In 1970, the Department of Transportation, in its designation of endpoints for the Amtrak system, designated a train to run between New York, Washington and St. Louis. This was later amended to run all the way to Kansas City, with a connection to the Super Chief running between Chicago and Los Angeles. The route was being served, prior to Amtrak, by the Spirit of St. Louis, originally run by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later inherited by Penn Central. Amtrak initially retained the Spirit of St. Louis, extending it to Kansas City along the Missouri Pacific Railroad. In July 1971, the train was renamed the National Limited to better reflect the scope of the route. That name had been used by another New York-St. Louis train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which had been the Spirit of St. Louis' principal rival. On paper, the route should have been a financial success. Not only did it serve a myriad of population centers, but its predecessor had existed for almost 60 years. However, it was fraught with problems almost from the start. It frequently ran late, owing to the poor condition of ex-PRR trackage in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. For most of its existence the National Limited operated a Washington section. Until October 29, 1978, this section split at Harrisburg and reached Washington Union Station via the Port Road Branch. From that date until discontinuance the National Limited split at North Philadelphia station, which had long been used as the sole Philadelphia stop for east-west PRR/Penn Central trains. In 1979, the Carter administration, in its plan to cut Amtrak's budget, required all routes to meet a minimum cost/farebox ratio. Any train not making enough money would be dropped from the system. Unfortunately, rampant delays caused by deteriorating Penn Central trackage in the Midwest led to a substantial decline in ridership on the National Limited. Two other former Penn Central trains inherited by Amtrak, the Floridian and the James Whitcomb Riley, were plagued by similar problems. Despite protests by local politicians, the National Limited made its last run October 1, 1979. Although the National Limited saw increased patronage in early 1979 due to the oil crisis, it was not enough to spare the train. Amtrak officials said that eastbound trains frequently left Kansas City with fewer than 100 passengers even at the peak of the crisis. The end of the National Limited spelled the end of intercity rail service in Columbus and Dayton. It also isolated Amtrak's primary maintenance facility, the Beech Grove Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana, near Indianapolis. The state of Missouri, not wanting to see service lost between St. Louis and Kansas City, stepped in on that part of the National's route, and introduced the Mules to provide service there; this route has since been succeeded by the Missouri River Runner. Service to Indianapolis returned in 1980 with the Indianapolis–Chicago Hoosier State, which reconnected the Beech Grove Shops to the rest of the network.
