Overview | |
---|---|
First service | 1938 |
Last service | 1956 |
Former operator(s) | Baltimore and Ohio Railroad |
Route | |
Termini | Baltimore, Maryland Jersey City, New Jersey |
Distance travelled | 223.6 miles (359.8 km) (1949) |
Average journey time | 4 hours, 35 minutes (southbound), 4 hours (northbound) |
Service frequency | Daily |
Train number(s) | 504 (northeast bound) 523 (southwest bound) |
On-board services | |
Seating arrangements | Coach; combine coach |
Catering facilities | Dining car |
Observation facilities | Parlor car with drawing room (1949) |
The Marylander was a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) afternoon passenger train between New York City and Washington, D.C., operated by the B&O in partnership with the Reading Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey between Jersey City, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.. Other intermediate cities served were Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. [1] [2] The Marylander's origin can be traced back to the late 1890s, when the B&O began its famed Royal Blue Line service between New York and Washington. Operating as #524 northbound and #525 southbound, the trains were called the New York Express and the Washington Express, respectively, in the 1910s and 1920s. The Marylander and its predecessors offered a high level of passenger amenities, such as parlor cars with private drawing rooms, full dining car service, deluxe lounge cars, [3] and onboard radio and telephone service. The Marylander made history in 1948 when it was the first moving train to offer onboard television reception. [4] It was one of B&O's faster trains on the route, maintaining a four-hour schedule until its discontinuation in October 1956 due to declining patronage.
First introduced by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) as one of the New York–Washington Royal Blue Line trains in the 1890s, the Marylander began life as Train #524, the New York Express, departing Washington at 1 p.m. Southbound, the Washington Express operated as Train #525 with a mid-afternoon departure from Jersey City. [5]
By the late 1920s, Trains #524 and #525 were among the B&O's ten daily passenger trains in each direction between Washington and New York. On May 29, 1929, the B&O dubbed its mid-afternoon deluxe Washington-New York train the Columbian . [5] By the early 1930s, intense competition from the Pennsylvania Railroad in the New York–Washington market prompted the B&O to air condition the train in 1932, the first railroad to do so. [1] Also introduced were the richly-appointed Martha Washington-series dining cars, celebrated for their decor and fresh Chesapeake Bay cuisine served on Dresden china in ornate cars with glass chandeliers and colonial-style furnishings. Dining car specialties included oysters and Chesapeake Bay fish served with cornmeal muffins. [6] In September 1941, the B&O introduced a new Washington–Chicago all-coach train, calling it the Columbian. [7] The Columbian's former afternoon schedule between New York and Washington was renamed the Marylander. [6] [7]
Along with most other rail passenger services in the U.S. during World War II, the Marylander enjoyed a surge in passenger traffic between 1942 and 1945 as volume doubled to 1.2 million passengers annually on B&O's eight daily New York–Washington trains. [1] Following the end of the war, however, passenger volumes soon dropped below prewar levels and B&O discontinued one of its eight daily New York–Washington trains. Between the late 1940s and the mid-1950s, the Marylander and the line's flagship Royal Blue continued to serve New York, along with three New York– St. Louis, Missouri trains: the Metropolitan Special , National Limited , and Diplomat , and two Chicago trains: the Capitol Limited and Shenandoah . [8]
On October 7, 1948, the Marylander made history when a live television broadcast was first shown aboard a moving train, using a receiver operated by Bendix Corporation technicians. [4] The second game of the 1948 World Series in Boston between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Braves was watched by the Marylander's passengers, along with a Federal Communications Commissioner, news reporters, and B&O officials. As the New York-bound train departed Washington's Union Station at 1:35 p.m. and hurtled northward on B&O's right-of-way through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey at an average speed of 80 miles per hour (129 km/h), technicians tuned the receiver to the strongest signal. An Associated Press reporter observing the demonstration said, "Technically, it was surprisingly good." [4] The New York Times reported the following day that "only when the train passed under bridges or steel structures, or was out of the range of television transmitters, was there any indication that the receiver was operating under unusual circumstances". [4] A B&O official observing the experiment said that reception was mostly "as good as one finds in the average home". [4]
The overwhelming market dominance of the Pennsylvania Railroad was evident when it introduced the 18-car stainless steel Morning Congressional and Afternoon Congressional streamliners in 1952. [1] By the late 1950s, most U.S. passenger trains suffered a steep decline in patronage as the traveling public abandoned trains in favor of airplanes and automobiles, utilizing improved Interstate Highways. The Marylander and B&O's other New York–Washington passenger trains were no exception, as operating deficits approached $5 million annually and passenger volume declined by almost half between 1946 and 1957. [2] [9] As financial losses mounted, the B&O discontinued the Marylander in October, 1956. [1] Less than two years later, on April 26, 1958, the railroad discontinued all of its remaining passenger trains between Baltimore and New York, ending service altogether to the latter city.
In Baltimore, the Marylander used the B&O's Mount Royal Station ( 39°18′20″N76°37′11″W / 39.3055°N 76.6197°W ), at the north end of the Howard Street tunnel in the fashionable Bolton Hill neighborhood.
