What do you think was America’s finest Passenger Train?
DOGGY
GO CUBS
Best in the West AT&SF SUPER CHIEF
Best in the East PRR BROADWAY LIMITED
Second Best in the West CPR CANADIAN
Second Best in the East NYC TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED
Third Best In the West CB&Q-D&RGW-WP CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR
Third Best in the East PRR-RF&P-ACL-FEC FLORIDA SPECIAL
All postwar and all traveling first class.
I think the California Zeypher was the 2nd Best
DOGGY
GO CUBS
Best in the West: D&RGW Zephyr
Best in the Northwest: Empire Builder
Even though I worked for the D&RGW for 10 years and when it comes to good service and the best daylight scenery in America it was great, but my vote goes to the Super Chief. Trips on it in 1959, 1961 and one last time a year before Amtrak and all three rides were excellent as to timekeeping, service, meals and crew attitude. Also had a very enjoyable trip in 1961 on the Broadway Limited.
ooops! the D&RGW train was the California Zephyr - mind starts to go late at night.
The Super Chief
they were all great trains it’s to bad they will never return thanks to president eisenhower when created to build our highways that is now congested and falling apart. and to the airlines who took travel away from passenger trains. and now look at the airlines ,and still having problem, making huge concessions to the workers while the C.E.O gets rich and begging congress more money to ppull out of bankrupcy protection. while congress sill let AMTRAK .survive with enough monet to survive because some in congress say that passenger are a waste of tax payers money.
That’s why I hate IKE even thoguht their were buttons saying I Like IKE I stunk as a horse
DOGGY
GO CUBS
City of Los Angeles, pulled by PA’s.
PA’s never a regular assignment for CITY OF LOS ANGELES try LOS ANGELES LIMITED. A-B-A sets of PA’s power for postwar AT&SF CHIEF regular assignment. A-B-B sets of PA’s regular assignment for SP SHASTA DAYLIGHT after EMD E-7 A-B-B failed to maintain hot schedule. SP regularly assigned PA’s to CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO between Ogden and Oakland pier. PA’s also choice of power for CASCADE heavier train than SHASTA DAYLIGHT. SP E-Units found regular assignment out of Los Angeles on SUNSET LIMITED and GOLDEN STATE the former east as far as El Paso and the latter east as far Tucumcari where Rock Island E units were assigned to the GOLDEN STATE. East of EL Paso the The TN&O assigned PA’s to SUNSET LIMITED east of El Paso initially A-B sets. Hope this helps trainjunky29 and doesn’t burst his bubble.
Best in the West would be the Super Chief, even after it was combined with the El Capitan.
Best in the East would have been the 20th Century Limited, even with the coaches it inherited in 1958 from the Commodore Vanderbilt.
David P. Morgan wrote a delightfully opinionated article in TRAINS in 1964 or 1965 titled “The Perfect Passenger Train” which combined an interesting variety of equipment, crew and route.
- Santa Fe Super Chief
- The Texas Special
- California Zephyr
Hey Rock that Texas Special was a pretty train.
I will cast my vote for the Southerner.
I would have to say CP’s Canadian. Rode it Montreal to Vancouver and back three times in the 70’s. Second choice would be the CZ.
C. Moore
My vote would have to go to the Burlington Zephyr for it’s design, innovation and fast service… It’s legendary non-stop high speed "Dawn to Dusk " runs from Denver to Chicago set a new standard for rail travel back in the 1940’s, 1950’s and early 1960’s. The train would depart Denver at 5AM and arrrive in Chicago at 6PM the same day.
I had the pleasure to tour the original train a few weeks ago at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The seats are wide and comfortable, it was completely air conditioned, the food service was offered at your seats on portable table, and the train was modernistic looking. This was also the first passenger service to offer ice cream as a desert. The fare was a measly $6 in coach and $15 in first class.
Oh, come on. In the North Central Midwest? CNW’s 400. In other parts of the Midwest? The Southern Belle, run by KCS.
Just to throw one more name into the hat, how about the ARIZONA LIMITED All Pullman All Room Extra Fare between Chicago and Tucson/Phoenix winter only for two winters before WW II. This was probably the finest winter only train ever operated and that includes the FLORIDA SPECIAL. The 1950 SUPER CHIEF was probably just as luxurious for a postwar train and it ran daily requiring six sets of equipment. Their were only two ARIZONA LIMITED consists providing every other day service over the Rock Island - Southern Pacific route between Chicago and Phoenix.
I’ll vote for the North Coast Limited. I don’ t think any train looked as nice as the mid 50’s version, after the dome cars were added but before the stainless steel slumbercoach cars wrecked the look of the train. It’s hard to believe that in the 70 or so years it ran there was a total of one passenger fatality on this train, and it was a “freak” type of death. The train derailed on an embankment that had become unstable after weeks of steady rain. The car slid down the embankment end first, plowing into the muddy soil which eventually caused the end door to give way. A young girl was buried alive when the mud came in the doorway. Terrible thing, but when you consider the millions of passenger miles traveled and that there were more than a couple wrecks in those years it’s hard to believe there was just one fatality.
Big Boy is my sussgsetion it was one of the powerful Armican steam trains i think that anyway