Capitol Limited sleepers

[Anonymous]

I've been looking all over Google and I can't find much: I'm looking for a list of the names of the lightweight sleepers on the Capitol Limited from approx. 1948 onward. I've gotten the observation/sleeper/lounge names and the dome/sleeper names. ANY help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

WELCOME to the forums[#welcome] You will be variously entertained, aggravated and even informed by your fellow members.
If you can find a copy, Wayner's "Car Names, Numbers, and Consists" covers the lightweight era quite well in these matters and you will find the answers to your questions on B&O and virtually every other US road there.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your help; I think I see by your username,( with the Hegewich [sp?] that you live in the Chicago area; I grew up there and my father worked for the B&O..
Thanks again....[^]

[passengerfan]

The CAPITOL LIMITED Sleeping cars after 1948 were as follows:
5-Roomette 3-Drawing Room 1-Single Bedroom Strata Dome sleepers
7601 STARLIGHT DOME
7602 SUNLIGHT DOME
Added to CAPITOL LIMITED in December 1950 ex C&O cars originally built by Budd for the CHESSIE

14-Roomette 4-Double Bedroom Cars built by P/S between April - June 1948 initilly two cars from this group ran in each consist this was later cut back to one as more lightweight cars were added. The cars changed almost day to day.

7010 PAW PAW
7011 MAHONING
7012 MONOCACY
7013 MUSKINGUM
7014 PATUXENT
7015 CACAPON
7016 SANGAMON
7017 SCIOTO

10-Roomette 6-Double Bedroom Sleeping Cars
These cars delivered by Pullman Standard in March 1950 and three each were assigned to the CAPITOL LIMITED consists. The names of the cars could change from day to day but their were three each in each consist between Washington and Chicago.
7040 AUGLAISE
7041 CATOCTIN
7042 GUYANDOTTE
7043 KOKOSING
7044 MUSCATATUCK
7045 OPEQUON
7046 SHENANGO
7047 TUSCARAWAS
7048 TYGART
7049 YOUGHIOGHENY

In May - June 1954 the B&O received eleven Budd built 16 BIRD class Duplex Roomette 4-Double Bedroom Sleeping cars. Two of these cars were assigned to each CAPITOL LIMITED consist one a New York - Chicago car the other a Washington - Chicago car.
7100 BOBOLINK
7101 CARDINAL
7102 GULL
7103 KINGFISHER
7104 MOCKINGBIRD
7105 ORIOLE
7106 QUAIL
7107 ROBIN
7108 SWAN
7109 THRUSH
7110 WREN

In 1957 four additional used 10-6 sleeping cars were purchased from the C&O and added to the B&O pool of these cars.

7050 ALLEGHENY
7051 CUYAHOGA
7052 SCHUYLKILL
7053 SHENANDOAH

In addition there was a heavyweight streamlined 12-1 operating in the CAPITOL LIMITED until 1957. These were cars that had been streamlined for the 1938 CAPITOL LIMITED.
BRADSHAW
CASTLETON
GREEN BANK
GREEN SPRING
WESTFIELD

If you need any additional help with the CAPITOL LIMITED consists please let me know.

[daveklepper]

The heavyweight streamlined cars had six wheel trucks and a higher arch roof. The ex-Chessie cars had cutaway beds in the roomettes allowing a normal-sized person to lower the bed without opening up the door to the aisle and pushing the curtain out to the aisle with his/her rear end. I think the Budd-built cars may also have had this feature, but I am not sure.

[Marc6850]

Are there photos of each representative car type?

[rcdrye]

Here's an ex-B&O  16 Dup Rmt 4 DBR car "Thrush" in Amtrak paint.  Duplex roomettes overlapped, but had full width beds. SCL and later Amtrak sold the rooms as slumbercoach rooms.

http://www.trainweb.org/amtrakpix/locoshots/slumbercoach/2536A.html

Here's a C&O 10-6 identical to the Capitol Limited cars.  B&O rebuilt some without the corrugated sides.

http://www.cwrr.com/Lounge/Reports/green/green13.jpg

And here's a 14-4, plan 4153B (B&O's were plan 4153) built at about the same time for the Frisco.

http://condrenrails.com/Beirne/CImmaron%20River%20Trip/CimRiv2012-10-900.jpg

Pictures of the 1938 Capitol show the general shape of the 12-1s, which kept the original paired window arrangement, but with sealed windows.

[Deggesty]

As to duplex roomettes, I found them to be just as comfortable as roomettes, having ridden in three: Minneapolis to Milwaukee in 1968 (sold as a duplex roomette), Jacksonville to Washington in 1971 (sold as a slumbercoach), and Boston to Philadelphia in 1974 (sold as a roomette, just as VIA sells them).

[bill613a]

There were actually three dome sleepers. The two you listed plus #7600 Moonlight Dome. Two were assigned to the CL (daily) and one ran on the SHENANDOAH (every other day).

[BaltACD]

So far no one has mentioned the former C&O Observation cars that graced the rear of the Capitol Limited from about 1950 on.  Napanee and Wawasee. 

 

The B&O also had sister cars Dana & Metcalf that had a diaphram afixed to the observation end and the cars were used on the Capitol's sister train The Ambassador the ran from Washington to Detroit.

[ACY Tom]

I don't think any of the 10-6's were ever rebuild with fluting replaced by flat sides. In the 1940's-50's, B&O preferred flat sides, and their 14-4's were built that way in 1948. In 1950, B&O took over the orders for ten 10-6's from a C&O order. These cars would have been built to C&O specs with fluted sides, but they had not been completed, so Pullman Standard completed them with flat sides according to B&O's preference. Apparently the four flat end lounges, also taken over from a C&O order about that time, had already reached a certain stage of completion, so they were delivered with fluted sides. In 1957, B&O bought four more of the 10-6's from C&O. These cars had been completed with fluted sides according to the C&O specs, and were sold to B&O that way. Except for the fluted sides, they were essentially identical to the flat sided cars obtained in 1950. These four, along with the flat end obs cars, retained their fluted sides until retired from B&O service.  

Tom

[BaltACD]

The stainless steel fluting on the C&O cars were their achilles heel - over the years rust and corrosion accumulated on the steel sheeting that underlaid the fluting.  When the fluting was removed it was found the cars were not economically repairable in many cases.

[ACY Tom]

BaltACD

The stainless steel fluting on the C&O cars were their achilles heel - over the years rust and corrosion accumulated on the steel sheeting that underlaid the fluting.  When the fluting was removed it was found the cars were not economically repairable in many cases.

 

I've heard that, too. One of theB&O square end obs cars still exists as a P.V., and I know it has lost its fluting. I've also heard there's at least one contemporary Pullman Standard NKP car, which also lost its fluting. My point was that the B&O's fluted cars retained their fluted sides as long as they remained in B&O service, but there were some that never had fluted sides. What happened to the fluted cars at a later date is a different matter. 

Tom

[JOHN L CLARK]

I collect and & all B&O passenger train consists and interested in acquiring them, for my collection.

[rcdrye]

The B&O P-S cars with fluted siding all came from the C&O order.  The ones that got as far as Amtrak service with flutes intact retained them until retired.

[NP Eddie]

As information for all, Wayner's "Car Names, Numbers, and Consists" (Wayner Publications, 1972), pages 69 through 72, lists all the names of the various passenger train cars ordered by the C&O and their dispositions.

Ed Burns