The Continental and then the Super Continental on the CN, Monreal and Toronto to Vancouver Since it was transcontinental train, it was named the Continental.
Correction: The answer you want is the Oriental Limited of the Northern Pacific, replaced in the post WWII years by the North Coast Limited. Mineapolis and St. Paul to Seattle with a Portland section via the SP&S from Pasco. Thru cars via the CB&Q to Chicago. Named because of the connection between the NP and the Shiping companies for the China trade, including special fast silk trains. The NP logo was a Chinese symbol.
In Europe, after WWI, th Wagons Lits company organized the Paris - Istambul Orient Express. which was an all Wagons-Lits train in France and Switzerland, but handled local coaches in Bulglaria and Turkey.
The "Oriental Limited" was a Great Northern train and was renamed the "Western Star" when it inherited hand-me-down streamlined equipment from the "Empire Builder" when the Builder was re-equipped.
Neither the Continental nor the Oriental Ltd. are the train I'm looking for.
Mark
AT&SF DeLluxe (French word)?
Not the Deluxe. At one time the train split near one end of its route to continue on to two different locations both of which were much better served by other railroads that had faster and more frequent trains. The railroad subsequently dropped passenger service to these two places but the subject train continued to run on a truncated route for quite a while until the mail was shifted from rail to trucks.
CGW's Legionnaire?
Not the Legionnaire. This railroad operated many passenger trains but the one I'm looking for was the only one that ran on this particular line. It was pretty much a local making most stops but, unlike most locals, it ran overnight and carried a sleeper(s).
The Southern Railway's Cincinnati - Jacksonville, Ponce De Leon, with through sleepers from Chicago and Detroit to Miami and St. Petersburg. Ponce de Leon was the Spanish discoverer of Floroida and brought the first settlers there. I know Cuba became "indpendent" and Peurto Rico a USA possession after the Spanish-American War, but I believe Florida stopped being a Spanish possession much earlier. Someone might remind me of that history. I believe the train ran on the "Rat Hole" Division, but was not a serious competitor for midwest - Florida vacation travel in comparison with the PRR-L&N-ACL. C&EI-etc. and IC routes.
Dave:
A slight correction to your last post.
The Oriental Limited was a GN train and the North Coast Limited was a NP train. The NP monad was a Korean symbol of peace and tranquility.
I don't believe that the NP had as many silk trains as the GN, so I will start a new post on that subject.
Ed Burns
None of the trains mentioned so far is correct. Based on the name of the train and one of its original end point destinations one might think it ran to a foreign country and passengers would be able to catch glimpses of a major river in that country.
Long before the WWII era of "The Day Express" and possibly after "The State of Maine" had been inaugurated from GCT-NYCity to Portland and Bangor Main, and also to Concord, NH, might there have been a through GCT-Worcester, Massachusetts train named "The Thames," or "The Thames River" which is the river still paralled by the line, now owned by Providence and Worcester (or possibly owned by the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts and leased to P&W) from between Groton and New Londond towards Worcester, and also the river running through London. Worcester is named after an English city of the same name. The train at one time might have continiiued north to Portland, ME or Bangor, as well as having a section to Concord, and on the south end it may had cars dropped southbound and addded northbound at New Haven to and from Washington via a Hell Gate Bridge route train. Just a guess. After several post-WWII years of no passenger service, it was revived by a daily RDC by Bucky Dumain, just Worcester - New London, then removed by McGinnis.
Dave, you've been trying hard to answer this question so I think you deserve another hint. The entire route of this train roughly paralleled the border between two mid-American states with a portion of it in one state and the remainder in the other one.
Mark, your hint to Dave points me to the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, which ran an overnight train (9&10)--for which I can find no name--between Chicago and Evansville with a sleeper for Evansville and a sleeper for Terre Haute. The Silent Knight, a Chicago-St. Louis train, carried a sleeper for Thebes, but this line did not parallel the border between Chicago and Indiana, and it was entirely within Illinois.
Beats me.
Johnny
I am pretty sure this is wrong but I try anyway.( I gotta get an OG one of these days)
The Inter American to Laredo.
Thx IGN
Somewhere in the midwest, probably Wisconsin, there is a location called Rheinland. and some railroad may have run a train called the Rheinlander.
KCSfan Based on the name of the train and one of its original end point destinations one might think it ran to a foreign country and passengers would be able to catch glimpses of a major river in that country.
