my mom needs some railroad info for her book.

[Anonymous]

my Mom is just about done with a book she is writing, but she needs some railroad information.  the main character in the book is going to be traveling from New York City to Springfield Missouri in february of 1937.  what she needs is what railroads the character might have taken, what types of passenger cars/sleeping cars were being used on those trains, and how long the trip might have taken.

 

any other information you can give would be greatly appreciated.  thanks! 

[KCSfan]

The railroads would have been either the New York Central or Pennsylvania from NY to St.L and the St.Louis-San Francisco (Frisco) from St.L to Springfield. Equipment on all trains would be heavyweight, non-streamlined coaches, diner, and Pullman sleepers with probably a Pullman open platform observation lounge car on the rear. The sleepers would be open sections (upper and lower berths) and some would have double bedrooms and compartments as well.

My early 1950 Official Guide show the PRR's Penn-Texas and the NYC's Southwestern Limited leaving NY shortly after 7:00pm and arriving in St.L around 3-4:00pm the following afternoon. The Frisco's Texas Special left St.L at 5:30 and arrived in Springfield at 10:25pm. Train schedules in 1937 were probably pretty much the same but someone with a pre-WW2 Offficial Guide will have to give you the exact schedules and names of the trains at that time.

In New York City the NYC trains would have departed from Grand Central Terminal and their route would be via Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. PRR trains would have departed from Penn Station and would run via Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Indianapolis. All the trains would have arrived and departed from Union Station in St.L.

Mark

[timz]

They have a March 1937 schedule book in the library, but maybe the following from August 1937 is close enough.

Five trains on the StL-SF from StL to Springfield:

lv StL 1330, arr 1910

lv 1730 arr 2300

lv 1830 arr 0030

lv 2359 arr 0525

lv 0730 arr 1440 (the local train)

So say you want to get the afternoon train-- you can leave NY Penn Sta at 1705 and arrive StL at 1259; if you miss the connection just wait for the later train. That PRR train, the Spirit of St Louis, is the fastest train from NY to StL, and that combination is the fastest NY to Springfield. PRR also had a train out of NY at 1805 (arr StL 1510) and another at 2035 (arr StL 1655). Those three trains all carried sleepers, coaches, a diner and a lounge (dunno if coach passengers would be allowed into the lounge). PRR also had more possibilities that were a couple hours slower.

NY Central's top train to StL was the Southwestern Ltd, leaving Grand Central at 2000 and arriving StL at 1658. It picked up a diner at Cleveland-- east of there it just had a "lounge with buffet". Or you could leave GCT at 1435 on a train to Cincinnati that would stop at Galion OH at 0340 to shuffle cars with the Cleveland-StL train-- in other words, no thru train but definitely thru sleepers and looks like thru coaches too. That one would get you to StL at 1250. You'd lose the diner at Syracuse and pick up a diner-lounge at Galion.

You could leave GCT at 1800 and arrive StL at 1600; that train had a diner-lounge east of Syracuse and west of Cleveland. 

Or if you don't mind changing cars you could leave GCT at 0830, arr Cleveland 2115, leave there at 2145 and arr StL at 0750. No diner on the Cle-StL train, just a diner-lounge; both coaches and sleepers.

There was also the B&O, leaving Jersey City at 1320 arriving StL at 1320, or leaving Jersey City at 1542 arriving StL at 1640.

Coach fare NY-StL was $21.15 on the PRR and NY Central, probably the B&O too; first class (a seat in the sleeper during the day-- porter would make the bed for overnight) would be $37.55 for the cheapest bed, an upper berth, or $39.00 for a lower berth, or you could get a room to yourself for a few $ more. If you're short of dollars I assume you could ride that NY Central day train to Cleveland and just get a berth on the overnight train west of there. (Or coach all the way, of course.) Coach fare StL to Springfield was probably 2 cents a mile; dunno if the total fare NY-Spr was less than the total of the two fares.

[Anonymous]

wow. thank you very much for the information! :D my Mom says thanks too.

[wjstix]

Which train the character took would depend on how much money they had. The Southwest Ltd. on the NYC was the equal (or a very close second) to the premium-fare Twentieth Century, and would be more likely to be used by someone who could afford to pay extra for sleeping accomodations etc. Someone with less money available might take one of the NYC's lesser trains as a coach passenger...not sure if the SW in 1937 was all-Pullman like the 20th Century (i.e. no coaches) or not??

One thing that may be hard for someone brought up in the Amtrak era is just how many passenger trains there used to be. We tend to think in terms of there being a train between two cities, whereas in 1937 you might have 10 or 20 trains to choose from, depending on when you wanted to arrive or leave, whether you wanted sleeping car accomodations or not and which route you wanted to take. For example, someone going NYC to St.Louis might choose to go via Chicago for business or personal reasons.

[timz]

...not sure if the SW in 1937 was all-Pullman like the 20th Century (i.e. no coaches) or not?

It did have coaches, as I forgot to mention.