The Greenbrier Presidential Express was a proposed luxury passenger train that was planned to operate between Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, and the train station at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The project was initiated in June 2011 but canceled in May 2012 due to numerous issues, among which were capacity constraints on the Buckingham Branch Railroad and Federal approval of the train's engineering.
Following his purchase of The Greenbrier resort in his native West Virginia, billionaire coal entrepreneur Jim Justice launched a number of new initiatives aimed at reinvigorating the struggling property, including significant renovations, the Greenbrier Classic PGA Tour event, and the construction of a casino. He unveiled concept drawings for the Greenbrier Presidential Express, designed to bring guests to and from the resort, at a June 2011 launch party in Washington, D.C. [1]
Efforts to prepare for the new train began with a $15 million investment by Justice to purchase and rehabilitate 15 passenger cars at a plant in Pennsylvania. The train's consist was to have been made up of baggage cars, club cars, and dining cars offering Greenbrier-style luxury. Most cars were to be named after presidents who summered at the resort. The decor for these cars was being supervised by interior designer Carleton Varney, the student of the woman behind the Greenbrier's signature style, Dorothy Draper. Deluxe cocktails would have been served during the 6-hour journey, and plans called for a registered nurse to be on hand to serve the passengers and plan treatments at the resort's spa and medical facilities. [2] Upon arrival, guests would be met by horse-drawn carriages at the station and conveyed across the street to the resort's main building. [3]
4-8-4 steam locomotive No. 614, formerly used by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was painted in Greenbrier Presidential Express livery intended to eventually serve as the power for the train, it was displayed at Clifton Forge, VA to promote the train. [4]
Trains magazine reported in January 2012 that the future of the Presidential Express was in doubt due to capacity problems on the Buckingham Branch Railroad, a problem also affecting plans to make Amtrak's Cardinal (which also serves White Sulphur Springs) a daily train.
As of May 2012, the Greenbrier Presidential Express project was canceled. [5] Most employees were laid off, and numerous rail cars and locomotives were placed for sale, with the rolling stock scheduled for auction on September 18, 2014. [6]
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line from Spotsylvania, Virginia, and the Manassas Line from Broad Run station in Bristow, Virginia. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 1,172,700, or about 6,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.
Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North America's 10th-busiest railroad station. The station is the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending north through major cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, and the busiest passenger rail line in the nation. In 2015, it served just under five million passengers.
The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States.
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The Vermonter is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between St. Albans, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., via New York City. It replaced the overnight Montrealer, which terminated in Montreal until 1995. Amtrak receives funding from the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont for Vermonter operations north of New Haven.
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The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 3-foot narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction located within the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, in the United States. Its route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length and encircles most of the park, with train stations in three different park areas. The rail line, constructed by WED Enterprises, operates with four historic steam locomotives originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's main line loop. On a typical day, the railroad has two trains in operation; on busy days, it has three trains.
The Capitol Limited was an American passenger train run by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, originally between New York City and Grand Central Station in Chicago, Illinois, via Union Station, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Pittsburgh. For almost 48 years, it was the B&O's flagship passenger train, noted for personalized service and innovation. At the time of its discontinuation on May 1, 1971, when Amtrak took over most rail passenger service in the U.S., the Capitol Limited operated between Washington and Chicago.
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customers.
Chesapeake & Ohio 614 is a class "J-3-A" 4-8-4 "Greenbrier" (Northern) type steam locomotive built in June 1948 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) as a member of the J-3-A class. As one of the last commercially built steam locomotives in the United States, the locomotive was built with the primary purpose of hauling long, heavy, high speed express passenger trains for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway such as the George Washington and the Fast Flying Virginian. Retired from active service in the late 1950s, the 614 was preserved and placed on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Between 1979 and 1980, restoration work on the locomotive to operating condition took place and it was used for extensive mainline excursion service from the early 1980s until the late 1990s. Since 2011, the locomotive has been on display at the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, Virginia.
The Washington Park & Zoo Railway (WP&ZRy) is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge recreational railroad in Portland, Oregon's Washington Park with rolling stock built to 5/8 scale. Opened in three stages in 1958, 1959 and 1960, it previously provided transportation between the Oregon Zoo, Hoyt Arboretum, International Rose Test Garden, and the World Forestry Center. The extended line through Washington Park, now out of service but still in place, was about 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The service is currently operating on a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) loop completely within the Oregon Zoo grounds. The railway carries about 350,000 passengers per year.
The George Washington was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway running between Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, D.C. that operated from 1932, the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, to 1974. A section divided from the main train at Gordonsville, Virginia and operated through Richmond to Phoebus, Virginia. From the west, a section originated in Louisville and joined at Ashland.
Ross E. Rowland, Jr. is a figure in United States railroad preservation. He has run public and demonstration excursions on existing railroads utilizing steam locomotives.
A private railroad car, private railway coach, private car, or private varnish is a railroad passenger car either originally built or later converted for service as a business car for private individuals. A private car could be added to the make-up of a train or pulled by a private locomotive, providing privacy for its passengers. They were used by railroad officials and dignitaries as business cars, and wealthy individuals for travel and entertainment, especially in the United States. They were sometimes used by politicians in "whistle stop campaigns". Pay cars with less opulent sleeping and dining facilities were used by a paymaster and assistants to transport and disburse cash wages to railway employees in remote locations without banking facilities.
White Sulphur Springs station is a railway station in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, served by Amtrak, the national passenger railway. The station is a stop on Amtrak's Cardinal route.
The Maharajas' Express is a luxury tourist train owned and operated by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). It serves four routes across North-West and Central India, mainly centered on Rajasthan between the months of October and April.
The Resort Special was a seasonal night train from Chicago, renowned for serving resort towns such as Traverse City, Charlevoix, Petoskey on the northwestern part of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Begun by the Pere Marquette Railway, it was a rare instance of a named Pere Marquette train continuing after the Chesapeake & Ohio absorbed the Pere Marquette Railway in 1947. In 1960s, the C&O shifted the Resort Special name to a White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia to New York City route.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Greenbrier was a class of 12 4-8-4 "Greenbrier" type steam locomotives built by the Lima Locomotive Works between 1935 and 1948 and operated by the C&O. Like a handful of railroads, the C&O didn't name their 4-8-4s "Northerns", and instead went with the name "Greenbrier" after the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, a major resort on the C&O mainline.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Depot in Ronceverte, West Virginia is a historic train station built in 1915 and is part of the Ronceverte Historic District. The depot stopped serving to passengers when Amtrak started operation on May 1, 1971, and discontinued services to the station, although the line still has the Cardinal using the route. Currently, the depot serves as an office for CSX, the latter of which is restoring the station at the cost of $500,000.