My wife just bought a jigsaw puzzle with a night-time rail scene (not a photo). It includes two passenger trains with E units, in Chicago. One is IC and the other is Central of Georgia!
Is there any scenario by which CofG passenger units would be in Chicago? Looks like maybe the 50’s. Painters often work from a photo.
Yes, CG engines regularly powered the Seminole into Chicago. They may also have been on the CIty of Miami. IC engines also came into Columbus, Georgia, early in the afternoon, and were turned there. I am not sure, but I think that CM engines ran through Chicago-Jacksonville. Generally, the CG engines used on these trains were painted the IC colors. You also found ACL, FEC, and CG cars, as well as the IC cars on these two trains. The equipment assigned to these trains was painted in the IC colors, no matter which road owned them.
Central of Georgia was a partner with the IC in operating the Chicago-Florida trains - The Seminole and The City of Miami.
In being a partner the CofG painted several of their engines in IC colors to harmonize with the IC colors on the trains hauled.
You learn something new every day. Well, I did today, for sure.
In this painting/puzzle the CoG units are painted in the normal CofG scheme. But obviously (from what you guys have educated me on) that could have happened.
Thanks guys!
CG 811
CG 811 and 812 were assigned to the “City of Miami” right up to April 30, 1971. They were even re-lettered in the larger block style that IC started using in the late 1960’s.
This an aside. I once saw an FEC coach painted in SAL colors on an SAL train in Birmingham. I knew it was an FEC car because it had an FEC place name on it, It startled me until I realized that the SAL had bought it after the FEC was struck.
Even more amazing I think I spotted a sleeping car painted in UP Yellow and Gray Colors but stenciled for Pennsylvania Railroad on the West Coast in a photo.
A relic of the transcontinental Pullman service. New York - Chicago in The General, Chicago - LA in the City of Los Angeles.
Similarly, Silver Rapids, a PRR Budd California Zephyr car that I rode in the Penn Central “Steel Fleet” (nickname) from Croton-Harmon to Detroit!
If my memory is correct, the Pullmans in question were a pair of 22-roomette “Inn”-series cars re-assigned to the “City of Denver” in 1956 to provide a semblance of competition to the Slumbercoaches being introduced on the “Denver Zephyr”.
From what I have seen, it was a standard practice for the cars that ran through Chicago and St, Louis to be painted in the colors of the western roads, not the colors of the eastern owning roads.
The PRR Pullmans that regularly rode over the N&W were painted in the N&W colors.
Whenever the IC “borrowed” cars, they were painted in IC colors. There was an EL car on the Panama Limited regularly; you had to look closely to see that it was not an IC car.
[quote user=“Deggesty”
The PRR Pullmans that regularly rode over the N&W were painted in the N&W colors.
[/quote]
How could you tell the difference? Both roads wore Tuscan Red.
I recall seeing a picture of a sleeper painted up in B&O colors with SP up in the letterboard. I have spent some time searching for it - but haven’t been able to find it.
Yes, I remember seeing the B&O’s National Limited coming through Cincinnati with through sleepers to St Louis where they were transferred to the MoPac’s Texas Eagle (note 1) and Frisco/MKTY’s Texas Special (note 2).
(note 1) Washington-Ft Worth 14 Rmte 4 Dbrm
(note 2) Washington-San Antonio 14 Rmte 4 Dbrm
Also rode the PRR’s Penn Texas between Richmond IN and Terre Haute and it carried through cars which also were transferred to the (4 cars) MoPac’s Texas Eagle (note 3) and (1 car) to Frisco/MKTY’s Texas Special (note 4)
(note 3a) New York - Houston 10 Rmte 6 Dbrm
(note 3b) New York - San Antonio 10 Rmte 6 Dbrm
(note 3c) New York - El Paso 14 Rmte 4 Dbrm
(note 3d) Washington - Houston 10 Rmte 6 Dbrm
(note 4a) New York - San Antonio 14 Rmte 4 Dbrm
All of the through cars had their western railroads colors.
And though not sure, I believe the CZ’s through cars that alternated between the NYC and the PRR were stainless CZ cars. Likewise SanteFe and UP cars went east. Don’t recall Eastern cars going west. Others may know otherwise
Yes, PRR Siver Rapids noted earlier. They were eastern cars going west but painted in the western railroads’ colors, alternating with the western railroads’ own cars. So, on occasion, one could see PRR Aramor Yellow, and/or stainless steel, or nlue and grey cars at Sunnyside, and/or AT&SF, CB&Q, C&NW, D&RGW, MP, SP, TP, and/or WP cars. And at Mott Haven with NYCentral cars instead of PRR.
Similarly, PRR had stainless and stainless-fluted cars for the Southerner, East Coast and West Coast Campion (even with purple letterboards for those two), Silver Meteor, Silver Star. and Silver Comet.
The practice is not necessarily an East-West issue. Consider the Empire Builder, North Coast Limited, and Cities Streamliners. All were western interline trains with car ownership split among the operating roads but painted in one road’s colors.
very interesting, parents and I rode IC to FL. Picked up by C of G somewhere, maybe Columbus, GA and then had to get off train at Jacksonville to board ACL, and another step off that train to another one at Lake Alfred, FL to our final destination of Punta Gorda. Long haul but it was all free with Dad’s pass and we didn’t care, we were riding a train. Never knew C of G engines stayed on to Chi, but we were never on those trains, because of the pass.
We only rode one train out of St. Louis that had “foreign” coaches and that was Wabash (later N&W), UP and SP City of St Louis, we had the yellow coaches on train when we boarded. Train was switched to UP in KC and those yellow coaches stayed on thru Ogden over SP to San Francisco or L.A. The other trains we rode were one line all the way like B&O to DC, PRR to NYC, IC to NOLA, the train to FL was mentioned in my other post, we were shuffled around, but did stay in the IC coach to Jacksonville with C of G on the head end.
The first “foreign” car I rode was an L&N coach on rhe Southern’s Piedmont Limited, back when it had through coaches Washington-New Orleans. It was not at all unusual to see N&W coaches on the Southern trains that went through Roanoke–and the diner on the Pelican was an N&W diner. The diner (Washington-Knoxville or Chattanooga) on the Tenneesean was a Southern diner.
Johnny Birmingham Special #17 & 18 had Souther diners.