Lehigh Valley Railroad, Trains #28 and #29 The John Wilkes (1939)

[daveklepper]

I rode in one of those modernized fluorescent-lit coaches late one evening late December 1949, on a railfan private excursion with Richard (Dick) Seeley, he a Sophmore at MIT and I a Freshman.  After overnight at my home, PRR to Philly 30th St. Market St. Elevated (still an elevated at 30th St. at the time) to 69th St., Liberly Bell to Allentown, local LVT to Northampton and back, LV late evening to Willksbarre, overnight in hotel on the green, WR "N" to Nanicoke with "HA" side-trip to Hanover, return to Willkbarre, Laural Line to Scranton, out and back on Green Ridge Suburban, the South Scranton, then Dick's idea over my proved-right objections walking the Laural Line freight branch from South Scranton back downtown in rather deep snow (awful), then the l;ackawanna in a comfortable Nickel Plate reclining seat lightwieght coach to Hoboken and H&M and subway home.

Trying to snooz in one of those fluorscent-lit non-headrest coaches was not pleasant.  In compensation we did have an Alco PA on the head end.

 

 

[Jones1945]

The train terminated at Lehighton, PA instead of Pittstown in 1959 due to decreasing ridership, but continued to serve until Feb 3, 1961. This date marked the end of the Lehigh Valley's passenger service when The John Wilkes, along with the Maple Leaf, made their last runs. 

1940's consist:

Eastbound #28 (Leaving Pittston 6 am daily. Arrive NYC Penn Station 10:50 am)

• PRR GG1 or Paired PRR O1s/LV K58s Streamlined Pacific
• RPO
• Baggage
• Coaches (pick up/drop off one or two Philadelphia coaches at Bethlehem)
• Parlor Car 32 seat, Drawing Room heavyweight
• Club Car heavyweight

Westbound #29 (Leaving NYC Penn Station 4:31 pm daily, 5:40 pm Sunday. Arrive Pittston 9:29 pm daily, 10:38 pm Sunday)

• LV K58s Streamlined Pacific/PRR GG1 or Paired PRR O1s
• RPO
• Baggage
• Coaches (pick up/drop off one or two Philadelphia coaches at Bethlehem)
• Parlor 32 seat, Drawing Room heavyweight
• Club Car heavyweight
• Dining Car heavyweight (NYC to Mauch Chunk. It went back to NYC on Maple Leaf next morning)

I don't know if #28 provided breakfast in the club car, the train left Pittston early in the morning!

Brasstrain.com

 

[Flintlock76]

Yes, there was an engine swap.  The Lehigh Valley trains to Penn Station were handed off to a Pennsy electric GG1 in the Newark NJ area and brought to Penn Station from there.  The process was reversed for outbound trains.  

This continued until the Lehigh Valley ceased passenger operations in (I think) 1959.  

[MidlandMike]

The timetable shows the train both serving Penn Station and the Hudson Terminal.  Being that it was a steam train, I thought the train would have gone to the Hudson Terminal, and ppassengers for Penn would have transferred to electric trains.  However, the ad says that LV trains use Penn Station.  Was an engine swap actually done?

[Jones1945]

Dear all, I found this article about this long-forgotten streamliner, Lehigh Valley's John Wilkes, from Railway Age 1939. The streamliner ran between New York to Wilkes Barre and Pittson, PA, on a 5 hours schedule.

The author paid extra attention to the fluorescent lighting system and fittings on the rebuilt passenger cars that were exclusively re-conditioned for this streamliner. Please click the article to enlarge, the original article can be found via this link:  

https://books.google.com/booksid=HY0lAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

The journey was only 5 hours, this was probably the reason why the general chair-cars didn't offer seats with headrest (high back seat), but the Pullman coach did offer Parlor seats. Smoker lounge, club car, and a dining car was available; I think the train was a very well designed streamliner with more than enough amenities. Otto Kohler's decoration inside and outside the streamlining was distinctive and attractive.