Here's a softball question: In most years, New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited operated on Christmas. About once every six years, it took Christmas off. What was the reason?
If it's any help, it wouldn't be running today. In years it ran it almost always ran as a single section.
Nobody eished to ride that day. (The Holiday and heightb of the Deression)
And the small edit overmod should vhave was to deletes any reference to subway use.
Because of the way it worked out with leap years the Century ran every depression Christmas except 1937.
If my answer was not correct, then it had to do with equip ment maintenance scheduling. Or crew scheduling on sundays and hoklidays.
rcdrye Here's a softball question: In most years, New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited operated on Christmas. About once every six years, it took Christmas off. What was the reason?
For a number of years, the 20th Century Limited did not operate on Saturdays, especially after WW2. So, when Dec 25 fell on a Saturday, the 20th Century Limited had two reasons not to operate. Instead, the Commodore Vanderbilt would usually operate on the 20th Century's schedule, even handling the transcontinental Pullmans the latter would handle the other days of the week.
Happy Holidays to all.....
Did the practice of no 20th on Saturday continue until the Commodore Vanderbilt was discontinued?
Since you provided the only correct answer, you should ask another question.
ZO has the correct answer. The practice of running daily except Saturday continued into the late 1940s at least. The advent of the daily through Pullmans from the Super Chief may have been the changeover. During the 1920s the Century frequently ran in multiple sections, but apparently never on Christmas.
There's a reason I didn't make the 'small edit' -- it wouldn't be fair.
I had thought there was actual subway-equipment operation through the tunnels. Since that ain't so, my answer shouldn't count.
daveklepper Did the practice of no 20th on Saturday continue until the Commodore Vanderbilt was discontinued? Since you provided the only correct answer, you should ask another question.
The practice of ex-Saturday 20th Century ended when the Commodore Vanderbilt was combined with the 20th Century in April, 1958.
rcdrye ZO has the correct answer. The practice of running daily except Saturday continued into the late 1940s at least. The advent of the daily through Pullmans from the Super Chief may have been the changeover. During the 1920s the Century frequently ran in multiple sections, but apparently never on Christmas.
Actually, the ex-Saturday 20th Century Limited operation was a product of the 1950's (BTW - the 20th Century did operate on Christmas Saturday, 1937, per NYC schedules and Official Guides of the time.)
The 20th Century Limited was a daily operation from its inception until June of 1953, when Saturday runs were scrubbed from July 4 to Labor Day, at which time daily operation resumed. Beginning in April 1954 through April 1958, the 20th Century consistently had no Saturday departures. Between 1954 and 1956, additional runs were scrubbed in and around holidays; sometimes only on the actual holiday, such as July 4 and Labor Day, but in November and December the Century did not run for a number of days around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays. This time period of no-Saturday Centuries coinsided with financial difficuties NYC was having at the time - the railroad was trying to save money any way it can without signaling to the public the problems it was having.
As for the Commodore Vanderbilt, the Saturday schedule change (when the Century was not operating) was the exception rather than the rule - the Commodore was operated on the Century's schedule on Saturdays only during the summer of 1954. There was another short time period where the Commodore operated on a schedule closer to - but not mimicing - the Century's. Otherwise the Commodore was a daily train and remained on its own schedule.
In April 1958, the 20th Century Limited resumed its daily operation (and would remain so until its discontinuance), but running "combined" with the Commodore Vanderbilt, the latter becoming a train on paper only until October 1960, when the name was dropped from NYC timetables.
A new question will be forthcoming in a few days.....
Happy New Year all.......
Waiting
daveklepper Waiting
we all are....
Up to a decade before WW2, you were able to ride this Canadian transcontinental. After WW2 you were able to ride a western transcontinental with the same name.The name and the routes, please...
Don't have the CP train numbers (yet).
Imperial (or Imperial Limited) Canadian Pacific Montreal-Vancouver
discontined around 1931. CPR's Dominion and later Canadian operated on the same route.
CRI&P/SP Imperial 39/40 Chicago-Los Angeles. The name was first used on a local Yuma-LA train but it became the secondary train on the Golden State route after WWII. Routed through California's Imperial Valley, it also carried a San Diego Sleeper for at least a few years after WWII. It remained mainly as a mail and express train into the 1960s.
rcdrye Don't have the CP train numbers (yet). Imperial (or Imperial Limited) Canadian Pacific Montreal-Vancouver discontined around 1931. CPR's Dominion and later Canadian operated on the same route. CRI&P/SP Imperial 39/40 Chicago-Los Angeles. The name was first used on a local Yuma-LA train but it became the secondary train on the Golden State route after WWII. Routed through California's Imperial Valley, it also carried a San Diego Sleeper for at least a few years after WWII. It remained mainly as a mail and express train into the 1960s.
