The conductor whose name is known led an orchestra.
Eugene Ormondy. Just a guess however.
Mark
Auturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The observation car featured a keystone-shaped drumhead with “Toscanini Tour” emblazened in large letters surrounded with the RCA Victor and NBC logos.
Toscannini is correct, but the Eurgene Ormandy fans should not feel bad. The very last passenger traini that left Philadelphia’s Broad Street Station was an Eurgene Ormandy - Philadelphia Orchestra special, and a brass quartet performed on the back platform of the obs as the train left the station. Possibly an arrangement of Taps? Anyone know?
Wonder if he hooped up music on the fly?
Auld Lang Syne, evidently preceded by The Star Spangled Banner.
ALL:
Does anyone have a record of the consist of this train?
Ed Burns
Yes it was, especially since I’m a fan of the maistro.
On a side note, during my undergraduate days, I met Frank Miller, who at the time was giving a chamber concert at my university. At one time he performed with the NBC Symphony under Toscanini and was part of this transcontinental tour.
As for the question - some time ago I posted a question of a possible coast to coast trip using trains of the same name. That time the answer was the Columbian of the B&O/RDG/CNJ and Milwaukee Road, and this was physically possible for a number of years.
This time I’m looking for another trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific using trains of the same name. This time this trip would not have been possible because one was a primarily heavyweight train and the other one was an Amtrak train. Name the train(s), the RR’s and the route this impossible trip would have taken.
Amtrak ran the National Limited from NY to KC. I believe at one time there was a Sante Fe Chicago - LA National Limited that of course stopped in Kansas City.
Dave, I don’t believe that Santa Fe had a National Limited. Could you give me a time frame of the existance of this train so I can check on this?
There was none. The correct answer is the New York Central’s Southwestern Limited pre-Amtrak NYCity - St. Louis and Amtrak’s renamed Super Chief 1974-1984 when it became the Southwestern Chief, Chi-LA.
The NYCetral’s Southwestern did at one time have through sleepers to Texas points, but none to the West Coast.
Kind of a long walk from St. Louis to Kansas City…
Sorry Dave, still no cigar…
Amtrak’s Super Chief was renamed the Southwest Limited (not Southwestern). Also, as rcdrye pointed out, how do you account for the St. Louis-Kansas City segment, which neither train traveled on?
The hypothetical route that the train name was used on covered the Atlantic coast through the Pacific coast.
Another hint: one of the trains did not operate year-round.
I’d also like to point out the fact that this is supposed to be >50 years and that leaves Amtrak out of the discussion.
The B&O’s Columbian ran between Washington and Chicago. With a change of trains in Chicago one could continue on to Seattle/Tacoma on the Milw Road’s Columbian. The only Amtrak train that ran coast to coast was the Sunset Limited.
Mark
Sorry Buck, Amtrak will be part of this discussion, as the train I’m looking for existed early in the company’s history. The 50 year limit is a guideline.
Mark,
If you look at my original question, I already mentioned the Columbian as the answer for an earlier version of this question. I’m looking for another name.
The CN Flagship The Dominion is well known, Montreal - Vancouver. Might there once have been a Montreal - Halifax Dominion? CP or CN? Probably CP.
It certainly doesn’t work in the Amtrak era… But NYC&HR/LS&MS’s 1893 Exposition Flyer terminated on the other side of the Chicago River from CB&Q-(D&SL)D&RGW-WP’s Exposition Flyer.