Night Express (B&O train)

The Night Express was an American named train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Detroit, Michigan and Louisville, Kentucky with major station stops in Toledo, Ohio and Cincinnati. The was numbered Train 57 southbound and Train 58 northbound. The numbers 57/58 operated on the Detroit - Cincinnati line as early as 1921.[1] The service was provided in conjunction with the Pere Marquette Railroad (and later, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway) from Detroit to Toledo and with the Louisville and Nashville from Cincinnati to Louisville with connections to New Orleans.

Night Express
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleMid-West
First service1960 [c.1921 as unnamed train]
Last service1967
Former operator(s)Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Route
StartDetroit, Michigan
EndLouisville, Kentucky
Distance travelled257.5 miles (414.4 km) (1960)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)57 (southbound)
58 (northbound)
On-board services
Seating arrangementsReclining seat coach
Sleeping arrangementsRoomettes, double bedrooms (1960)
Catering facilitiesSnack-lounge car

The train went unnamed until 1960 when the B&O gave the name Night Express to the 57/58 Detroit-Louisville itinerary.[2] By 1963, the southern terminus of the train route was shortened to Cincinnati's Union Terminal.[3]

The Night Express had its Detroit beginning point in the New York Central's Michigan Central Station in Detroit 1963, when the B&O and the C&O merged and the B&O moved it to the Fort Street Union Depot in Detroit.[4][5]

With the September, 1967 schedule, the B&O dropped the train from service.[6]

Schedule and equipment
The route of the Night Express (in orange)

In 1947, southbound Night Express Train # 57 operated on the following schedule (departure times at principal stops shown):

City Departure time
Detroit (Michigan Central Station) 11:50 p.m. (via Pere Marquette Railway)
Toledo, Ohio (Central Union Terminal) 1:25 a.m.
Deshler, Ohio 2:20 a.m.
Lima, Ohio (PRR station) 3:15 a.m.
Dayton, Ohio (Union Station) 5:13 a.m.
Cincinnati (Union Terminal) 8:40 a.m.
Louisville, Ky. (Central Station) 9:55 a.m. (via Louisville and Nashville Railroad
source: Baltimore and Ohio System Timetable, July 6, 1947[7]

In the 1940s, the southbound Night Express consisted of two or three head-end cars, an RPO baggage car, 12 sleepers. Between Cincinnati and Louisville there was a dining-lounge car.

References
  1. "Baltimore and Ohio, Table 86". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 54 (1). June 1921.
  2. "Baltimore and Ohio, Table 15, Named on the consist table, 'Pullman, Coach and Dining Car Service'". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 92 (12). May 1960.
  3. "Baltimore and Ohio, Consist table, 'Pullman, Coach and Dining Car Service,' and Table 11". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 96 (1). June 1963.
  4. "Baltimore and Ohio, Consist table, 'Pullman, Coach and Dining Car Service,' and Table 11". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 96 (1). June 1963.
  5. C&O/B&O timetable, April 26, 1964, Table 3 https://streamlinermemories.info/Eastern/C&OB&O64TT.pdf
  6. "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 100 (5). October 1967.reporting from the September B&O timetable
  7. Baltimore and Ohio System Timetable. Baltimore: B&0 Press, July 6, 1947, p. 29.
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