First of all, I’m sorry if this has already been brought up. If you could travel one train ran by a freight railroad (before May 1, 1972), which would it be? Why? I think I would ride the Broadway Limited or California Zephyr. They were both high profile trains that sound so elegant. What are your personal experiences on pre-Amtrak trains?
…one train that ran before Amtrak. Hmmm Let me think …
I would go with my favorite, the Bi-Level Peninsula 400 as re-equipped by C&NW in 1958. It was a train designed with the short haul in mind.
In 1963 I rode on NP from Chicago to the west coast (I forget the train name). I’d do it again.
Aside from some trains I did get a chance to ride, I would name three in the Midwest:
-
CB&Q Morning Zephyr to the Twin Cities
-
C&NW Kate Shelly 400 (in 1956)
-
IC Land of Corn
I grew up on its route, so The Super Chief has to be at the top of list. The 20th Century Limited and the Olympian Hiawatha would be right behind it. Why? Well the equipment, the routes, the service mentality of the road running the trains.
I’m sorry…I have 3! City of San Francisco, The Super Chief, and the Southern Belle. All had great service, were elegant, and just a flat out great ride!
Super Chief.
Would be nice to experience the first class service of this famed train.
North Coast Lmited. On the 1959 timetable you would have left Chicago at 12:10pm, arrived Minneapolis 7:40pm, arrived Billings 10:18am, arrived Spokane 10:45pm, arrived Seattle 7:50am. There was also a section of the train that split at Spokane for Portland.
Related by an old friend.#### Riding with his girl friend in an otherwise empty dome car on the Super Chief during the last few days before Amtrak. These days, the train carried few riders, those needing to travel from Chicago to LA in a hurry having long since left the rails and turned to the airways. As the train passed through the Arizona Painted Desert at 90 mph, my friend and his date lit up the sort of cigarette that today’s law enforcers woould term a controlled substance to help them savor the experience.#### An attendant came up to them with a bottle of champagne in ice and a pair of glasses. “We didn’t order bubbly,” said my friend.#### Replied the attendant, “We know. This bottle is on the house. We saw you both are enjoying the ride, the best that this train has to offer. This service will end very soon. So enjoy it a little more…and with our complements.”
The “James Whitcomb Riley” from Cincy to Chi was a great ride. The meals were excellent right up to “The end.”
I would have loved to ride the “20th Century Limited” in its heyday, pulled by a Dreyfuss Hudson, just to see if it was everything Lucius Beebe and E.M. Frimbo said it was. Also, any passenger train on the Northern Pacific, the “Road of the Great Big Baked Potato.” Have you ever seen a photo of the baked potatoes they served? My God!
I’m fortunate, having ridden the Panama Limited, the 20th Century, and the Broadway while they were all premium all-PUllman trains. And I rode the Super Chief shortly after Amtrak takeover, before there was any deteioration of service, and the train was still Santa Fe in spirit and elan, even to warbonnet F-7’s on the menues! But of all the trains I have ridden, I would still pick the California Zephyr for its scenery and the number of domes it had to let one see it in style. I’d settle for a roomette, of course, but if cost was no object, then a bedroom or compartment in the observation car would be tops.
And at the same time, I’d like to ride the Shavno or possibly settle for the San Juan (D&RGW narrow gauge) in the parlor at the rear.
Right there with you! Even though I grew up only a handful of miles away, I never rode the North Western’s trains (and I only recall seeing them out on the line once)-though an aunt of mine used them to come home on vacation a few times a year.
any CNW train to green bay, Wisconsin when the bears were playing the packers. amtrak doesn’t go to Green bay anymore, which is sad because green bay looks like a nice home style city.
Easy. The UP-MILW “Cities” Streamliners. Simply the most gorgeous, handsome passenger trains that graced God’s green earth, IMHO.
Would loved to have been able to ride on either the “Land O’ Corn” or the “Hawkeye” on the IC as well.
Probably the Milwaukee Road’s Olympian Hiawatha. Especially, to ride the electrified part of it. Having taken Amtrak’s (and before that Great Northern) Empire Builder, it would have been interesting to compare the two routes.
I remember going to college on the all-Pullman Southern Railway Crescent. What a way to travel! My mother was quite insistent about riding in a Pullman as coach did not suit her. Of course, I was required to dress for all meals. LOL! Needless to say, Southern kept their passenger trains long after Amtrak had acquired others; I rode the Crescent for two to three years before switching to the airlines. I still miss the experience.
Being fortunate enough to ride most of the great trains before Amtrak or Via Rail My top five would be Super Chief, Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Twentieth Century Limited, and Canadian.
No disagreement with the above. including the order, but then just to continue the list further, I would add the Broadway, the Panama Limited, the City of Los Angeles, the Silver Meteor, the 1952 Senator and Congessionals, the Denver and Twin Cities Zephyrs, the Shasta Daylight, the Florida Special, the Capitol LImited, and the North Shore’s Electroliner.