Broadway Limited vs. 20th Century

[dakotafred]

daveklepper

The Century never did go into the PublicTerminal, and stopped only in Colingwood for crew change.   This was true for many years of The New England States as well. Having ridden both during the good years, a tossup.

 

The westbound States was wee-hours into Cleveland, like the Century, so no boarding of passengers there made sense. (Amtrak, take note.) Eastbound, the States was one of 2 good daylight Chicago-Cleveland trains in the 1960s. (I rode the States as well as the Fifth Avenue Special into Cleveland.)

May have been otherwise earlier; I haven't checked. 

[Firelock76]

From what I've read, both the Century and the Broadway were equals as far as accomodations, food, and services were concerned, but the Century ALWAYS beat the Broadway as far as patronage, to the fury and frustration of PRR officials. Rail historians have been trying to figure that one out for years.

Possibly the Century had an edge because of the high-profile friends it had, such as journalist and bon vivant Lucius Beebe, and the "New Yorker" magazine's Rogers Whittaker.  They loved the Century and made sure everyone else did too!

Or maybe the Century won more of those unofficial races out of Chicago's Englewood station?  Americans love a winner!

And having a Broadway play and Hollywood film (both hits) called "Twentieth Century" that took place on the train must have helped a bit as well in the recognition department.

The Broadway got the last laugh though, the Century dying in 1967 while the Broadway continued on into (I think) the Amtrak era.

[aricat]

I only got to see the 20th Century Limited once. It raced through Waterloo Indiana shaking every window of the Green Parrot Cafe where my family was about to have supper. I will never forget that. The next year the movie North By Northwest came out and my family was going to travel by train to New York. Pleas to travel on the 20th Century Limited fell on deaf ears. We rode the Burlington Morning Zephyr to Union Station where we missed the connection to the General by five minutes. Space on the Broadway was easy to obtain. It now meant that we were going to be traveling in a sleeping car not in one of the General's coaches. I will never forget sleeping in a Pullman double roomette or the superb food. In 1959 there were still several passengers who were businessmen bound for New York or Philadelphia. As a young teenager, I thought how could the Pennsylvania change 20 cents for a coke, otherwise it was the best train I ever rode, hands down!

[rcdrye]

Pullman was really responsible for the coordination, and most of the cars.  The big change came in 1958 when NYC took all of its cars off Pullman lease and began to operate its own sleeping car services.

[wjstix]

I'll go out on a limb and predict Pennsy fans prefer the Broadway, and Central fans the Century. It's a little like asking "who was the better centerfielder - Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, or Duke Snyder?" The answers you get are going to be influenced by whether someone favored the Yankees, Giants or Dodgers.

There does seem to have been some cooperation, if one road added new equipment or speeded up the schedule, they announced it far enough ahead that the other road could "catch up". I think at some point they agreed to keep the same time from NYC to Chicago, rather than trying to trim a few minutes here and there, and concentrate on competing with amenities - who had the better food for example.

Pennsy used the more scenic, mountainous route as a selling point, while NYC promoted their flat "Water Level Route". One had better scenery, the other had a smoother ride during the night - no ups and downs to roll you around in bed.

[daveklepper]

The Century never did go into the PublicTerminal, and stopped only in Colingwood for crew change.   This was true for many years of The New England States as well. Having ridden both during the good years, a tossup.

[dakotafred]

From everything I've read in TRAINS over the years, the Century kicked the Broadway for patronage. Altho growing up in Cleveland, I never got to ride the Century; it was a wee-hours non-stop for Cleveland. (Just a crew and maybe an engine change, I think.)

[JOHN C TARANTO]

Being a New York Central fan, I have to go with the Century.  With easy grades along the Water Level Route, in the steam era the Central could do the run with one locomotive.  Whereas Pennsy would often have to double-head. 

 

Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep 'em rolling.... John.

[rcdrye]

pajrr

Give me the Alleghenys and Horseshoe Curve any day.

Of course on the Broadway you got the Alleghenys at night...

My grandfather used the Century until the mid-1960s, when the New York Central dropped some of the amenities.  He used the Broadway a couple of times after that.  Before the mid-1960s he only rode the PRR on the way to Texas.

I only rode the Century once, in a slumbercoach, long after it stopped being exclusive.  The Broadway I only rode after Amtrak.

[pajrr]

I wouldn't call it cooperation. I would call it "We can't let the other guy get ahead". One did 20 hours, the other did 20. One made it 18, the other went to 18. At one point each one was making 16 1/2 hours. Unless you were travelling between the 2 end points, the best train was the one that took you where you wanted to go. As far as the 2 end points, I can almost promise you that half the readers will say the Century and the other half will say The Broadway. As you said, it is truly subjective. Personally, I am a mountain person. Give me the Alleghenys and Horseshoe Curve any day.

[NP Eddie]

ALL:

This question is about the Broadway Limited vs. the 20th Century, both heavyweight and lightweight editions.

It seems that the NYC and PRR cooperated to the point that they introduced their versions on the same day.

Which train was the better of the two? That is a subjective answer. The 20th Century had more advertising, but the Broadway was more conversative, reflecting the PRR management.

Just for fun.

Ed Burns

Happily Retired NP-BN-BNSF from Minneapolis. 

I got paid to watch trains!