Broadway Limited

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Broadway Limited was the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) premier named passenger train, operating one train daily in either direction between New York (or Washington, D.C.) and Chicago. The Broadway ran from 1912 (although its train Nos. 28 and 29 operated from 1902 as the Pennsylvania Special) and outlasted the Pennsylvania Railroad, operating under Amtrak until 1995. The name referred not to Broadway in Manhattan, but rather to the "broad way" of the Pennsylvania Railroad's four-track right of way along a large portion of the route.

Contents 1 Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited 1.1 Equipment used 1.2 Station stops 1.3 Station Stops, 1958 2 Amtrak's Broadway Limited 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited

[edit] Equipment used

In 1938, the Broadway Limited was completely re-equipped with lightweight steel cars to replace the heavyweight steel cars. The new equipment's industrial design was a product of Raymond Loewy, who also designed the PRR GG1 as well as some streamlined steam locomotives for the PRR. This train was only one of several pre-World War II trains to receive such an equipment investment; other PRR trains used heavyweight cars until after the War. Most of the equipment in the 1938 upgrade was built new by Pullman-Standard between March and May of that year, but the diners, RPO and baggage cars were rebuilt from heavyweight cars by the railroad's Altoona shops. The 1938 consist included the following equipment:

• sleeper (18 roomettes), one of 8 cars named City of Baltimore, City of Cincinnati, City of Columbus, City of New York, City of Philadelphia, City of Pittsburgh, City of St. Louis or City of Washington.
• sleeper-lounge (2 double bedrooms, secretary's room, barber shop, shower-bath, bar/lounge), either Harbor Point or Harbor Springs.
• diner, a heavyweight car rebuilt at the Altoona shops.
• sleeper (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 double bedrooms), one of four cars named Imperial Park, Imperial Pass, Imperial Plateau or Imperial Point.
• sleeper (13 double bedrooms), either Allegheny County or New York County.
• sleeper-buffet-lounge-observation (2 master rooms, 1 double bedroom), Metropolitan View, Skyline View, Mountain View, or Tower View.

[edit] Station stops

• New York Penn Station
• Newark Penn Station
• North Philadelphia (note that the train did not stop in central Philadelphia, instead bypassing it)
• Paoli
• Harrisburg (engine change from GG1 to diesel-electric units)
• Baker Street Station (Fort Wayne)
• Englewood Union Station
• Chicago Union Station

[edit] Station Stops, 1958

• New York Pennsylvania Station
• Newark Pennsylvania Station
• Philadelphia (North Philadelphia Station)
• Paoli
• Harrisburg Union Station (engine change from GG1 to diesel-electric units)
• Altoona, PA
• Pittsburgh
• Crestline, OH
• Lima, OH
• Fort Wayne
• Englewood Union Station
• Chicago Union Station

Cars from PRR's Exchange Place terminal in Jersey City were added at Newark. Passengers from the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad's Hudson Terminal could transfer to these cars, and connections from Hudson Terminal were listed in PRR timetables.

[edit] Amtrak's Broadway Limited

When Amtrak started up on May 1, 1971, the Broadway Limited continued to use the all-PRR route, with a split at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for trains to Washington, DC via Perryville, Maryland along the former Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad, Columbia and Port Deposit Railway and Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad until November 30, 1975. On November 12, 1990, due to Conrail's desire to abandon part of the former Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway in northwest Indiana, the line was rerouted to use the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad west of Pittsburgh into Chicago. In 1995 the Broadway Limited was ended, though it was later brought back as the Three Rivers, the latter of which has since been discontinued by Amtrak west of Pittsburgh.

[edit] References

• Schafer, Mike (June 1991). "Amtrak's atlas". Trains. 
• Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. Wayner Publications, New York, NY. (out of print). 
• Welsh, Joe (2006). Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited. Voyageur Press/MBI Publishing. 

[edit] See also

• List of Pennsylvania Railroad passenger trains
• Metropolitan View
• 20th Century Limited, the New York Central Railroad's competing train

[edit] External links

• Inside the Broadway Limited promotional booklet published by PRR.