Designed by Baltimore architect E. Francis Baldwin and opened in 1896, Mount Royal Station is a blend of modified Romanesque and Renaissance styling and built of Maryland granite trimmed with Indiana limestone, with a red tile roof and a 150-foot (46 m) clocktower. The station's interior featured marble mosaic flooring, a fireplace, and rocking chairs. [10]
Because the B&O had no direct rail service across the Hudson River into New York City, the Marylander and B&O's other New York-bound trains terminated at the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Jersey City Terminal. Passengers were then transferred to buses that met the train right on the platform. These buses were ferried across the Hudson River into Manhattan and Brooklyn, where they proceeded to various "stations" around the city on four different routes, including the Vanderbilt Hotel, Wanamaker's, Columbus Circle, and Rockefeller Center. [5]
Station | State |
---|---|
New York (Rockefeller Center) | New York |
New York (Grand Central Terminal) | |
Jersey City | New Jersey |
Elizbeth | |
Plainfield | |
Philadelphia | Pennsylvania |
Wilmington | Delaware |
Baltimore (Mt. Royal Station) | Maryland |
Baltimore (Camden Station) | |
Washington (Union Station) | District of Columbia |
The Marylander operated on afternoon schedules in both directions, with a 1 p.m. departure from Washington, D.C., Union Station and a 5 p.m. departure from Jersey City, arriving at its destination four hours later. [1] In the Marylander's final year of operation, the Official Guide listed the following schedule for train # 525, the southbound Marylander, as of February 1956 (unconditional stops denoted in blue, bus connections in yellow):
City | Departure time |
---|---|
New York (Rockefeller Center) | 4:00 p.m. |
New York (Grand Central Terminal) | 4:10 p.m. |
Jersey City, New Jersey (CNJ station) | 5:00 p.m. |
Elizabeth, New Jersey (CNJ station) | 5:17 p.m. |
Plainfield, New Jersey (CNJ station) | 5:30 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. (CNJ station) | 6:40 p.m. |
Wilmington, Del. | 7:06 p.m. |
Baltimore, Maryland (Mt. Royal Station) | 8:12 p.m. |
Baltimore, Maryland (Camden Station) | 8:17 p.m. |
Washington, D.C. (Union Station) | 8:35 p.m. |
Source: Official Guide of the Railways , p. 418 [8] |
Northbound, the Marylander departed Washington at 1:00 p.m. as train # 504, arriving at Jersey City 5:00 p.m.:
City | Departure time |
---|---|
Washington, D.C. (Union Station) | 1:00 p.m. |
Baltimore, Maryland (Camden Station) | 1:36 p.m. |
Baltimore, Maryland (Mt. Royal Station) | 1:44 p.m. |
Wilmington, Del. | 2:50 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 3:20 p.m. |
Plainfield, New Jersey | 4:31 p.m. |
Elizabeth, New Jersey | 4:44 p.m. |
Jersey City, New Jersey | 5:00 p.m. |
New York (Grand Central Terminal) | 5:45 p.m. |
New York (Rockefeller Center) | 5:50 p.m. |
Source: Official Guide of the Railways , p. 418 [8] |
Between the 1930s and its discontinuance in 1956, the Marylander was equipped with air-conditioned coaches, parlor cars with private drawing rooms, a lounge car, and a full dining car serving complete meals. [8] [11] Beginning in mid-August 1947, onboard telephone service was provided, making the B&O (along with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad) one of the first three railroads in the U.S. to offer telephone service on its trains, using a forerunner of cell phone technology. [8] [12] The train's accelerated four-hour schedule necessitated the use of track pans to replenish the Marylander's 4-6-2 President-class Pacific steam locomotives' water supply without stopping, to maintain as fast a schedule as possible. By September 1947, the Marylander and all other B&O New York–Washington passenger trains were powered by diesel locomotives. [1]
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of the National Road early in the century, wanted to do business with settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains. The railroad faced competition from several existing and proposed enterprises, including the Albany-Schenectady Turnpike, built in 1797, the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Baltimore & Ohio Transportation Museum. It has been called one of the most significant collections of railroad treasures in the world and has the largest collection of 19th-century locomotives in the U.S. The museum is located in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's old Mount Clare Station and adjacent roundhouse, and retains 40 acres of the B&O's sprawling Mount Clare Shops site, which is where, in 1829, the B&O began America's first railroad and is the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States.
The Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad was a railroad line built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the Maryland-Delaware state line, where it connected with the B&O's Philadelphia Branch to reach Baltimore, Maryland. It was built in the 1880s after the B&O lost access to its previous route to Philadelphia, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B). The cost of building the new route, especially the Howard Street Tunnel on the connecting Baltimore Belt Line, led to the B&O's first bankruptcy. Today, the line is used by CSX Transportation for freight 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.
The Columbian was a named passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. It was the all-coach supplemental train of the all-Pullman Capitol Limited. It operated from 1931 to 1964. The train's initial route was between Jersey City, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., but in 1941 the Columbian route was lengthened to Jersey City – Chicago, Illinois. It was the first air-conditioned train in the United States.
