From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for May 1, 1971:

On this day in 1971, the Amtrak rail passenger system went into operation. Beginning at one minute past midnight, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation had assumed responsibility for operating 182 passenger trains, while the 20 participating railroads dropped 178 other lines. The corporation had been established in response to increased requests from railroads to eliminate passenger trains being operated at losses of $200 million a year. The new Amtrak routes were to serve 314 cities and towns on 20,600 miles of track on 21 basic routes. Workers and passengers across the country embarked with much sadness on the final runs of eliminated passenger trains such as the Wabash Cannon Ball and the Nancy Hanks. “I just hate to talk about it,” said one railroad veteran in Seattle. “I feel so sad, I feel like putting black crepe on my arm,” said a 76-year-old passenger agent for the Baltimore & Ohio as she took her final ride on the Cannon Ball. Some trains added extra cars to handle the overflow crowds. “If business had held up at this volume, we wouldn’t be losing the trains,” said one employee of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Eleventh-hour attempts to delay the start of the system had failed in Congress and in the courts.