General (train)

Last updated
General
Overview
StatusDiscontinued
Locale Mid-West/Mid-Atlantic States
First service1937
Last serviceDecember 12, 1967
Successor Broadway Limited
Former operator(s) Pennsylvania Railroad (1937–1967)
Route
Termini New York City and Washington, D.C.
Chicago
Distance travelled907.7 miles (1,460.8 km) (New York-Chicago)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)48 (Chicago to New York)
49 (New York to Chicago)
On-board services
Seating arrangementsReclining seat coach (1957)
Sleeping arrangementsRoomettes, duplex rooms, double bedrooms
Catering facilitiesDining car
Observation facilitiesObservation lounge coach

The General (train numbers 48 and 49) was the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) number two train between New York City and Chicago. Only marginally slower than the Broadway Limited , it had no extra fare. For a time before World War II, the train carried more passengers than the Broadway Limited and had been stealing passengers from the New York Central Railroad's 20th Century Limited .

The General was inaugurated in 1937, and carried coaches and Pullmans. It received some new lightweight equipment in 1938 as part of the fleet of modernism, [1] but it was mostly heavyweight until 1940. It was the only "Fleet of Modernism" train to be streamlined without an observation car. It lost its coaches but still had a passenger-baggage car attached to its consist when the Advance General was inaugurated in 1940. The General became an All-Pullman train in April 1942. It was re-equipped with lightweight sleeping cars from both the pre-war Broadway, and new cars from post-war orders in 1948. At this time, it also carried the Broadway's pre-war View series observation cars. In 1951 the General lost its all-Pullman status when it was combined with the all-coach Trail Blazer for non-peak travel periods only. In 1952 this consolidation became permanent, and by 1960, the Trail Blazer name was dropped.

In the late 1950s, the General also carried coaches and sleepers from Washington, DC, to Chicago via Harrisburg, when the PRR discontinued its Washington-Chicago Liberty Limited train. [2] [3]

In 1967 the General merged with the Broadway Limited when that train lost its numbers and all-Pullman status.

Motive Power

Here is a list of motive power used on the General:

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<i>Trail Blazer</i> (train)

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<i>Manhattan Limited</i>

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The Admiral was a named passenger train of the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successor Penn Central which operated between Chicago, Illinois and New York City. The Admiral began on April 27, 1941, when the Pennsylvania renamed the eastbound Advance General.

<i>Alton Limited</i>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">View series</span>

The View series was a fleet of six sleeper-observation lounges built by Pullman-Standard for use on the Pennsylvania Railroad's passenger trains. Pullman built four in 1938 and another two in 1949 after World War II. Their most prominent assignment was on the Broadway Limited, the Pennsylvania's flagship New York–Chicago train, but they were also assigned to the General and the Liberty Limited. Several of the cars have been preserved.

<i>Liberty Limited</i>

The Liberty Limited was a named train on the Pennsylvania Railroad. It ran from Washington D.C. to Chicago, Illinois, through Baltimore, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. It began running on September 27, 1925, as a replacement for the Washington–Broadway Limited, which had been introduced in 1923. It originally was scheduled to complete its route in 19 hours.

References

  1. Welsh, Joe (2006). Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited. Voyageur Press. ISBN   9781610600101.
  2. Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Indiana University Press. pp. 36–37. ISBN   9780253027931.
  3. "The General". American-Rails.com. Retrieved 2017-12-18.