The Guardian has a nice article on a family’s 590 mile overnight train from London to Inverness. A trip I’ve taken a few times and it’s much more pleasant than driving or flying. To me, a 400 - 700 mile sleeper train trip is worth the cost of airfare and hotel for the same trip. It’s a shame Amtrak didn’t try to make this work in the US.
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/countries/story/0,7451,1511994,00.html
According to British Rail News the rail authority has asked for a review of the sleepers, saying underutilization of the equipment may no longer be justified.
That would be a shame. I’ve taken the Ft William sleeper from Euston to Ft William and it’s great to go to bed in London and awaken in Scotland.
Dale
Boston - Washington, DC?
Boston - Washington DC on the Federal is a good example. Amtrak used to have a NY - Washington “drop” sleeper on this train and at one time a NY - Boston as well. When PRR, NYC, and NYNH&H were three railroads, one had the Federal with Boston - Wash., Boston - Phila, and Providence - Wash. sleepers, the Owl with Boston - NY (GCT), and a NY Washington sleeper that went one way on the Federal and one way on the Gulf Coast Special. Also a Richmond - NY overnight and NY -Norfolk…
Jeepers Wally. Another 150 miles and we could go to New York.
Mitch
NowEdward!
On one of my business trips when I worked out of Bolt Beranek and Newman’s Cambridge, MA, office, I spent five succeeding nights in sleeping cars. First the Owl from Boston to NY, then a through sleeper on the PRR-RF&P and Seaboard to the station closest to Hickory, NC, where I had some business, forget whether the station was in Hickory or nearby, also which train, but it was a roomette in a lightweight sleeper (Silver Star?). The Owl was also in a roomette. From Hickory I took a taxi (paid by clients) to Charlotte, NC, noticed that the Piedmont and Northern interuban now freight only was still electric, and then the Piedmont Limited, in a double bedroom to New Orleans. (rode both Canal and St. Charles streetcars.) The next night was on the Kansas City Southern in a roomette to Shrieveport, LA, where I took the opportunitiy to ride one of the trolleybus lines still running. Shrieveport to St. Louis in a through KCS-MP sleeper via Little Rock. After bussiness, visiting the basement of the Illinois Terminal building and station, that had quite their last passenger service a week earlier (equipment still in the station), and riding three of the remianing four streetcar lines, back to Boston by air. One multi-coupon ticket for all the rail journies from the New Haven.
Some careful marketing of appropriate length trips out of major hubs (assuming appropriate trains are available) would probably yield results - “You arrive refreshed.”
Just sticking a sleeper into a consist isn’t going to change anything. People still need a reason to ride in the first place. Being able to sleep on the way is value added.
Try the St. Petersburg/Moscow overnite train if you want to see something different then the train ride you described. [:o)][:p][8D]
[quote]
Originally posted by garyaiki
The Erie Laccawanan had a steel citys Cleveland-Youngstown-Pittsburg Sleeper.
I believe that parker the cars in Youngstown. Binghamton also had a sleeper track with a steam house that fed he cars steam to keep them warm
“Seaboard to the station closest to Hickory, NC, where I had some business, forget whether the station was in Hickory or nearby, also which train, but it was a roomette in a lightweight sleeper (Silver Star?)”
Hickory and the stations near it were on the Southern. The nearest Seaboard Station would have had to been Monroe, NC on the Hamlet to Atlanta line, unless you got off in Raleigh. I sure wish I could re-create that trip today. Sounds like it was a great one.
If the Piedmont stopped in Hickory, I guess it would have been just a stopover. I must have ridden the Crescent or some other train to Hickory and then had to take a taxi to Charlotte because the Piedmont didn’t stop at Hickory. If anybody has the old Official Guide, he/she might do a fine job of correcting that memory!
If I had ridden the Seabord, getting off in Raleigh would have been logical, but your evidence indicates it must have been a PRR-Southern train.
This was around 1958 or 1959.
I have a offical RR guide from 79 eacactly what are you looking for[?][?][?]
The Carolina Special stopped in Hickory, is its on the Salisbury to Asheville line. The Piedmont, Crescent, and other Soithern mainline trains stopped in Salisbury, on their way towards Charlotte.
That explains it. I must have ridden the Ashville sleeper to Hickory. I presume it was scheduled out of Penn after 5PM, probably got up to get off at Hickory about 6:30AM. But since the Piedmont did not run through Hickory, I took a cab to Charlotte. I probably picked Charlotte instead of backtracking to Salisbury because of time and also the chance to see the Piedmont and Northern. It was definitely the Piedmont from Charlotte to New Orleans, over the West Point Route and the L&N from Atlanta. Thanks!