NYW&B had all steel cars of Stilwell design. The first cars on the railroad I'm looking for were wood, the last ones before it merged into its final form were steel trailers, some of which were later motorized. Obviously the converted flat-roof coach was purchased used...
Good question! Would it be the New York, Westchester and Boston?
In addition to its fleet of well-proportioned wooden and steel cars used in fast mainline service, this electric railroad also had some wooden coaches used as trailers which were bought from a nearby railroad for excursion service, and an 1873 flat-roofed open-platform coach which was motorized and used on a branch line.
daveklepperWhy didn't you name the railroad?
I have more fun answering than posing questions. And most of the ones I do pose don't hold a candle to the ones the masters here can ask.
Some may have gone to the EBT. Are any still there?
That was actually the second thing that guided me to the BRV&L. Supposedly there may be as many as three surviving coaches there; I'm not much of a narrow-gauge fan so you should ask an East Broad Top person about this.
RC will ask the next question, since he named the railroad. But Overmond is correct about how the line was electrified. Why didn't you name the railroad? If you have an answer, let us hear it. Hey, RC, the MTA or MTBA was not around during the "narrow gauge" days. The competion was indeed the B&M and the Eastern Mass until the EM sold its Chelsie Division to the Boston Elevated in 1935 or 1936 and then the cometition was the B&M and the BE. The two ex-Eastern Mass streetcars were in general night service, not restricted to the (westefully double-track) Winthrop Loop. (And you meant "is" not "was" with respect to W not having rail service.) The 0-4-4T was used to heat the shops. There is no record that I know of regarding its actually hauling a train after electrification, but it was run to get maintenance for itself, so it may have been used.
Most of the open-platform wood coaches went to Hawaii and were used intensively during WWII. Some may have gone to the EBT. Are any still there?
Current collection was traditional trolle-pole. Cab location was like open-platform elevated trains in Chicago, Brooklyn, and New York, within the car body. Narrow-gauge construction probably did not save much money, the record shows standard-gauge wood ties were cheaper and thus used.
Most of the RoW is occupied by the MBTA's Blue Line today. The opening of that rapid transit line in 1952 as an extension of the "East Boston Tunnel" meant the end of East Boston, Chelsie, and Revere streetcar service, with trackless and diesel-bus replacement.
Before the sale of the Chelsie Division to the Boston Elevated, Eastern Mass streetcars with comfortable leather seats ran from Brattle Loop (now Government Center Station, Scolley Square), to Lynn as well as Revere and Chelsie. In Boston Elevated days, all streetcars fed the rapid transit at MaverickStation, and Eastern Mass buses provided the replacement service north of Revere to Lynn, still competing with the regular B&M steam commuter service and the narrow gauge and its ferry connection to Boston, abandoned in 1940. It would have prospered in WWII.
The Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn motorised their ex-steam coaches a little more conventionally. The Winthrop loop was operated with some converted streetcars (the ones Dave descibed. Of course the steam engine was only for emergency service. Competition from the MTA and Eastern Mass Street Ry, as well as the Boston and Maine. Some of the ROW used for today's "T" Blue Line. Winthrop was the only town with no rail service.
If I am right, the last user of the line in question's passenger equipment was the East Broad Top, the 'one town' in question was on a loop, the ferries ran to a major New England downtown area, and it closed only a couple of years before it would have been highly useful in the WWII years. In my opinion it was electrified astoundingly late, in the latter 1920s.
It also had the largest fleet of Mason Bogie locomotives. But I thought they had four ferries, not two.
From ERJ in 1928:
"Motive power has been provided by replacing one of the old trucks with a new Brill 177-E2 truck equipped with two General Electric 295-A 600-volt railway motors. Because of the narrow gage these motors were especially designed for this installation. They are the four-pole. direct current, commutating pole railway motors for operation with tapped field on 600 volts. The weight of the motor complete with gear, pinion, gear cover, and axle bearing linings, is approximately 2,770 lb."
The other truck, with the drop equalizer, was the one on the car when it was motored.
Hints on my question. To cut operating costs for night service during the Depression, the railroad bought two streetcars from a neighboring streetcar comopany and modified these two cars for its own use. The modification included modificaiton of the trucks, but these two converted stretcars had only one type of truck. They could not couple or be used with the regujlar passenger equiipment. The railroad also owned two ferry boats, integral to its operations. The steam locomotive was continuously seen adjacent to the oerhaul shop bujilding and was always visually in good repair.
Much of the right-of-way is active and has been for over half a century. It could be said, though, that it was out of service when most needed.
As a passenger carrier, the railroad faced competition from two other rail passenger carriers for some but not all of the traffic.
There is only one community, one town, that was served by this railroad that is not served by rail transportation today. It does have bus service.
DeggestyOvermod, that looks to be of value for a train that made the stops that are listed. Do you have any idea as to when that was effective, and what time of day the train(s) ran?