Based on the name of the train and one of its original end point destinations one might think it ran to a foreign country and passengers would be able to catch glimpses of a major river in that country.
Referring back to this hint, the river is the world's longest and crocodiles live in it.
KCSfan KCSfan Based on the name of the train and one of its original end point destinations one might think it ran to a foreign country and passengers would be able to catch glimpses of a major river in that country. Referring back to this hint, the river is the world's longest and crocodiles live in it. Mark
Could this train be the C&EI Egyptian Zipper?
ZephyrOverland Could this train be the C&EI Egyptian Zipper?
You're getting warm but it wasn't a C&EI train.
This sounds like the Big Four's Egyptian, which ran to Cairo, and handled an Indianapolis-Evansville sleeper in the late thirties-early forties.
BINGO! That's the one Johnny. Sometime in the late 30's or early 40's service to Evansville and Cairo was discontinued and the train's route was shortened to Harrisburg - Chicago. Before you ask the next question let's see if you know the origin of the train's name, The Egyptian.
Mark, I thought everybody knew that Southern Illinois is known as "Little Egypt." Consider the names Thebes and Cairo. The area, especially from Cairo north is flat and subject to flooding (and perhaps good for growing crops because of the flooding). Even a nephew of my wife's first husband knew of the lowland around Cairo, and mentioned it in a book he wrote about a trip from Washington to Albuquerque in the late 19th century (I remonstrated him for having the heroine go through Cairo, for it is a great distance removed from the direct route she would hav followed).
I'll try to come up with a new question soon.
More on southern Illinois, aka "Egypt". There is also a town of Karnak and SIU's sports teams are known as the Salukis (Egyptian hunting dog similar to a greyhound).
Is that where Amtrak got the name for its Chicago - Carbondale trains?
daveklepper Is that where Amtrak got the name for its Chicago - Carbondale trains?
Yes. The two Chi-Carbondale regional trains are the Saluki, named for the Southern Illinois Univ sports teams, and the Illini, named for the Fighting Illini of the Univ of Illinois.
In 1950, ACF built ten sleepers for Florida service on the ACL--six for the ACL, two for the PRR, and one each for the RF&P and the FEC; I know of no others built with the same configuration. In 1961, the six ACL cars were rebuilt with a new configuration and given new names. In 1962, the ACL obtained six cars from the NYC--had them rebuilt, and given the same names as those ACL cars of the 1950 order.
What was the configuration of each set of cars as built and as rebuilt; what was the series of names (disregard the FEC name) of the 1950 order?
Wayner's "Car Names, Numbers, and Consists" lists them in the "River" series (both 1950 and 1962 cars) and all had 4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, and 4 double bedrooms. These were the NYC cars.
The six ACL cars were named in the "Bird" series and had 7 double bedrooms and 2 drawing rooms.
"NP EDDIE"
NP Eddie Wayner's "Car Names, Numbers, and Consists" lists them in the "River" series (both 1950 and 1962 cars) and all had 4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, and 4 double bedrooms. These were the NYC cars. The six ACL cars were named in the "Bird" series and had 7 double bedrooms and 2 drawing rooms. Ed Burns "NP EDDIE"
For an addition to your crown for giving us all the requested information, what was the original series name of the NYC cars?
I love Wayner's book "Car Names, Numbers, and Consists"!
The ten ACF cars in the "River" series were 14 roomettes and 2 drawing rooms.
The six "new" "River" series cars had 4 compartments, 2 drawing room, and 4 double bedrooms.
If I understand your question, the six x-NYC cars were in the "Bridge" series.
Back to you,
The x NYC cars were "Imperial" at one time. Here are the cars from beginning to end
By the way, my closest friend has the name plate from Hackensack River...one of the 1950 ACF cars as well as the door plate from Manatee River, one of these cars.
Ed, you have them all pegged, now. Don't let the Imperial crown weigh too heavily on your head.
I find it interesting that the original NYC, PRR, and Overland 4-4-2 cars were all Imperial cars--and the Santa Fe went for Regal cars once it got away from the Indian names. Perhaps it was felt that these were best names for these exclusive all-private room cars. The new River ACL series was, perhaps, even more exclusive, without a bedroom in the cars.
I rather appreciate David P. Morgan's regretting the renaming of NYC's Imperial Chariot; after it was sold to the IC, it was renamed Greenville, to fit in with the other IC 4-4-2's, which bore names starting with either the letter G or the letter H (and the only way it went.through Greenville was for the Panama to be detoured).
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