1946 Pullman Fare question - Hoboken, NJ to Elmira, NY

[KathyJB]

My mother was a WWII war bride, and upon arriving from England in New York on the Queen Mary in February 1946, was supplied government-paid transportation to Elmira via train. She had with her my little sister. My mum is no longer with us, but I have a scrapbook where she kept mementos of this big step in her life - coming to America. The Pullman ticket she received, along with luggage tags, etc. indicated the fare between Hoboken and Elmira was $160. That somehow doesn't sound right to me. Could it have been $1.60? $16.00? Just curious! I have photos of course, but at this point haven't figured out how to include them with my post. Being my first post, maybe I'm not allowed. ;-)

KathyJB

Fernandina Beach, Florida

[NKP guy]

Hello and welcome!

   While I can't answer your question exactly, I can tell you what I learned from looking at an Erie RR timetable from ten years earlier (1936); I don't own one from the 1940's.

   However, in 1936, the railroad fare between NYC and Elmira was $9.01, to which one added an additional $2.03 for a seat fare (parlor car?) or $3.00 for a lower berth; in other words, $11.04 for a seat, or $12.01 for a lower berth.  Adjusted for inflation (1936 to 1946), that works out to $15.49 for a seat, or $16.85 for a lower berth.

   Further, in 1936 the Erie had 5 (!) trains daily between NYC & Elmira, with trains arriving there at 7:40 AM, 3:52 PM, 6:56 PM, 10:36 PM and 2:35 AM.  I imagine in 1946 the number of trains and their times was similar.

   I hope this helps.  And I give your mother credit for having a lot of courage to leave kith & kin and move to an unseen country with a little girl.  

 

 

[Overmod]

Kathy, your initial posts will be moderated automatically until someone approves you.  That should not take long.

The Kalmbach sites are intentionally set up not to host or cache images.  To get one to show in a post, you have to have a valid URL for it -- which probably means hosting it on a site like flickr, for most people -- and then use the little "chain" or "image" insertion tools in the last row above the text entry window.  There are a number of more detailed threads on 'how to do it' both here and in the Model Railroader forum.

[timz]

The DL&W timetable for 15 Feb 1946

http://www.jon-n-bevliles.net/RAILROAD/PTTs/dlw021546.pdf

says fare to Elmira was $8.31, plus $2.35 for a lower berth. If your sister was 12 (?) or less, half fare for her. Dunno if the 15% federal tax (not included above) would show on the piece of paper you're looking at.

"in 1936, the railroad fare between NYC and Elmira was $9.01"

That's before fares were reduced, eff June 1936.

[NKP guy]

 Indeed, I was using the February 2, 1936 timetable.

 One might have guessed the fare would have been reduced earlier, about 1932 or 1934.  The rail & Pullman fares in February, 1936 were the same as in 1934.

  What terrible years those were for the railroads and the nation.