The Cincinnatian was a named passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). The B&O inaugurated service on January 19, 1947, with service between Baltimore, Maryland and Cincinnati, Ohio, carrying the number 75 westbound and 76 eastbound, essentially a truncated route of the National Limited which operated between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis.
The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and New York City/Jersey City with the rest of the railroad at Baltimore, Maryland. It included the Howard Street Tunnel, the Mount Royal Station for B&O's Royal Blue Line passenger trains, and the first mainline railroad electrification in the United States. CSX Transportation currently operates the line as part of its Baltimore Terminal Subdivision.
The National Limited was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. It operated from 1925 to 1971. For much of its life it offered exclusive all-Pullman service, and it was the first long-distance train to be entirely air-conditioned. The National Limited was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971. Amtrak revived the name for another New York–St. Louis service which did not use the B&O route.
The Metropolitan Special was the workhorse passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1920s–1960s between St. Louis, Missouri, and New York's Rockfeller Center station.
Camden Station, now also referred to as Camden Street Station, Camden Yards, and formally as the Transportation Center at Camden Yards, is a train station at the intersection of South Howard and West Camden Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, behind the B&O Warehouse. It is served by MARC commuter rail service and local Light Rail trains.
The Royal Blue was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)'s flagship passenger train between New York City and Washington, D.C., in the United States, beginning in 1890. The Baltimore-based B&O also used the name between 1890 and 1917 for its improved passenger service between New York and Washington, collectively dubbed the Royal Blue Line. Using variants such as the Royal Limited and Royal Special for individual Royal Blue trains, the B&O operated the service in partnership with the Reading Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Principal intermediate cities served were Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. Later, as Europe reeled from the carnage of World War I and connotations of European royalty fell into disfavor, the B&O discreetly omitted the sobriquet Royal Blue Line from its New York passenger service and the Royal Blue disappeared from B&O timetables. Beginning in 1917, former Royal Blue Line trains were renamed: the Royal Limited, for example, became the National Limited, continuing west from Washington to St. Louis via Cincinnati. During the Depression, the B&O hearkened back to the halcyon pre-World War I era when it launched a re-christened Royal Blue train between New York and Washington in 1935. The B&O finally discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, including the Royal Blue.
The Cleveland Night Express was an American named train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The B&O inaugurated the Cleveland Night Express in 1915. Its discontinuation in 1962 marked the end of B&O passenger service to Cleveland.
The Shenandoah was an American named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), one of four daily B&O trains operating between Jersey City, New Jersey and Grand Central Station in Chicago, Illinois, via Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from the 1930s to the 1950s. Other B&O trains of that period on the route were the Capitol Limited, Columbian, and the Washington–Chicago Express. An alternate branch originated in Detroit and met with the Chicago part of the train at Deshler, Ohio, south of Toledo.
The Diplomat was a named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1930s–1950s connecting New York City and St. Louis, Missouri, via Washington, D.C. Other B&O trains on the route during that period were the premier National Limited and the workhorse Metropolitan Special. The train was inaugurated in August 1930 after several changes to trains along the St. Louis Route. After World War II, the Diplomat operated as Train No. 3 westbound, and No. 4 eastbound. It was timed to provide connections to several western railroads that terminated in St. Louis, including the Frisco, the Santa Fe, Cotton Belt and Missouri Pacific, among others.
The West Virginian, train #23 and #24, was operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on a route from New York to Parkersburg, West Virginia. As with all B&O trains, the New York destination was a misnomer since trains never actually entered New York City. Instead, the B&O used the Central Railroad of New Jersey’s Jersey City Depot, which was directly across the river from New York.
The Daylight Speedliner was an American named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the 1950s and early 1960s. Equipped with three or four streamlined, self-propelled Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) coupled together, it initially operated between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D. C., as Trains #21–22.
The Washington–Chicago Express, an American named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), was one of four daily B&O trains operating between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Illinois, via Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1930s–1960s. Other B&O trains of that period on the route were the Capitol Limited, Columbian, and the Shenandoah.
The Washingtonian was one of two daily American named passenger trains operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1940s–1950s between Baltimore, Maryland and Cleveland, Ohio, via Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the last B&O long-haul passenger train to be powered by a steam locomotive from the venerable railroad's namesake city.
The West Virginian, later known as the Potomac Turbo and Potomac Special, was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Washington, D.C., and Parkersburg, West Virginia. This route was previously served by the Baltimore & Ohio's (B&O) train of the same name, and was the first of several services in the state of West Virginia established at the behest of US Representative Harley Orrin Staggers, the powerful chair of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. This patronage earned the train the derisive sobriquets "Harley's Hornet" and the "Staggers Special".
The Baltimore Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Maryland. The line runs from Baltimore to Halethorpe along the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line, one of the oldest rail lines in the United States and the first passenger railroad line. At its east (north) end, it connects with the Philadelphia Subdivision; its west (south) end has a junction with the Capital Subdivision and the Old Main Line Subdivision.