I know the answers, but I ain't telling. Hint: look a wee bit more carefully at some of the data shown... you will notice something more expected for the PRR in this era than NYC, with one rather pointed exception.
Overmod While we are figuring out the last question Dave put to us... I do have something that might amuse a couple of people on here -- I have to scan and edit something and then post it on the Web to get it to display here, so it may be a day or more... Well, here it is days later and it appears I don't know how to put a flickr image inline in a forum post. Or, apparently, hotlink to it. Ah well. All you Official Guide junkies, have a look at this timetable... if you're allowed to see it... https://www.flickr.com/photos/112832503@N07/27393009344/in/dateposted-public/ Who can tell me the details about it, including the rolling stock? (PM me with your e-mail address if you need the actual scan sent to you.)
While we are figuring out the last question Dave put to us...
I do have something that might amuse a couple of people on here -- I have to scan and edit something and then post it on the Web to get it to display here, so it may be a day or more...
Well, here it is days later and it appears I don't know how to put a flickr image inline in a forum post. Or, apparently, hotlink to it. Ah well.
All you Official Guide junkies, have a look at this timetable... if you're allowed to see it...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/112832503@N07/27393009344/in/dateposted-public/
Who can tell me the details about it, including the rolling stock?
(PM me with your e-mail address if you need the actual scan sent to you.)
Johnny
Name the passenger carrying cars that had a typical leaf-spring Brill truck, a version of the 77-E or 177E, at one end, and drop-equalizer MCB-type truck at the other end. Why?
During this period, this railroad owned one serviceable steam locmotive. Where and Why?
Where and why was this passenge equipment last used?
Whoops! You are of course correct; I got carried away reading the SEPTA map for names, thinking about all the parallel PRR and Reading MU lines, and not remembering there is no difference on the map that distinguishes the P&W from heavier rail.
"the Times regrets the error"
I would normally have declined the question, as even before this my answers were somewhat defective in actually answering what Dave asked. But I do have something that might amuse a couple of people on here -- I have to scan and edit something and then post it on the Web to get it to display here, so it may be a day or more. Dave -- feel free to ask another question in the meantime.
I'm afraid all four stations you named, Radnor, Villanova, Bryn Mawr and Haverford, were never on the Reading's line through Norristown. The non-Pennsy line though those communities is the "Pig & Whistle", Philadelphia & Western high speed rail line. Reading's line runs up the Schuylkill. But South Jersey was full of dual stations, prior to the formation of PRSL!
Newark Penn is Amtrak owned, but NJT has most of the trains.
In the interests of moving along, I will say you are the winner. Mount Vernon does count, because in the Classic Period, both station's names were simply Mount Vernon, and only under Metro North were the East and West added. Illinois doesn't count, because I mentioned three contigous states, and the three are NY,, NJ, and PA.
You got Philadelphia communities I did not know. The one I thought of was Chestnut Hill, same name for both PRR and Reading, now again east and west added, under SEPTA. The New Jersey stations I had in mind are the PRR and DL&W Newark Stations, but perhaps I am wrong, and Newark is now actually owned by Amtrak, not NJT. Someone can answer that question. Elizabeth used to count, but I understand there is no NJT service at the CNJ station anymore. The railroads are of course the PRR, DL&W, NYC, and NYNH&H. But it is often forgotten that LV also served Newark PRR. The commuter authorities are SEPTA, NJT, and MN. ConnDot equipment also stops at Mount Vernon East intermixed with identacle MN equipment.
I also did not know about Bryn Mawr on the Reading Norristown line, but we could add Norristown - Reading and Norristown Philadelphia and Western with LVT also using that station, and Bryn Mawr Philadelphia and Western, with LVT occasionally stopping there. And I have used both PRR and SEPTA Rout 100 stations in Bryn Mawr, and forgot about that! PRR had a Norristown station also, but the line was cut back by SEPTA to Manyunk(Sp?). If it still runs at all.
Look forward to your question.
The four of them in Philadelphia are Radnor, Villanova, Bryn Mawr and Haverford. (PRR Main Line and Reading to Norristown) [EDIT - it is of course P&W, not 'Reading' -- see correction later in thread.]
(Ardmore and Wynnewood would qualify but the names don't quite match up -- the ex-Reading has road names, not just the town name)
There is one in New Jersey that almost counts -- Glen Rock has two distinct stations, one on the Bergen County line and one on the old main line, but both are ex-Erie. There is also that connection in Montclair that had Lackawanna and Erie something like 3/4 mile apart but only recently joined ... I don't remember the details now, but someone will.
I take it Mt. Vernon east and west don't count in New York (NYC and New Haven respectively with added connection to NYW&B - Dyre Av is only 1/3 mile away but that makes all the difference)
It does not escape me that there are some communities in Boston that share station names with places in other states. That in itself might be an interesting question. There's a Gladstone on NJT and one on the SEPTA line going to Media; a Bridgeport in Connecticut and one going to Norristown.
