Maple Leaf (GTW train)

Last updated

Maple Leaf
GTW GP9 4912 with The Maple Leaf, Valparaiso, IN on February 21, 1971 (24030143933).jpg
GTW GP9 4912 with The Maple Leaf, Valparaiso, IN on February 21, 1971
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail, Daytime
StatusDiscontinued
Locale Midwestern United States/Southern Ontario
First serviceMay 15, 1927
Last serviceApril 30, 1971
Former operator(s) Grand Trunk Western Railroad, Canadian National
Route
Termini Chicago, Illinois
Toronto, Ontario
Stops
  • 25 (Toronto - Chicago)
  • 24 (Chicago - Toronto)
Average journey time
  • 11 hours 22 minutes (Toronto - Chicago)
  • 12 hours 55 minutes (Chicago - Toronto)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)
  • 159 (Toronto - Chicago)
  • 158 (Chicago - Toronto)
On-board services
Class(es) Coach Class
Seating arrangementsClub Car seats
Catering facilitiesMeal
Observation facilitiesLounge car
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Operating speed
  • 45.5 mph (Toronto - Chicago)
  • 40.1 mph (Chicago - Toronto)
Route map
BSicon KBHFa.svg
Toronto
BSicon HST.svg
Sunnyside
BSicon pHST.svg
Hamilton
BSicon pHST.svg
Dundas
BSicon HST.svg
Brantford
BSicon pHST.svg
Paris
BSicon HST.svg
Woodstock
BSicon pHST.svg
Ingersoll
BSicon BHF.svg
London
BSicon HST.svg
Sarnia
BSicon ZOLL.svg
Ontario, Canada
Michigan, USA
BSicon HST.svg
Port Huron
BSicon pHST.svg
Imlay City
DodgerBlue flag waving.svg
BSicon HST.svg
Lapeer
BSicon BHF.svg
Flint
BSicon HST.svg
Durand
BSicon HST.svg
Lansing
BSicon HST.svg
Charlotte
BSicon BHF.svg
Battle Creek
BSicon HST.svg
Vicksburg
BSicon pHST.svg
Marcellus
DodgerBlue flag waving.svg
BSicon HST.svg
Cassopolis
BSicon STR+GRZq.svg
Michigan
Indiana
BSicon BHF.svg
South Bend
BSicon HST.svg
Valparaiso
BSicon STR+GRZq.svg
Indiana
Illinois
BSicon HST.svg
Chicago Lawn
BSicon KBHFe.svg
Chicago

The Maple Leaf was a passenger train pool operated by the Canadian National and the Grand Trunk Western Railroad ("Grand Trunk") between Chicago, Illinois and Toronto, Ontario. It operated from 1927 to 1971. The train took its name from the maple leaf, the national symbol of Canada. The Maple Leaf was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971, and is unrelated to the Maple Leaf which Amtrak now operates between Toronto and New York City. The train operated on Canadian National railroad territory through Ontario, but west of Lake Huron it operated via Grand Trunk Railroad.

Contents

History

The Maple Leaf at Port Huron in 1970 Maple Leaf at Port Huron station, June 21, 1970.jpg
The Maple Leaf at Port Huron in 1970

The Grand Trunk introduced the Maple Leaf on May 15, 1927. The train operated on an overnight schedule between Chicago and Montreal, Quebec. In 1932 it began carrying a through sleeper for New York. In May 1937 the Grand Trunk renamed the westbound Maple Leaf the La Salle. The eastbound Maple Leaf was known as the New York Maple Leaf between 1938 and 1939. The name Toronto Maple Leaf was briefly applied to a Chicago–Port Huron, Michigan train in 1938. [1] :189 In 1938 the New York Maple Leaf was one of several Grand Trunk trains to receive Class U-4-b 4-8-4 steam locomotives built by the Lima Locomotive Works. [2]

The Maple Leaf operated on a daytime schedule between Chicago and Toronto in the 1950s. It carried a Chicago–Montreal through sleeper, a Chicago–Detroit through coach, a Port Huron–Toronto cafe/parlor car, parlor cars, and coaches. A dining car operated between Chicago and Lansing, Michigan. [3] The Montreal sleeper ended in 1958. [1] :191

Beginning in 1961, the Maple Leaf went via the more populous cities of Kitchener and Guelph, whereas it had previously taken a route via Brantford and Hamilton for the trip between London and Toronto. [4] By October 1963 the similar itinerary train, the Inter-City Limited had followed suit for its westbound trip. [5]

In 1966 the Grand Trunk renamed the westbound Inter-City Limited the Maple Leaf, thus making the Maple Leaf a daytime round-trip between Chicago and Toronto. [1] :191 After the truncation of the International Limited to Port Huron on June 23, 1970, the Maple Leaf was the Grand Trunk train on the Chicago–Toronto route. Amtrak discontinued all remaining Grand Trunk trains when it began operations in 1971. Service over the Grand Trunk resumed on September 15, 1974, with the introduction of the Blue Water Limited . [6] :203–204

Major station stops

(** for cities served beginning in 1961)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sanders, Craig (2003). Limiteds, Locals, and Expresses in Indiana, 1838–1971. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-34216-4.
  2. "New G.T.W. Engine Placed in Service". Argus-Press . August 12, 1938.
  3. Grand Trunk Railway System (September 25, 1955). "Lines in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois".
  4. "Canadian National Railways, Tables 42, 46". Official Guide of the Railways. 94 (8). National Railway Publication Company, Tables 24, 31 (reporting the November 1961 timetables). January 1962.
  5. "Canadian National Railways, Tables 42, 46". Official Guide of the Railways. 96 (6). National Railway Publication Company. November 1963.
  6. Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-34705-3.
  7. Official Guide, June 1968, Grand Trunk section