It occurred to me that this would be just as well suited, if not better suited to this forum.
The question, originally posted on the trains mag forum, is as follows: What is your favorite passenger train that isn’t one of the famous ones, such as the Super Chief, The Canadian, the 20th Century & Broadway Limiteds. Could be anything from a bunch of heavyweights going at a good click playing second fiddle to a streamliner, to a coach with a schedule tacked onto the back of a short freight on a branchline.
This is an easy one for me! The TH&B-PC RDC between Toronto and Buffalo, hands down. You could stand alongside the engineer if an RDC4 wasn’t leading,(all baggage/mail) BUT if one was it was better, provided the baggage section was in the lead, since more fans could soak up the atmosphere. Yeah, we had to leave when we got to Fort Erie and go back into the states, but the rides on that train are well recalled. You can’t ride like that anywhere except in a handful of places these days, most of them are out in the boondocks.(Alaska and Northern Ontario-VIA)
Pax is Latin for Peace, so Peace will come to the world with the passenger train revivial which is possibly why lots of people do use “Pax train” as an abbreviation for passenger train.
Donna Nobis Pachem! (Pachem is the acusative -grammatical term- for pax.)
The Flying Crow the companion train to the Kansas City Southern’s more famous Southern Belle.
Between Shreveport-Kansas City the Crow was an overnight train with sleepers, coaches, diner and observation lounge. South of Shreveport it split into two sections, one to Beaumont and the other to New Orleans. In the 1960-67 time period each of these were only three cars, a combine baggage/coach, one full coach and an observation/lounge/cafe headed by an E-8. The black, yellow and red paint of these nifty little lightweight streamliners sparkled in the Louisiana sunshine and their passage was a sight to behold.
How about the GM&O doodlebug from Bloomington Il. to Kansas city 6 days a week. One had an “oberservation platform” on the trailer for viewing the sights, and a significant part of the trip could be accomplished as a round trip, as the crew from each train changed at, I believe, Vandalia, Mo. and then worked back to the origin point, so they had to stop at the same way. Plus, especially westbound, they could be integrated into a Midwest-California trip by using them to connect to the the best of the Rock, Santa Fe, Mopac, or UP that evening in K.C.
My favorites were the Internationals of the GN. Nice little five car streamliners with either and E7 on the point or a pair of F units. Had the pleasure of riding these trains at least once a month for over eight years. Grandparents lived in Vancouver BC and I lived in Seattle. The two Port cars were my favorites the Port of Vancouver and Port of Seattle. They were the Parlor Observations and my brother and I always seemed to get the rear facing seats. I think my dad arranged it that way so they could have peace and quiet for the trip. Few trains offered the spectacular scenery found along this four hour trip on a clear day, which for anyone residing in the Northwest knows all to well doesn’t happen all that often.
I think my favorite-- I’ve never ridden it, only seen a few pictures-- the Santa Fe’s California Special also known as the Texan when heading to Houston. I met this train through its timetime table in an old Official Guide, when I was taking a vacation to California by car, driving as close as possible along the Santa Fe from the middle of Texas up to Clovis NM. I reconstructed this train mentally as I followed it route and then started following it in reading, especially in A Quarter Century of Santa Fe Consists byFred W. Frailey. (Godfrey, Ill.:RPC Publications, 1974),208p.
I have been collecting cars to model in N scale, though I don’t have a suitable place to run it. I especially like the mid-50s appearance of the train, mixed stainless steel corrugated streamlined equipment for the cars that would be carried through to California on the San Francisco Chief, heavyweight cars running only between Houston or Dallas and Clovis, and a two-tone gray smoothside “semistreamlined” Valley series sleeper.
A Houston section of the train left Houston late afternoon or early evening for Temple. Then it turned west, northwest at Temple toeward Clovis. Meanwhile, some cars from Dallas left Dallas early evening on a train heading for Fort Worth and then north. Cars destined for San Angelo, Clovis and California came off at Fort Worth and headed for Brownwood in a train sometimes called the Angelo.