One of the four in Illinois is Prairie Crossing - Libertyville. I don't know much about Chicago transit, and the Metra rail system map is almost a triumph of poor design for any purpose other than finding the nearest station to a particular zip code, so someone else gets to post the history. That tells me there will be three more in that state..
Three contiguous states. Eight stations, when operated by private railroads had four station names, naming four individual suburban communities or minor cities conected to two major metropolitan areas. In all cases the paired identacle station names are for stations still in operation, with both stations of a pair operated by the same commuter railroad authority. and serving the same suburb or small city but different locations.
The each station of a pair belonged to a different railroad, however.
A total of five railroads were involved in the ownership of the eight stations, but altogether six railroads provided service. Today, only three commuter authorities are involved in ownership with four in ownership of the trains
Name the communitis, the stations' names as owned by the railroads, current station names, all the railroads involved, and all the current commuter authoritis involved.
Sure, go ahead.
My 2 out of 3 sufficiently corrrect?
Destinations OK,, one train OK,one train wrong.
The westbound every-other-day New York to Los Angeles car via NYC and the C&NW/UP (later CMStP&P/UP) City of Los Angeles was carried on NYC/MC train 17, the Wolverine via Buffalo, Southern Ontario and Detroit. Not only was the Wolverine a pretty hot train, it was the only MC train that went to LaSalle Street before all MC trains were moved there in the late '50s from IC's Central Station.
Moving the car in Chicago required a transfer run from LaSalle on the St Charles Air Line to Union Tower on the CB&Q, then through the bypass tracks at Union Station to get to the station's North Joint Approach. In C&NW years the move had to continue to Western Avenue to reach the C&NW. Three changes in direction during the trip. It's kind of amazing the service lasted even 10 years.
1. The Empire State Express never carried sleeping cars. It was always a pure daytime train, New York to Buffalo, then a section to Detroit and a section to Cleveland. Coaches and parlor-observation.
2. Possibly the main overnight New York - Michigan - Chicago train, the Wolverine, did have a through sleeper to the West Coast. It would be the only logical train on this route to do so, and it could logically have such a through sleeper, giving a through ride for Detroit, Ann Arbor (U. of Mich.) people to Los Angeles. I would assume it went west from Chicago on either the Chief (not the Super) or the Overland Limited to Los Angeles. Like the through sleepers that ran New York - Chicago via LV-CN-GTW, it may have run college break time only, and not even shown in the public timetables.
Was there ever a Boston or Portland ME -Vancouver through sleeper? Or coast-to-coast in Canada?
At its best, the Wolverine was a pretty hot train, with a NY - Chicago time of only 17-1/2 hours as compared with the Century's 16 on a shorter rout with far fewer stops. But the PRR's Red Arrow had more comfortable coaches for overnight NY - Detroit travel.
The Empire State Express crossed Southern Ontario and carried sleepers and I think the North Shore Limited as well. Did one of these Pullmans continue on to the West Coast?
Of all of the coast-to-coast sleeper routes operated between the late 1940s and the late 1950s, this was the only one that missed Pennsylvania.
rcdrye Washington-LA via SR(-WPR-L&N)-SP wasn't one of the routes. The car originated in New York anyway and hit Philadelphia. Thie was one of the Robert R. Young "A pig can ride a train through Chicago, but you can't!" routes.
Washington-LA via SR(-WPR-L&N)-SP wasn't one of the routes. The car originated in New York anyway and hit Philadelphia. Thie was one of the Robert R. Young "A pig can ride a train through Chicago, but you can't!" routes.
If the route started in New York City and did not go thru Pennsylvania the only other route would be thru southern Ontario. I do not recall any rail lines from New Jersey to Delaware. And if I remember correctly the Erie crosses thru Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River( IIRC).
Was there a New York to Chicago passenger train that went to say Buffalo thence across Ontario? With the aforementioned car.
Washington - Los Angeles (short time San Francisco) via New Orleans, Sou, West Point Rt., L&N, SP
Well done!
You did add one, at the time, impossible overnight run: Richmond-Bristol was canceled at the time because Pullmans were needed to move returning servicemen. I do not remember the exact minimum distance; I have a memory of 450 miles.
My error: The Durham-Cincinnati car had been discontinued some time back, and I do not know why I put that in as a second N.C.-Ohio run.
Nearest I can find is 1946, so I'm guessing a bit.
Norfolk to Cincinnati and Columbus, Richmond (ACL, via Petersburg) to Cincinnati.
Winston-Salem to Cincinnati via Roanoake
Durham NC to Cincinnati via Lynchburg.
In November of 1945, what railroad provided overnight Pullman service between two cities in Vurginia and two cities in Ohio, and between two cities in North Carolina and one city in Ohio? Name the road, the endpoints, and the junctions where cars were switched.
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