Shenandoah (B&O train)

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.[1] An alternate branch originated in Detroit and met with the Chicago part of the train at Deshler, Ohio, south of Toledo.

Shenandoah
B&O Train # 8, the Shenandoah, along the Potomac River near Hansrote, West Virginia, on October 30, 1952
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleMid-Atlantic United States; Midwestern United States
First service1937
Last service1964
SuccessorShenandoah (Amtrak)
Former operator(s)Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Route
StartJersey City, New Jersey
Baltimore, Maryland, 1958-1971
EndChicago, Illinois, second branch to Detroit, Michigan
Service frequencyDaily
On-board services
Seating arrangementsCoaches
Sleeping arrangementsRoomettes, Double Bedrooms, Sections; Roomettes, Bedroom, single person Drawing Rooms on lower level of the Strata-Dome; car with Roomettes & Double Bedrooms continuous Washington to Los Angeles, from Chicago on Santa Fe Railway's #17, Super Chief (return trip available on B&O's Capitol Limited (1957)
Catering facilitiesDining cars
Observation facilitiesLounge car
Strata-Dome (on odd days, except the 31st)

While the trains were advertised as beginning in New York City, they actually began in Jersey City. at the Jersey Central's Jersey City terminal, where passengers were then transferred to buses that met the train right on the platform. These buses were ferried across the Hudson River into Manhattan, where they proceeded to various "stations." After April 26, 1958, the B&O no longer operated passenger trains north of Baltimore, Maryland, which then became the eastern terminus of the Shenandoah for the remainder of its existence.[1]

A B&O stewardess-nurse providing infant formula to a Shenandoah passenger in 1938

From the 1940s to the 1960s, the daily Shenandoah consisted of coaches, five Pullman sleeping cars, a lounge car with a radio, and a full-service dining car. Beginning in the early 1950s, the train also had a Strata-Dome combination sleeper-dome car on alternate days.[2][3]

The westbound Shenandoah, operating as Train #7, left Washington at 11:30 p.m. (several hours after the 5 p.m. departure of the Capitol Limited and Columbian from the nation's capital), making it a favorite of travelers seeking convenient connections with other railroads in Chicago, including the streamliners of the Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railroads.[2] The train also carried a heavy volume of mail and express, with "head-end" equipment such as Railway Post Office cars a regular part of the Shenandoah's consist.[2] Beginning in January 16, 1954, the train includes a transcontinental sleeping car from Washington, continuing past Chicago on the Santa Fe Railway's Super Chief. (For the eastbound trip this was carried on the Capitol Limited.) On January 12, 1958, the Baltimore & Ohio terminated the transcontinental sleeper car.[4][5]

The Shenandoah operated to New York City via Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until April 26, 1958, when the B&O discontinued passenger service north of Baltimore.[6]

As passenger patronage on American railroads continued to decline in the 1960s, the combination sleeper-dome and dining cars were dropped, and Trains #7–8 were renamed the Diplomat in 1964 and then dropped altogether in 1967.[2] It had its final run in a truncated Akron, Ohio to Washington, D.C. itinerary with the end of B&O passenger service on April 30, 1971[7]

Amtrak revived the name in the 1970s for the short-lived Shenandoah, a Washington—Cincinnati train.

Schedule

In 1961, westbound Shenandoah Train # 7 operated on the following schedule (departure times at principal stops shown):

The route of the Shenandoah (in orange)
City Departure time
     Baltimore, Md. (Camden Station)          10:00 p.m.
     Washington, D.C. (Union Station)     11:15 p.m.
     Martinsburg, W. Va. (Martinsburg Station)     12:56 a.m.
     Cumberland, Md. (Queen City Station)       2:47 a.m.
     Connellsville, Pa.       5:10 a.m.
     McKeesport, Pa.       6:08 a.m.
     Pittsburgh, Pa. ((P&L.E. Station))       7:00 a.m.
     Youngstown, Ohio       8:36 a.m.
     Akron, Ohio (Union Station)       9:52 a.m.
     Deshler, Ohio     11:35 a.m.
     Gary, Indiana (CT) (Union Station)       2:38 p.m.
     South Chicago (South Chicago)       2:51 p.m.
     Chicago (Grand Central Station)       3:45 p.m.
source: B&O timetable, October 29, 1961[3]

References
  1. Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., Royal Blue Line. Sykesville, Maryland: Greenberg Publishing, 1990 (ISBN 0-89778-155-4).
  2. Harry Stegmaier, Baltimore & Ohio Passenger Service, Vol. 2 – Route of the Capitol Limited. Lynchburg, Va.: TLC Publishing, 1997 (ISBN 1-883-089-00X).
  3. Baltimore & Ohio — Passenger Train Schedules, October 29, 1961.
  4. "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 'Pullman, Coach and Dining Car Service' [reporting the April 1958 timetable]". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 91 (3). August 1958.
  5. 'Santa Fe Transcontinental Passenger Service' http://old.atsfrr.org/resources/Sandifer/TransconPass/Index.htm
  6. Stephen J. Salamon, David P. Oroszi, and David P. Ori, Baltimore and Ohio — Reflections of the Capitol Dome. Silver Spring, Maryland: Old Line Graphics, 1993 (ISBN 1-879314-08-8).
  7. Edmonson, Harold A. "Trains on the eve of Amtrak", Journey to Amtrak, reprinted by Kalmbach Publishing, 1972.
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