Why did C&O´s Chessie Limited never run a proper mile? What was the problem with the train? I know that the locomotives which were assigned to pull that train also were problematic (C&O´s M-1 Steam Turbine monsters), but I don´t think this was the reason for the dilemma. Can anybody give me a “planned” consist for the Chessie Limited? All I know so far is that there were already Dome Lounge Observations, Dome Sleepers and Dome Coaches built for that train, but are there still any other cars? I also heard that the train should receive an aquarium, library and stewardess nurse service.
Any info on C&O´s Chessie would be great.
By the way, can somebody give me a list of C&O name trains? The only trains I know from the C&O are the George Washington and the Sportsman, but I even don´t know between which cities they ran.
I think Chessie service was to be Washington DC to Cincinnati .The B&O beat the C&O to it and proved the service was not needed and C&O dropped their plans for the Chessie. The locos were scrapped and the cars sold to other railroads .
The FFV, Fast Flying Virginian was another named train.
The C&O found out just a bit late in the process, that “Chessie” just wasn’t going to work out, financially. Robert R. Young, never really learned about rail passenger service away from densely populated areas of the country, much to his regret, when he found the New York Central careening toward financial disaster, with passenger losses and other factors (over-regulation) fueling the fires that ultimately consumed not only NYC, but arch rival PRR and many more, too!
The three C&O name passenger trains ran for many years, giving reasonable but not very fast service from Newport News and Washington, DC, to Cincinannati and Louisville. The line from Newport News and the line from Washington (actually from Orange, VA, with trackage rights on the Southern to Alexandria and then the RF&P into Washington Union Station) actually joined at Gordensville, but the trains were combined in Charlottesville, which had two stations. The eastern one, the C&O station, was where the trains were combined, but they also stopped at the Union Station, where the C&O line west crossed the Southern main line. I remember the three named trains from steam days. Heavyweight six-wheel truck coaches and Pullmans, and a Solorium observation, not open platform, on the George Washington, and the others may also have had one. Greenbriar 4-8-4’s used west of Charlottesville and Pacifics east.
TRAINS ran an excellent article about the Chessie (The Story of the Train that was but never was) in the late 1960’s. C&O was best known for its service to the Virginia resort towns rather than between its online cities. Robert R. Young was looking for a way to showcase his ideas about passenger service but he had the wrong railroad with which to do it. As mentioned above and in the article, he basically proposed a daylight service between Washington and Cincinnati for which there was little to no real demand, as B&O demonstrated quite nicely with the “Cincinnatian”.
Young also blew it with his massive passenger-car order to re-equip the rest of C&O’s trains. It was too big and wasn’t placed until 1946, well after most other roads had already placed their orders. A fair number of cars were trimmed from the order, and many of the rest were delivered to other roads directly.
The equipment was locomotives
500-502 Steam turbine-electrics (to Baldwin 1950 scrap)
490-493 4-6-4s, streamlined for connecting services (490 preserved)
(The coaling tower in Clifton Forge was streamlined as well)
Passenger cars-
1400-1402 Coach-combine, 28 passengers
1500-1511 Luxury coach, 36 passengers, plus 8 lounge seats
1600-1609 Luxury coach, 36 passengers, plus 8 lounge seats
1700-1702 Family coach, 32 passengers
1850-1852 Cabin-dome, 3 drawing rooms, 1 compartment, 5 roomettes, dome
1875-1877 Coach-lounge-dome-obsevation, 24 passengers
1900-1902, Lounge-lunch-counter-tavern,
1920-1922 Diner-lounge-flat-end observation, for connecting trains
1940-1942 Lunch-counter-kitchen,
1970-1972 Full diner-theater car
A few dispositions: the cabin-domes wound up on B&O and served as dome-sleepers on the “Capitol Ltd” until April 30, 1971. The dome-obs were sold to D&RGW and served on the “Royal Gorge”. One of them wound up in private hands and was operated under contract as a parlor car on RI’s “Quad Cities Rocket” until RI discontinued its intercity passenger service around 1976.
