Henry, Art has the right of it. Until Amtrak renamed what it called “economy bedrooms” in the Superliners, all roomettes had but one berth–and each one had a lavatory and a toilet in it. Originally, the berths were made in such a way that you had to open the door before bringing the berth down or putting it up. I do not remember which builder (Budd? ACF? Pullman?) began making “cutaway” berths which gave the passenger room to stand at the foot so it was not necessary to open the door.
Now, what Amtrak calls “roomettes” are even more cramped than the “Heritage” roomettes.
By the way, Art & Henry, did you ever have to get up in the night when you were sleeping in a roomette? It was not pleasant, especially if you had to open the door.[:)]
The Maple Leaf carried, according to the timetables, a car with sections and bedrooms between New York and Toronto, and a car with sections, compartments, and a drawing room between Philadelphia and Toronto. Each section, of course, consisted of two facing seats that were made into a lower berth and an upper berth that was swung down from the ceiling, and curtains closed the section off from the aisle. Each bedroom in a heavyweight car (which is what the Maple Leaf carried) contained a sofa (perpendicular to the interior wall), which became the lower berth, and
Yeah, my fuzzy mind on other things as I wrote this afternoon. The “ette” should have kicked my brain into thinking smaller than a room rather than larger! I think I have a 'brainette" sometimes!
Let’s see now - North of Lehighton at Packerton Junction is where the LV went from the west bank to the east bank, just a few miles south of Jim Thorpe. Then a few miles above/ north at Glen Onoko, back to the west bank for about 7 miles including the “Oxbow Curve” to Penn Haven Jct. - then to the east bank for about 10 -12 miles, including the1,500 ft. +/- curved Rockport Tunnnel. Then at about Lehigh Tannery - about 3 miles south of White Haven - back to the west bank. Beyond that, the LV started climbing out of the Lehigh River watershed, so I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it crossed the river anymore after that. Most of the route is now accessible by one or more “rail-trails” - either on the LV roadbed, or on the paralleling former CNJ roadbed.
Not having been into that area until after the CNJ/LV sharing of track, it is awful confusing as to which track was where and when! Bridge builders made a fortune on both roads!
Understood. I know it so well only because starting about the time of the track sharing arrangement, I’ve hiked/ canoed & rafted/ biked/ ridden trains/ and driven along parts of it, studied it on maps, looked at numerous photos and articles, etc.
Once into Pennsylvania, that’s a total of 4 LVRR bridges over the Lehigh River. The CNJ crossed 3 times - once south of Lehighton to get from the east bank to the west bank to get into Jim Thorpe, and then twice more in quick succession just above JT from west to east at Coalport, and then back again at Glen Onoko. Today’s NS through route uses the CNJ to Lehighton, then the ex-LV route so now it still has 1 ex-CNJ and all 4 of the LV’ s major bridges over the Lehigh River to contend with and maintain - CNJ south of Lehighton, Packerton Jct., Glen Onoko, Penn Haven Jct., and Lehigh Tannery/ Bridgeport. Glen Onoko is right at the southern Lehigh Gorge State Park trailhead - the access road uses the ex-CNJ bridge parallel and only a few feet away from the LV bridge. Lehigh Tannery is about 0.2 mile south of the I-80 bridge over the Lehigh River at White Haven, and is only about a 1/2 mile walk south from the northern trailhead there - River Road on the east side goes right by it, too. All of the others require a hike of from 1/4 mile (ex-CNJ south of Lehighton) to 1+ mile (Packerton Jct.) to 6 miles or so (Penn Haven Jct.). And there’s lots of other bridges over the many small streams in the area that cross under the railroads to empty into the Lehigh River.
Thank you for the links to the photos. I remember the Maple Leaf in the early 1940s as a green leaf on a black background, so I was surprised to see a red leaf on an orange background. Could I have mis-remembered or was there a redesign?
Yes, your description of the Roomette we had agrees with mine. You entered from the train car passageway through a door. The room had a long window facing the door with two banquette seats (that could fit four people), facing one another and a fold-down long table between.
On the wall to the right was a tiny sink (stainless steel, like the sinks the dentist used to have) and two tiny faucets that turned on (with difficulty for a child) and sprang back off immediately when released. In the right corner was a tiny room behind a door with a toilet–difficult for a large person to fit into.
Above the seats and the window, the wall bulged out. After the Porter folded the table away and folded down the banquettes and turned them into a bed, he pulled on a lever on the bulge and a made-up bed folded down. I remember the bedclothes and pillows for the lower bunk as being stored in this upper one. It was a very efficient way to operate and the Sleeping Car Porters, whe were skilled in every way to my eyes, could make up a room in minutes. My Mother and Aunt (who often went with us), having been nurses, admired their dexterity.
yes the Maple leaf was a joint CN -Lehigh Valley train that crosed at Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls.though it did not split in Canada.it is possible that you changed trains at Hamilton, that would have been most likely, rather than continuing to Toronto and then changing trains…all Toronto to London trains would head into Hamilton station then reverse back to Bayview junction , then continue on to London…the Maple leaf was a very popular and well patronized train
Many thanks to: Switch7frg, wanswheel, Deggetsty, Paul D North Jr, Henry6, Schlimm, Lyon Wonder, and kchrysler for setting me on the right track (intended small pun).
You are all so knowledgeable about train history and your answers have saved me from putting a totally incorrect description in my book. Your comments made me remember even more about my childhood train-riding experiences. What a nice world it seemed – didn’t think it would ever change.
When my book is finished and if I can interest a publisher, I will re-enter the Forum and let everyone know. Again, thank you.
I am just catching up with this forum after doing some research on the Lehigh Valley RR Maple Leaf. I rode the train annually during the mid and late 50s until its demise in 1961. We traveled from the Philadelphia area (boarding at the Wayne Junction and later the Jenkintown stations of the Reading) up to Hamilton, ON. My mother was Canadian and we made the annual trip to visit her family. I have memories of the sleeping berths and then later roomettes on the Pullman cars. If you were traveling to London in all likelihood you switched trains in Hamilton to take the CN line that went to London. My relatives lived outside of Stratford ON and I do have memories of taking a train from Stratford back to Hamilton to catch the Maple Leaf back to Philadelphia.
BTW, the Lehigh Valley Historical Museum has a nice little exhibition commemorating the LVRR and there are time tables of the Black Diamond and Maple Leaf on display. The museum is located in Allentown.