 Units will be given the Phase VII. Units 174, 82 138, 167, 125 & 187 now carry the new Colors.
So cool
6:51 Purhaps the most famous apacson of Phase 3 was on Amtrak's EMD F40PH. The F40PH's where I think already famous on Amtrak at the time.
But the Phase III application made them more famous than ever before
The pointless arrow logo my favourite amtrak logo
wow i never knew so much went into a design.
Amazing
That video was awesome. I wonder how much time you spend researching and editing. Looks Professional af
our train station still has the phase one paint scheme sign (except for the time table) and the parking lot still sign still has phase one as well
Will you do a face reveal??
Also great video! I liked the Pointless Arror
Awesome
14:28 I have been in on this train and it was a good experience 👌
I never noticed the new logo was supposed to be rails and now I can't unsee it
awesome
In my opinion Amtrak’s best paint scheme was the phase 3 paint. I wish they would bring it back more.
I hope the acela doesn't get replaced
This is a very good information
This is good 👍 video thanks I have lots of Amtrak passengers car's no locomotives just CN T4 red reflectors on my Amtrak passengers car's n white . I have Amtrak heritage Budd diner from the 70-80s ho scale no more diner car's on Amtrak Veiw liners only Cafe car's. I been liking Amtrak since 1970s before Southern railway Amtrak took over I Saw the F40s 1977 strobe lights atlanta ga brookwood station.
I don't know if anyone else mentioned it in the comments below, but Amtrak is not the official corporate name. That would be the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, what was printed on my paychecks for the 14 years I worked there. If you look at any official company document or form, it's ID number starts with "NRPC".
The original logo was often referred to as the "headless" arrow. "Pointless" arrow sounds like a bad Jay Leno joke. " Headless" is preferable and is not likely to be the liability that a term like "Pointless" can be turned into by detractors. Other than this pet peeve of mine, great video. I've been a rider and supporter of Amtrak since 1974 and appreciate this very informative and positive piece.
I thought it was called the broken arrow.
5:59 It would be really cool if they can put an F40PH horn at the end of the commercial.
Kmart Footwear had a brand calls Trax which used the Pointless Arrow logo as well.
I love this video
At 9:05 I rember that from a train movie that I saw when I was little
I love Amtraks Phase V paint And Phase lll Especially On the F40PH
10/10 my wooden Amtrak toy enjoyed it
It’s seems crazy that this video is almost two years old
Id honestly say Phase 3B on everything, it just looks better than the other paint schemes.
There’s no such thing as Phase 3B. Only Phase III exists.
@@blackbirdgaming8147 yes there is…the p40s when first introduced had their own version of phase III using a darker red and darker blue hence phase IIIB
@@jw9658 Incorrect. Amtrak does not recognize false names for paint schemes. They recognize variations, but the variations are simply variations, and nothing more. Please do your research and take the time to look at the Amtrak logo and branding guide.
@@blackbirdgaming8147 Please do YOURS. Ever heard of Phase IVb? You’re arguing semantics. Amtrak adopted the system from model railroaders so it’s not their nomenclature to begin with.
You forgot the North Carolina Piedmont livery
7:53 why were the old amtrak highlevels coupled with a gallery car?
I'm a sucker for clean minimalist design, so I vibe with the arrow a lot more tbh
One little thing to add. Those Blue stripe Tyco passenger cars back in the 1970s actualy DID have a prototype. Amtrak repainted one of their sleepers, Palm Springs, into an experimental color scheme with an all blue stripe through the window section, just like the Tyco cars.