The introduction of the Powatan Arrow on the N&W didn’t help either. The Trains issue about the Chessie was published in 1968, as I recall. As I also recall, most of the equipment was sold to South America, with the exception of the single units mentioned above. The big turbines were scrapped, and the branch line steamers were stripped of their shells and continued to word the coal fields into the early 50’s. One of the few things I remember from the article is the acquarium idea was a really bad one, as the fish died immediately after the train went into service, due to all the motion and sloshing of the water.[8)]
I had a weird situation occur back in 72 when the high school marching band I was a member of went to Pikeville, KY for a parade. When we had marched, we were given the rest of the day off the wander around the town, and I naturally ended up at the local train depot, still in use at that time. Sitting on the house track was a C&O passenger car. The station master told me that the C&O was dumping passenger service from all over the system, and were donating cars to towns for possible preservation. He told me I could look in the car, and if I could figure out a way to do it, he’d GIVE me the car, as it was tieing up his siding, and the city of Pikeville didn’t want it.[:O]
It was one of the sleepers from the Chessie, and had the curved vestibules that the Chessie touted in their advertisements (no corners to run into when the train was running). I was only 17 at the time, and had NO clue how to get this car moved to my home, so that was a pipe dream. Last I heard, Pikeville DID accept the car, but I have no idea where it ever ended up.
I also have an ashtray that was specifically made for the Chessie trains, and is one of my proudest possessions.
Regards! Michaelson
It’s been to long since I read the article, so I honestly don’t remember if it even said which country purchased the equipment.
The article was either in the November or December issue of Trains, 1968. I had my original copy for YEARS until it disappeared in our last move, and I haven’t seen it since.[:(!]
The order was for 46 cars, three 14 car trains (one spare) and the rest for the Hampton Roads connecting trains.
According to the July 1968 issue-
1400, 1401 to Argentina
1402 kept by C&O
1500, 1600, 1602, 1603, 1605, 1609 to ACL (ACL 270-275)
1504, 1505, 1510, 1601, 1604, 1606, 1607, 1608 to SAL (6227-6234)
1501, 1502, 1503, 1506, 1507, 1508, 1509, 1511 to Argentina
1700-1702 to C&EI 605-606, 475
1850-1852 to B&O (7600-7602)
1875-1877 to D&RGW (1248-1250)
1900 to C&O 19, then NYC 23, then Adios II
1901, 1902 to Argentina
1920-1922 other C&O service
1940-1942 and 1970-1972 to ACL (127-129, Winter Haven, St. Petersburg, Fort Meyers
DPM also mentioned in the sidebar above the Table of Contents on page 3 of the same issue about the interesting stories of other proposed streamliners which never made it into service. He specifically mentioned B&O’s “Columbian”, which was intended as a Chicago-Washington daylight train but became an overnighter; and the “Golden Rocket”, for which one set of equipment (out of two proposed) was actually built.
For the one who wanted the information on the GOLDEN ROCKET hope this helps.
CRI&P/SP
GOLDEN ROCKET
(1948)
By Al
The second new train of 1948 that failed to enter service was the GOLDEN ROCKET. A single new lightweight streamlined consist was completed by Pullman Standard in 1948 and delivered to the Rock Island for a proposed every third day 39-3/4 hour deluxe extra fare train between Chicago and Los Angeles via the Rock Island and Southern Pacific. This would have been the third rail route between Chicago and Los Angeles to operate 39-3/4 hour scheduled passenger train services the other two being the C&NW – UP CITY OF LOS ANGELES route and the AT&SF SUPER CHIEF and EL CAPITAN route. The proposed GOLDEN ROCKET would have required two sets of equipment for the proposed every third day service and only the Rock Island received theirs. The Southern Pacific canceled there set soon after the order was placed and before construction had actually started on their cars. The Rock Island GOLDEN ROCKET train set made a single trip to Los Angeles and even ventured over Pacific Electric tracks to Hollywood as a promotional gimmick for the new train but alas it was never meant to be. Like the CHESSIE the Rock Island quietly dropped promotion of the train and it returned east. The new cars built for the GOLDEN ROCKET were added to the GOLDEN STATE car pool. Except for the 22 Roomette Sleeping car that was always some what of an orphan on the Rock Island its only lengthy assignment being to one of the CORN BELT ROCKET train sets between Chicago and Omaha. Power for the proposed GOLDEN ROCKET train sets would have been a pair of EMD E7 units east of Tucumcari and a trio of EMD E7 units west of Tucumcari. It has been said the principle reason for the cancellation of the GOLDEN ROCKET was that Southern Pacific track between Tucumcari and Los Angeles was not suitable for speeds above 79 mph and any passenger trains operating above 79 mph required automatic train stop. The Southern Pacif