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I went through the reign of Mr. de Butts and Mr. Brosnan and the rest of the Southern clan. While I thought that Mr. Brosnan was a tyrant of sorts, I feel that the Southern, and railroads in general, would not have survived without the drastic cutbacks and improvements of the 1960s thru the 1980s.
One of my earliest memories of trains must have been when I was around four or five years old. I used to live in Washington, D.C. When my family would go to downtown D.C. we had to cross a street bridge that crossed the tracks of Ivy City Yards. The yards were always filled with passenger cars and locomotives. I can remember seeing the Pennsy GG-1s by the dozens along with steam locomotives mostly from southern railroads. One engine that I used to look for all of the time was what I called the orange train. I just assume that this must have either been a shrouded C&O steam engine or a C&O diesel.
Maybe it was the below image of C&O engine 490.
I also remember from the earliest days riding on passenger trains when we would go to see my grandparents in Illinois. One memory was riding on the C&O from Washington's Union Station to Cincinnati, Ohio. We would catch the N.Y.C. from Cincinnati to Indianapolis, Indiana where we would catch another train from Indianapolis to Paris, Illinois where my grandparents lived.
I remember getting on the train late at night in Washington and riding through the night in Virginia and West Virginia. The train that we usually rode was C&O train #3, the F.F.V. It left Washington, D.C. at 10:35p.m. and arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio at 2:45p.m. We would have to change trains to the New York Central which left Cincinnati at 3:20p.m. with the Sycamore. I always thought that this train ran really fast. Maybe it did and maybe it was because the C&O never really ran very fast. The Sycamore would arrive at Indianapolis, Indiana at 4:30p.m. We would then catch the Cleveland-St. Louis Special which left Indianapolis at 5:35p.m.
I always thought that the C&O was very friendly. One Christmas in particular, I remember that at every stop through the night there was much mail to be loaded and unloaded along with many passengers. At every station the train crews would wish the station crew a merry Christmas. This impressed me to this day. The dining car crews were always friendly and they would remember me from ride to ride. The waiter always remembered that I did not like boiled potatoes. As a small child I thought that this was neat and I would laugh when he mentioned it. I think that I didn't like the boiled potatoes because they would roll around in the plate as the train swayed through the mountains. Most of the time the C&O was a smooth riding train. My Dad said that was because they never went very fast. Probably true.
On the return run from Paris, Illinois to Washington, D.C. we would take the N.Y.C.'s Southwest Limited leaving Paris at 12:40p.m. and arriving at Indianapolis at 1:45p.m. we would catch the Cincinnati Special which would leave at 2:00p.m. arriving at Cincinnati at 5:30p.m. We would leave Cincinnati at 6:01p.m. on the C&O The George Washington arriving in Washington at 8:30a.m. the next morning. Needless to say, this was much fun to a young boy. I just wish that you could take the same trip today.
I remember on the C&O we rode on the Imperial Salon Cars until the advent of streamlining. The fare from Washington,D.C. to Cincinnati for an adult was $11.20 one way.
The other route that we use to take was via the Pennsylvania Railroad from Washington, D.C. to, I believe, Indianapolis, Indiana. Of course we had to change trains at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I remember that we would, at times, worry about making connections at Harrisburg. Connections weren't always thru the years guaranteed. The strongest memory that I have of the Harrisburg station were the long steps that we had to take to get to the main waiting room. Of course you had to go back down the long staircase, luggage in hand, to catch the next train. I remember that the train platform was often wet and cold. The view of the steel mills and the night time glow of the steel mills from mountain to mountain was, to me, spectacular.
When we had to change to trains of the N.Y.C., especially on the St. Louis line, the treatment was never very good. I feel that the N.Y.C. was trying to get rid of passengers on this line as early as the late 1950s'. Some of the worst treatment that my mother and I got was from crews of the N.Y.C. My mother was actually cursed at by some members of the train crews. No crew member ever helped a woman with two children to get off of the train. One Conductor actually told my mother that if she had any smarts that she should take a car instead of the G---Damn train. We, along with others, were told off many times by train crews during the train-off attepts of the N.Y.C. No, not all employees were bad, but the worst was the ticket clerk at the station in Toledo,Ohio. I actually saw him take the phone off of the hook when he got to work and not replace it until he left for the afternoon. I asked him one day for a ticket from Toledo to Chicago and he told me that the N.Y.C. did not go to Chicago and it would be to my advantage to either drive there or take the bus. I would sneak down the stairs and buy a ticket from the Conductor of the next train to Chicago. A good book to read is To Hell In A Day Coach. Like it or not it tells the true story of the sad state of the passenger train towards the end.
