I know this question has been answered before..sorry!
What was the route for FDR's train from Hyde Park to D.C.?
Thanks!
There were several routes use. Sometimes it was the train that was routed but not FDR himself. Coming down the Hudson and across the Bronx along the Harlem River to GCT if the President himself was to spend time in the City. The train then backtracked to the Bronx. From the Bronx with or without the Presidential Party, it would go a little north ont he Harlem line then turn east on a wye and branch to Port Norris and a junction with the New Haven Hell Gate Bridge Line to Pennyslvania Station. If needed, FDR and his party would board there. Otherwise it was PRR to D.C..
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Prior to the war, FDR's trains between Washington, D.C. and Hyde Park would equally use two routes; either the PRR or the B&O.
Using the PRR, in Washington loading was done at an inside freight dock of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on Fourteenth Street. From there the train would proceed (north) using the PRR freight line which bypasses Washington Union Station, rejoining the main, which is now the Northeast Corridor, near Lanham, MD. The train would continue on the PRR to Penn Station then over the Hell Gate Bridge route of the NH to New Rochelle. There the train would reverse and go to Mott Haven Jct. in the Bronx and. reverse again and travel on the NYC to Hyde Park.
The B&O route involved the same loading at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing freight dock, then by PRR switcher to the B&O at Benning, D.C. (a freight interchange) and with a B&O pilot on board, to the B&O main at Alexandria Jct., which was at Hyattsville, MD., about 6 miles out of Washington Union Station. This train only consisted of three cars: The Ferdinand Magellan for POTUS, a sleeper for his immediate staff and Secret Service and a communications car. The bulk of the train loaded in Washington Union Station and the B&O road engine would take it to Alexandria Jct. and wait for the three cars with POTUS, where the train was made solid.
From there the train traveled to Philadelphia on the B&O, then over the Reading to Bound Brook Jct. then over the CNJ to Claremont Jct. in Jersey City. This was part of the established Washington-Jersey City through route the B&O normally operated under an agreement with the other two railroads.
At Claremont Jct., a NYC engine and crew would take the train north over the National Docks Rwy. to Weehawken and then over the NYC’s West Shore line to Highland, NY, which is across the Hudson River from Poughkeepsie, NY. At Highland, a motor entourage would take everyone across the river on the Mid-Hudson Bridge and on to Hyde Park. The train would then deadhead to Albany to be turned and serviced and return to Highland for the return trip to Washington.
During the war, concerns for security over the P.R.R. route, particularly at Penn Station and with the reverse movements, resulted in the train being routed solely over the B&O.
I recall reading in an article about New Haven's Maybrook yard that FDR's train would occasionally come thru there. The author commented that the switches were spiked before the train came thru.
Yes, that was done as a matter of practice for safety, to any switches that would affect his route. Also a Train Order was issued.that prevented any trains from passing POTUS and even had adjacent yard switchers stop working and tie down, 30-miutes prior to train time.
Once POTUS had cleared, the track crews would unspike the switches and the traffic would resume.
When crews were called for POTUS (the day before) they were only told it was a "passenger extra". But on the B&O at Washington, the tip off was "And wear clear overalls." Most people on the railroad had no idea that the train would be POTUS but even so, it was relatively easy to figure.
The "Code Phrase" on the Jersey Central that FDR was coming their way was was "Buck Benny Rides Again!"
Via Maybrook is something I heard, too. Up from D.C. to Trenton then the Bel.Del to Phillipsburg and LHR to Maybrook and NH across the Hudson to NYC track sounds resaonable.
Hi--I get the B&O route (daughter went to school in P'keepsie) but understand the PR route. Did it terminate in New Rochelle and then the President traveled by car to Hyde Park?
Also, did the NYC have a car siding at Hyde Park?
Wayne
No, PRR route would be via NH at Port Norris yard then a NYC-NH connection to just north of Harmon on the Harlem line, then south leg of wye to Harmon and north leg of wye to Hudson line.
Henry, I think by Harmon you meant Mott Haven (Harmon is the electric to steam/diesel engine change point about 30 miles north of NY City)
Brain Freeze! Yeah...I said the same thing earlier in this thread and knew it was wrong...but, ah, well, Brain Freeze!
I failed to add the the PRR electric would take the train all the way to New Rochelle (with a NH pilot on board) There the PRR electric would cut off and a NH electric would couple to the rear and pull the train to Mott Haven and head south and cut off. A NYC steam engine would couple to the other end, which was the front of the train, and take it to Hyde Park.
Over the years, selecting alternative routes and variations of the standard ones for POTUS, was a matter of good security planning.
The New Rochelle routing sounds much easier than the routing I listed, and more feasible. However, the routing I gave is the one described in the book about the FDR funeral train which may have been a routing only for that move.
Hyde Park was a station on the New York Central, but I'm not sure if it had a sidetrack for trains at the station or not. It sounds like other trains weren't usually running when the POTUS train was so I expect it wouldn't be a problem if the train was stopped on one of the mainline tracks - plus NYC had a four track mainline so there would still be three clear tracks anyway.
I believe in the book about the FDR Funeral Train it states that there was a PVC siding at Hyde Park; if not at the station, then behind the Roosevelt home as was often the case for monied and important people at that time.
I searched the web but could not find a description of a PVC siding. What does that describe?
Private Car. Private Carriage.
I finally found an article on the Hyde Park siding. Trains, June, 2010 by Kevin Keefe
I think it's unlikely FDR had his own sidetrack or spur to his house. The estate was near the tracks, but at that point I believe the tracks are on a causeway with water on both sides, so I don't know if it would have been all that practical. (Plus I think the estate is a bit elevated above the track/water level?) I'd think it's more likely the president got off the train at the station and went by car the mile or so to his home.
It was so indicated in the book about his funeral train...
Was the siding at the station, or at his estate??
I believe it was at or near the station.
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