The Angelo and the California Special met at Brownwood in the middle of the night and traded cars. A car or two from the Houston train would be placed on the Angelo to provide service to San Angelo, Texas, and two or three cars from the Angelo would go on the Cal Special. The Cal Special heading for Lubbock where it would drop a baggage-express and/or mail car, and then on to Clovis. At Clovis, California bound cars would be cut out and the rest of the train turned for a trip back to Texas.
The Gulf Wind, a nice SAL-L&N compact littlel streamliner, Jacksonville - New Orleans. And the Nelly Bly. New York - Atlantic City via Trenton and Franfort Junction and the PR&SL.
Until the mid 1950’s,the B&O ran a passenger train along the Ohio River between Wheeling and Huntington,WVa. The train from Huntington to Wheeling was a night train that left Huntington around 10PM and arrived in Wheeling about 7:30AM. It’s been a long time and I don’t remember the exact times. What was memorable about this 225 mile trip in the night were the people on the train and the train itself.The train stopped almost anywhere,passengers got on and off at all stops.The car was never full,sometimes only the two of use that were going to Wheeling were in the coach.The crew was very friendly.
The train was pulled by a Pacific,sometimes a Mikado.Then several head-end cars,a coach and on the end a PULLMAN. This was reported to be the shortest Pullman run in the US. I really liked this trip because EVERYONE was very friendlyand the fare was cheap.Those were the days.
Tennessee Central Nos. 1 and 2 between Nashville and Harriman, in the late 1940’s. Pulled by a light Mountain type, it sported an observation car with a tier of back-facing seats, for viewing some of the prettiest scenery east of the Rockies. On No. 2, the flagman would take your order for a fifty-cent box lunch after leaving Lebanon. The order would be left with the agent at Carthage Jct., who’d telegraph it to the Operator at Cookeville. There you’d get a box crammed full of freshly fried chicken, potato salad, an apple,a cup of banana or rice pudding, and a paper cup of sweet tea.
I previously said the Flying Crow of the KCS but I’d be remiss in not mentioning the Delta Eagle. It was the littlest and least known of the MoPac/T&P fleet of Eagle trains. It was inaugurated early in the post WWII period and ran between Memphis, TN and Tallullah, LA but by the mid- 50’s was cut back to McGhee, AR. Can you imagine a streamlined Eagle train running to those two end points? I have seen pics of it with but two coaches and a baggage/express/RPO car. While short in length and running on an obscure route its rear car sported a drumhead sign that proudly stated it was the Delta Eagle of the Missouri Pacific.
My favorite is the Jersey Central’s Blue Comet, it ran daily from NYC (Ferry or Limo to CNJ Terminal in Jersey City) to Atlantic City. Though it only ran for eleven years (4/1928 to 9/1940) it was significant enough for several manufactures to model it. To the best of my knowledge, the CNJ was the only Regional or ‘Bridge’ Line to run a Class 1 type express.
But what about the Reading’s Crusader and Wall Street? They also meet your definition. And the Gulf and Mobile’s Rebel, before it was merged into the GM&O. OH yes, also the Electroliner and the several Illinois Terminal streamliners. Finally, the new York, Onterio, and Western’s Mouintaneer, even though it used wooden cars.
I’d have to nominate the New Haven’s Berkshire service between NY Grand Central Terminal and Pittsfield, MA with a change of power from electric to steam or diesel in Danbury, CT until the end of electrification between Norwalk and Danbury. EP-2 electrics with mixed consists of heavyweight, pre-war lightweight, and post-war lightweight cars and RS-2’s standing by in Danbury. Even in later years when the service was handled by FL-9’s it was still quite a show, if not very timely.
You beat me to it in citing this one!!! I second the motion strongly! Let me add that The Berkshire traversed some of the most gorgeous country in New England.