Chessie (train)

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Chessie
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway steam turbine locomotive 500.JPG
#500, one of three Class M-1 steam turbine locomotives delivered to the C&O for the Chessie. The locomotives proved unreliable and were quickly scrapped.
Overview
StatusCancelled
LocaleEastern United States
Former operator(s) Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (Not introduced)
Route
Termini Washington, D.C.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Average journey time11 hours 45 minutes
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speedup to 100 mph (160 km/h)

The Chessie was a proposed streamlined passenger train developed by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in the late 1940s. The brainchild of C&O executive Robert R. Young, the Chessie would have operated on a daylight schedule between Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. The train's luxury lightweight equipment was built new by the Budd Company. A revolutionary new steam turbine locomotive would have provided power, including speeds up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Although the equipment was delivered, a worsening financial outlook led to the cancellation of the train before it operated in revenue service.

Contents

Concept

Robert Young became chairman of the C&O in 1942. Chairman Young proved himself an innovator and pushed for improved passenger service on the C&O. He intended the Chessie as a vehicle for his ideas, naming the train after Chessie, the small cat who served as the C&O's mascot and alter-ego. [1] : 52  The Chessie would operate between Washington and Cincinnati in daylight, with feeder routes to Newport News, and Norfolk, Virginia, at Charlottesville, and Louisville, Kentucky, at Ashland. Passengers would travel in unprecedented comfort: coaches would contain just 36 seats, while standard configurations at the time had between 44 and 60, and the extra space would carry lounge seating. A year before the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) demonstrated the "Silver Dome" dome car, Young planned to have domes on the Chessie. A section of the twin-unit dining car on the train's rear would show first-run movies. All the cars would be newly built lightweight equipment. [2] : iv  Finally, the Chessie would be hauled by a revolutionary new steam turbine locomotive, the M1, which would enable the train to cover the 666 miles (1,072 km) between Washington and Cincinnati in 11 hours 45 minutes. [3] : 252 

Cancellation

The C&O ordered the equipment in 1944, at the height of World War II and optimism about post-war traffic prospects. By the time Budd completed the order in 1948, much had changed. Passenger traffic, which had peaked at 6.7 million in 1944, fell to 3.9 million by 1947 and 3 million in 1948. The C&O scaled back its expansion plans, canceling several outstanding equipment orders and selling off delivered cars. The Chessie was a casualty of this new outlook. In addition, the Baltimore and Ohio's competing service on the Cincinnati route, the Cincinnatian , was losing money and cost far less to operate than the upper-scale Chessie. The C&O did operate a single test train of the Chessie, but by October 1948 the C&O had broken up the consists and was reallocating the Chessie's equipment to other trains, if not selling it outright. Most of the cars went to the Pere Marquette Division to equip two new Pere Marquette streamliners between Chicago and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Almost all the equipment was sold to other railroads in 1951. [2] : 18–25  Twelve coaches of the Chessie were exported to Argentina and replaced their standard gauge bogies for a broad gauge ones for use on General Roca Railway's premium service El Marplatense that operated from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata.

Equipment

The line issued this postcard depiction of the train's observation car with dome. Chessie observation car.JPG
The line issued this postcard depiction of the train's observation car with dome.

The C&O ordered 46 cars from the Budd Company, including baggage cars, coaches, dome cars, tavern-lounges, dining-observation cars, and dining room-theater cars. [4] : 67  The C&O placed its orders with Budd in 1944 and the equipment arrived in August 1948. The cars cost $6.1 million. [5] : 45 

Power

To pull the Chessie the C&O ordered three experimental steam turbine locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. As diesel locomotives became more prevalent following World War II, the C&O was one of several railroads who were reluctant to abandon coal as a fuel source, and they believed steam turbine technology was a possible alternative to diesel. At the time of their construction, these M1 turbines were the longest single-unit locomotives in the world. [6] : 109  [3] : 109  Not including research and development, the three locomotives cost $1.6 million. [5] : 45  The M1s proved a failure in operation and were scrapped in 1950. [7] : 141  From 1946 to 1947, the C&O rebuilt their five 1926-built F-19 class 4-6-2 "Pacifics" into new streamlined L-1 class 4-6-4 "Hudson" locomotives, which were planned to be used for the Chessie feeder trains. [8] The railway also ordered five J-3a class 4-8-4 "Greenbriers" with the same streamlining as the L-1s, but their streamlining was quickly cancelled during construction. [8] [9] After the Chessie’s cancellation, the L-1s were assigned to other services and soon replaced by diesels. One L-1, No. 490, was spared from scrap and eventually donated to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum for static display. [10]

Roster

TypeCapacityNumberRoad numbersDisposition
Baggage-coach28 seats31400-14021402 retained by C&O, 1400-1401 sold to the General Roca Railway (Ferrocarriles Argentinos).
Coach36 seats121500-15111501-1502-1503-1506-1507-1508-1509-1511 sold to the General Roca Railway (Ferrocarriles Argentinos); rest sold to the Seaboard Air Line Railway and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
Coach36 seats101600-1609Sold to the Seaboard Air Line Railway and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
Family coach32 seats31700-1702Sold to the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway (C&EI)
Private room/dome car3 drawing rooms, 5 roomettes, 1 bedroom
24 seats in the dome		31850-1852Sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1950 and branded as "Strata-Domes".
Dome coach/observation20 seats31875-1877Sold to the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.
Lunch counter/tavern lounge31900-19021900 retained by C&O (R. Young's private coach), 1901-1902 sold to the General Roca Railway (Ferrocarriles Argentinos).
Lunch counter/dining/observation31920-1922Retained by C&O
Dormitory/lunch counter/kitchen31940-1942Sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
Dining room/theater31970-1972Sold to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

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References

  1. ↑ Solomon, Brian (2005). CSX. Saint Paul, MN: MBI. ISBN   0760317968. OCLC   57641636.
  2. 1 2 Dixon, Thomas W. Jr. (2004). Chesapeake & Ohio's Pere Marquettes: America's First Postwar Streamliners 1946–1971. Lynchburg, VA: TLC Publishing. ISBN   1-883089-88-3. OCLC   56444812.
  3. 1 2 Railton, Arthur R. (March 1948). "Chessie Has That New Look". Popular Mechanics .
  4. ↑ Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC   8848690.
  5. 1 2 George, Geoffrey H. (July 1968). "This Was The Train That Was (But Never Was)". Trains . Vol. 28, no. 9.
  6. ↑ Grant, H. Roger (2005). The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN   0313330794. OCLC   57143252.
  7. ↑ Solomon, Brian (1998). American Steam Locomotive . Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International. ISBN   0760303363. OCLC   38132717.
  8. 1 2 Boyd, Jim; Dixon, Tom (January 1981). "The last Greenbrier". Railfan & Railroad. Vol. 3, no. 8. Carstens Publications. pp. 40–41.
  9. ↑ Nuckles, Douglas; Dixon, Thomas (1994). Chesapeake & Ohio Greenbrier Type 4-8-4 Locomotives. Clifton Forge, Virginia: The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society. pp. 31–32. ISBN   0-939487-18-7.
  10. ↑ "Steam News Photos" . Trains. Vol. 31, no. 11. Kalmbach Publishing. September 1971. p. 17. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
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