During the summer of 1987, I rode Amtrak's version of the Broadway Limited between Crestline, OH and Chicago. I don't remember a whole lot about the trip and I'm still mad at myself for not snapping any pictures or preserving any of the freebie souveniers (ticket stubs, boarding pass, timetables, Amtrak literature, etc.). I do recall riding in the dome car most of the way, particularly along Hwy. 30 in Indiana along the former PRR/PC main since I was very familiar with that segment from childhood trips to visit my grandparents. I know for certain the rolling stock was not the double-deck Superliners of today.
Might anyone have any information on what type of locomotive power was used on the Broadway Limited in that timeframe? I'm fairly certain that E-units were not the power used on the trip. I can't recall the appearance of the locomotives except for what glimpses I saw as the train rounded curves (the train was 45 min. late getting into Crestline and we didn't depart until something like 5:15 AM).
In 1987, the power would probably be a pair of F40PH's.
Good Morning:
F40s
work safe
Question:
New York to Chicago Broadway Limited. Did they ever run "Dome Cars" under wire east of Harrisburg? I always understood the danger to Dome Passengers in event of a broken or snagged wire prevented operation in the east.
Don U. TCA 73-5735
If there was a dome car on the Broadway, it was added westbound at Harrsiburg and removed eastbound at Harrisburg. I often rode the Broadway between Lancaster and New York in connection with work in Lancaster (but had to buy a ticket from Harrisburg to do so! Worth it for the added coach comfort and decent meals. Once the conductor told me "You have friends on board and you can join them in their double bedroom pair" (the partition was removed) where three railfan friends were returning from Chicago) Never saw a dome car and of course the power was either FP-40's to Philadelphia and GG-1's to NY or GG-1's on both legs. (At that time the train reversed at 30th Street and did not use the bypass at Zoo tower called the "NY-Pittsburgh subway".) I occasionally rode it to or from Chicago and don't remember any dome car added.
In the recent issue of Classic Trains, on the Lackawanna, it appears that EL passenger service to Chicago quite in 1966. This isn't so. The Budd tavern-lounge-observations may have been removed at the time and the name Phoebe Snow dropped (never used in Chicago anyway where I remember the Dearborn Station board still retained "Lake Cities", and the "Lake Cities: name restored, but the train was still running in the Autumn of 1967 when I rode it westbound from Hoboken to Chicago. Sleeper dropped at Youngstown, diner at Huntington, coach and head end only into Chicago.
Modify the above with some memory recall. When the FP-40's ran through to Philadelphia, we generally had an AEM-7, or perhaps two, couple on the other end to pull us to New York. When GG-1's were used, a head-end power car was required, because by 1987, the heritage equipment had been converted to head-end power. I think 1987 was the very last year for GG-1's on Amtrak, and they lasted only a year or two longer on New Jersey Transit.
In all my travels, I don't remember E-60's ever on the Broadway. Did anyone else see them?
The power on the Lake Cities when I rode were E-8 or E-9 A units.
DMUinCT wrote: Did they ever run "Dome Cars" under wire east of Harrisburg? I always understood the danger to Dome Passengers in event of a broken or snagged wire prevented operation in the east.
Did they ever run "Dome Cars" under wire east of Harrisburg? I always understood the danger to Dome Passengers in event of a broken or snagged wire prevented operation in the east.
Most likely the dome car was running on the Capitol Limited portion of the train. Initially, Amtrak's Capitol ran combined with the Broadway between Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Just noticed this thread. At that time (1987) I would go down to the depot and watch the arrivals of both the Broadway and Capital on their way to Chicago. In reviewing my photos, one of the trains had a dome (as stated earlier, probably the Capital). No E units, I think they were gone by about 82 or so.
I had forgotten but there were private cars regularly on the rear of one of the trains, they were marked American European Express. One such photo shows four such cars.
Does anyone know the arrival and departure times for Broadway and Capital in Chicago at that time?
ed
During the summer of 1989, Broadway Limited 40 would leave Chicago at 8:30 pm and 41 would arrive in Chicago at 8:27 am. Capitol Limited 30 would leave at 7:00 pm and 31 would arrive at 9:57 am.
The schedule shows 30 and 40 took 1:02 to reach Valpo from Chicago, but 31 and 41 took 1:26 to reach Chicago from Valpo.
nanaimo73 wrote: The schedule shows 30 and 40 took 1:02 to reach Valpo from Chicago, but 31 and 41 took 1:26 to reach Chicago from Valpo.
Probably some padding in the last stages of the schedule to help with on-time arrivals. It is not a recent or unusual practice. I've noticed similar differences with Wrightwood-CUS timings on the line that I ride (Metra Southwest).
Might it also have been based on backing into CUS on the inbound move? That would have probably taken extra time.
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