I’m new here so i hope this hasn’t been asked before.
I plan on hosting a tabletop roleplaying game for a few friends that involves the players traveling from New York to San Francisco (with stops along the way).
I would need some advice on how to find some resources about possible routes. From my understanding the journey would likely be done in 2 main legs, one from New York to Chicago, and then one from Chicago to San Francisco.
For the first leg of the journey i found a website that details the route with stops, and nicely enough including a menu for the dining cars (though a bit hard to read), using the “20th century limited train”
My main issue is finding a proper list of stops for how one would do the journey from Chicago to San Francisco. (be it in one go, or with stops, since i plan to stop the players in a few cities that seem important or fun along the way).
If anyone could help me with some resources or information I’d greatly appreciate it, and if said resources include photos of things like the trains, carriages and/or menus for dining cars it’s even more appreciated!
You had several options to get to Chicago the NYC or the Pennsylvania railroad both offered multiple trains to and from Chicago depending on what kind of service you wanted coach to full on VIP sleeping car services. From Chicago to San Francisco you had the Overland limited on the UP that was direct or if you went via LA you had other options.
Thank you for the suggestions!
So far i found 2 options, the one you mentioned, the Overland limited, and the Golden state train which would take people from Chicago to Los Angeles.
I might end up using the Los Angeles one as i could easily find its stops on Wikipedia (the overland one i tried but i could hardly find a list of its stops from my searches).
You also had the B&O from New York to Chicago - from 1917 to 1926 the B&O used Pennsylvania Station as its New York station. Additionally the ERIE ran New York to Chicago, the Lackawanna operated service through Buffalo with the Nickel Plate from New York to Chicago. The NYC operated a multiplicity of routes between New York and Chicago with one of the options operating through Canada.
If you can find an “Official Guide” for that time period, you will find thousands of combinations to get there via almost any corner of the US you want to pass through. Many of the listings in the guide include the schedule of stops along the way, allowing you to create connections as you please. (assuming you pay the fare)
For example Freight had the “Alphabet Route” between NYC and Chicago that used portions of 6 (?) different railroads. Self-loading cargo could do something similar, if desired. Most people gravitated to the fewest connections or where thy could ride a Pullman car overnight.
Welcome aboard!
In addition to the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad the Erie Railroad had trains to Chicago from New York, the “Erie Limited” being one.
(In actual fact the Erie’s NY terminal was in Jersey City right across the river from NYC)
The “Erie Limited” wouldn’t get you to Chicago as fast as the “20th Century” or the “Broadway” but if you didn’t have to “Be there yesterday!” it was cheaper and a comfortable ride just the same.
The California Limited was the ATSF train in the early Twenties, followed by the Chief in 1926, on a 63-hour schedule set to be ‘two days and a night’ some sources indicate that the pre-WWI de Luxe’s slogan – ‘Extra fine, Extra fast, Extra fare’ was revived for that train. Later this train would take through sleepers off NYC or PRR – there wasn’t enough time to switch them into the Super Chief between arrival and departure times.
There were three general classes of train, with an understanding about discount pricing. These were 20-hour, 24-hour, and 28-hour trains. Naturally the minor East Coast roads often had multiple timed trains in the era everyone had to ride trains to get places effectively.
I don’t know if there was an organized counterpart for the routes converging on Chicago from the West.
Of course, there were other ‘gateways’, including St. Louis and Memphis. St. Louis got very fast PRR trains (see the Spirit of St. Louis after 1927) but any connection via Memphis to the East was not going to win prizes (e.f. Southern’s Tennessean connecting to N&W at Bristol, VA)
Not to sound like Neville Shunt – you should block your dates and then obtain an OG for that specific time.
Oops, my bad. I overlooked the 1920s part of the question. The Super Chief and El Capitan were added later, as others have noted. However, the Santa Fe did run the California Limited between Chicago and Los Angeles in the 1920s. The California Limited was another name train billed as the “Finest Train West of Chicago”.
Keep in mind that the 20th Century Limited was an overnight train. It was pulled from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to Harmon by electric locomotives and was then switched to steam for the run to Chicago. The first stop for crew change was in Buffalo. The train came through Cleveland around 3 am and was in Chicago by breakfast time. So that part of your game, if you choose the Century, could involve “dark of night” events and intrigue.
You could take the PRR Panhandle to St Louis, then Missouri Pacific to Pueblo, CO, then the Rio Grande to Salt Lake, then the Western Pacific to SF. You couldn’t take the Rio Grande direct west from Denver, since the Dotsero Cutoff did not connect the Moffat Route until the 1930s.
This website has many digitized time tables, both employee and public, for many of the western railroads. And some from other parts of the country.
Plenty of routes available, both east and west of Chicago or St Louis. West of Chicago or a St Louis, trains to California might involve one, two, or three railroads, depending on train picked, but the train would be a joint effort. You would get on a train at Chicago or St Louis but not have to get off until California, even though you changed railroads.
To give a reason for stop overs, there are many routings using smaller railroads where changing trains, sometimes transferring between depots, would be necessary. Doing that would take more time than using the “name” trains of the era.
I want to thank everyone for all the great suggestions!
I’ll look into the options everyone suggested to pick what seems the most fun from these options, it’s really fascinating how many options i have to pick from!