Yes, The Imperial was the name I was looking for. CP's version (as the Imperial Limited) began in 1899 as a seasonal operation, becoming year-round in 1911. The "Limited" designation was dropped in 1929, and the train itself was discontinued in 1933.
Your description of the RI/SP Imperial was correct, as their Imperial was secondary to the Golden State Limited. Other Golden State Route trains that filled this role at one time or another include: Californian, Apache, Southwest Express, Chicago Special, California Special, California Fast Mail, and Chicago Fast Mail.
Rcdrye, you have the next question...
How about a similar question. These two trains shared the same name, one in Canada connecting two major seaports, the other connecting three Gulf Coast ports. The name of a cuisine common in the region of the second train is a corruption of the word used in the trains' name.
The SP Acadian connected New Orleans to Houston via Beaumont. The CN Acadian connected Montreal and Halifax. The food is Cajun.
Well Done! Of course the CN also served Quebec City, a minor seaport, via ferry from Levis across the river. There was also a Boston connection - the Pine Tree Acadian - using the Gull B&M/MEC/CP route to St. John NB.
Texas & New Orleans (SP) had lots of secondary trains, many with Pullman service, connecting points all over Texas until after World War II. Most T&NO routes were discontinued between 1950 and 1955, leaving only the Sunset Limited and Argonaut in the 1960s. Many of T&NO's passenger GP9s served only a couple of years in that role before they were either sent to freight service or to parent SP's San Francisco Commute pool.
Waiting for Backstop's question for 17 days.
Sorry, my laptop was in the shop for a few days. I'll defer to anyone who wants to ask a question.
I'll chuck out another one:
As the New York Central wound down its passenger service in the mid 1960s, it still participated in three interline sleeping car operations. Two of them used New York Central operated cars, one carried the last Pullman operated cars on the NYC system. Name the train and the connecting railroad. For more fun add the other two interline operations, one of which stayed active (under PC) until Amtrak.
I think the last Pullman on the NYC was a Chicago - Newport News sleeper on the C&O between Cincinnati and Newport News. One to Washington was removed earlier than 1 May 1971, if my memory is correct.
A NYC sleeper continued (each) from GCT to both Toronto, using the TH&B between Buffalo and Toronto, and Montreal, using the D&H north of Albany (Rensalaar) or Schenectidy), with the latter continuing to 1 May 1971.
Got 'em all. The C&O Pullmans also went to West Virginia destinations seasonally. The through cars ended in late 1968 as Pullman wound down its operations. The NYC train carrying them was the James Whitcomb Riley, the only NYC train whose name survived the PC merger.
Although we think of the D&RGW's Rio Grande Zephyr as; equipment-wise, a decendent of the original California Zephyr, plus the combine from the Prospector. the "Grand:" actually bought one modern passenger rolling-stock iten for the train in its glory period 1970-1988. What? Why? From Whom? When?
Dispossition, if you knos.
D&RGW bought former UP diner 4801 from the Boise Cascade Society in 1979 (they bought it from UP in 1971 - Amtrak bought very little of UP's St. Louis Car equipment). It served as a spare for D&RGW's lone CZ diner Silver Banquet (CZ ownership split was CB&Q 3, D&RGW 1, WP 2). After Amtrak took over the RGZ and rerouted the Zephyr over the D&RGW the car was resold to the Xanterra Corp in 1983. Colorado Rairoad Museum acquired it in 2011 and repainted it as UP 4801. See the CRM brochure on the car:
https://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/No.-4801-Diner-Brochure.pdf
Thanks, and please ask the next question.
I think he missed a sure bet by not asking 'there was a Pullman car painted and lettered for a particular railroad, but the railroad in question neither owned the car nor operated it in their regular service -- name the railroad and give the car data'...
Since I'm still on the hook on the other forum, how about this?
A Pullman line operated to a city prominent in this railroad's name, at a time when the railroad did not otherwise regularly handle Pullmans on its own trains. Name the endpoints and the raioads involved.
I only knew Cascade Basin was the last pool service car. I did not know until this morning that it carried IC colors for most of its service life. Thank the Pullman Project database for that info.
Was this Pullman handled by the railroad in question?
Was it a Boston - Aroostick Pullman on thr Basngor & Aroostick? B&M and MC?
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