Another good book is The Wreck Of The Penn Central by Daughen and Binzen. While is is lenghty reading and has a great amount of detail, it give a true background of the failure of th Penn Central.
MAINSTREETER
One of the other trains that I rode in the past was the Mainstreeter. While it wasn't a fancy train it was very clean and the equipment was quite nice. When my Dad, my brother and I would go camping at Yellowstone Park during the 1950s' and the 1960s' we would take the Northern Pacific to Livingston, Montana. From there they had a connecting bus that would take you to Yellowstone. I would stay awake as long as I could while on the train. The overnight run from Chicago to Minneapolis was a train that had just about everything on it that was heading to the Northwest at night. One piece of equipment that I remember on one trip was an Erie Pullman car. The car gave the feeling that spoke of the name on the sideboard--"Erie". It was the oldest passenger car that I believe I every road. Ghosts seemed to be riding the car. If only it could have talked. By early morning we had arrived at Minneapolis. There would be equipment in the station of the likes that I had never seen before. Beautiful equipment of the North Coast Limited and the Empire Builder awaited the observer. I feel that it was some of the best looking equipment that I had ever seen then and to this day.
Anyway, the ride on the Mainstreeter was very pleasant. The train crew was very nice to all passengers and they kept things clean and neat on the entire trip. The dining crew was very nice and the food was plentiful. I guess that one of the things that I liked about the train and its schedule was that it took you through the West with its open spaces. All of the stops were at interesting little places that brought out the western image to me. There were cowboys and real indians at most of the stops. What a treat for a boy traveling. We would ride until we got to Livingston, Montana. The station at Livingston was a real western station with everything that a boy would want in a Western setting. Cowboys, indians', and a 10 cent haircut.
El Capitan
On several occasions I traveled from Chicago to L.A. on the Santa Fes' El Capitan. I was treated to one of the finest train rides that a passenger could ask for. After the Santa Fe purchased new passenger equipment in the 1950's you couldn't ask for a better ride.
I was totally surprised and greatly impressed with the Santa Fe and the El Capitan. Upon boarding the train in Chicago you were greeted by pure professionalism from the Conductor to the attendants. All were obviously proud of their train and their railroad. You were told that your seats were upstairs which was something new to most railroad passengers. Upon going upstairs you were greeted with the full length of the coach with from 66 to 72 seats per car. The restrooms were downstairs so there was no obstruction for the length of the car. Lighting was superb as was the decor. The seats were very roomy and had large leg rests. What impressed me was the soft background music that was played while the passengers loaded. This is something that I had never seen on a train before. The coach was fully carpeted and the windows were quite large. As we departed the Conductor came on the p.a. system and welcomed everyone aboard the Santa Fe and the El Capitan. The height of the seats above the rails made the train one of the quietest rides that I have ever experienced.
Soon speed was evident and nighttime arrived all to soon. The dining car was also high-level and offered the best dining that I had ever seen on a train. Fred Harvey sure would have been proud. Available to all passengers were phamplets that explained the schedule and what could be seen all along the route.
Many interesting places were to be seen along the route and one member of the crew would point them out via the p.a. The many trains and freight yards plus the scenery was spectacular. The wide open spaces and the cactus and the mountains were a plus. The El Capitan had been traveling pretty fast until they reached the mountains where they slowed down quite a bit. The scenery was great especially as you wove around Raton Pass and through Raton Tunnel. Once the train was on the other side of the mountains the land flattened out and the train picked up tremendous speed. You were flying along at 90 to 100 m.p.h.
Arrival in southern California(I got off at Pasadena) was wonderful with the warmth and the smell of orange blossoms everywhere. The Spanish decor stations were a novelty to me.
If you never rode the Santa Fe or other western train then I believe that you never rode a real passenger train.
Railroad Site
My railroad interests began when I was quite small. My father worked for a railroad supply corporation and he traveled quite a bit. He would let me travel with him at times and I would be able to visit many railroad headquarters and back shops. One of my most favorite sites was the Norfolk and Western shops in Roanoke, Virginia. I got to see numerous STEAM locomotives being built from scratch. I also visited the car building shops of the Norfolk and Western, also in Roanoke. However, my most favorite railroad was the Southern Railway. My first impression of the Southern was when I rode the "Crescent" from Baltimore, Maryland to Alexandria, Virginia. The green timetable of the Southern is what attracted me to the "Crescent" plus the "Crescent" was the next train back to Alexandria after a day of railfanning in Baltimore.
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