What's in a name?

[Bill Haithcoat]

The Henry M. Flagler, put in operation from Miami to Jacksonville in 1939.

In 1940, renamed the Dixie Flagler and extended to Chicago.

In Dec 1954 renamed the Dixieland (Daddy and I saw its first run with the new name and new equipment)

In Nov. 1957, discontinued. (Daddy and I were there for its last run. My world was devastated)

 

[MrFSS]

IINM there was also a George Washington, too lazy too Googgle it up, time for a nap! :lol: :lol: :lol:

BTW-Werent there lots of Pullmans and Business Cars named after various people, places and things also? (ie George Pullman etc.)

George Washington was a Chesapeake and Ohio train between Washington DC and Cincinnati, the premier train on that route. It lasted to A-day. It had a Newport News section that was put with the DC section at Charlottesville and a Louisville KY section that was taken off at Ashland KY. For quite a bit of its life it had a profile of Washington's head on the drumhead on the observation car. It was also a study in railroad cooperation, whether willing or otherwise at that time. Although operated by C&O all the way, if you were to ride Washington DC to Louisville KY you would be on the tracks of five different railroads, four before getting out of Virginia.

1. Washington Terminal Company trackage Union Station to Virginia Tower

2. Pennsylvania Railroad, Virginia Tower to the south end of the Potomac River Bridge

3. RF&P from there to AY(?) tower a little ways south of Alexandria VA,

4. Southern Railway AY tower to Orange VA

5. C&O's own rails from there to somewhere around Frankfort KY,

6. Over L&N rails the rest of the way to Louisville.

Actually one more at the very end, as for most of its life the C&O trains did not use the L&N station in Louisville, but another, i think the ICRR's.

My avatar is a picture of The George Washington arriving in Louisville Central Station about 1956. One of the first pictures I took of a train.

As I remember it, there was usually a PRR sleeping car on the tail end which was a through car between NYP and LOU.

Central Station in Louisville is long gone and has been replaced with parts of I-64, which many people want to remove from the waterfront area and reroute away from the city center.

Central Station was home to the IC, B&O and C&O. Car movements on the tracks in and near the station were actually performed by the K&IT (Kentucky & Indiana Terminal)

I have a number of pictures which I'll try to get posted later.

 

[jphjaxfl]

The New York Central/Big Four Train from Louisville to Anderson &South Bend,IN also left from Central Station until about 1940. I worked at the Jeffersonville,In Post office in the mid 1960s. The oldtimers talked about dispatching mail to the NYC RPO. The RPO became an HPO after The train came off and still operated in the 1960s.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Chicago and North Western's Kate Shelley.

 

[MrFSS]

The New York Central/Big Four Train from Louisville to Anderson &South Bend,IN also left from Central Station until about 1940. I worked at the Jeffersonville,In Post office in the mid 1960s. The oldtimers talked about dispatching mail to the NYC RPO. The RPO became an HPO after The train came off and still operated in the 1960s.

I had forgotten about the Big Four being at Central Station. The Big Four bridge across the Ohio is still there sans egress at both ends. They have wanted to, over the years: Tear it down, build condos on it, reopen it as a rail bridge, and today it is being reconditioned with access at each end for a pedestrian bridge across the Ohio.

Here are some pictures I took in the 50's at Central Station.

The George Washington arriving Central station.

C&O and B&O Central Station (PRR bridge in the background - still used today)

K&IT Switcher

PRR Sleeper on the rear of The George Washington

My good high school friend, Jim Herron, who now owns and runs Herron Rail Video

We spent many weekends in the station yards in Louisville in the 50's.

 

[PRR 60]

The Nellie Bly - A parlor car only train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York and Atlantic City. It diverged from the NEC at Trenton, took the route of today's NJT RiverLINE light rail toward Camden, then joined the line to Atlantic City at Delair. It last operated in 1961.

The Benjamin Franklin - an Amtrak NEC train that originated in Philadelphia and operated through to Boston. It left at 7:35am, made one stop at North Philly, then non-stop to Newark. For those of us who had frequent need to be in New York for morning meetings, "The Bennie" was the train of choice.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

I can remember two train names that were people - Ann Rutledge and Phoebe Snow (OK a fictional person).

The Ann Rutledge was also an Amtrak train on the Illinois Service.

Anyone remember any other trains with the names of people (real or fictional)?

]OK Tom, here goes:[/u]

Abraham Lincoln - CHI / STL

Commodore Vanderbilt - NYP / CHI

Booth Tarkington - CHI / CIN

DeWitt Clinton - CHI / TOL

Ethan Allen - NYP / Rutland, VT ( Just didn't make it to Transit54!!

James Whitcomb Riley - CHI / WAS

John Wilkes - NYP / Coxton, PA

John Quincy Adams - NYP / BOS

Sam Houston - FTW / Houston, TX

Tom Taber Express - Hoboken, NJ / Dover, NJ (with a Flag Stop in Chatham, NJ)

Will Rodgers - STL / SFO

 

And then we need to mention the following trains:

The Super Chief, named for AlanB

The Commander, named for Eric

The Cavalier, named for the-traveler

The Diplomat, named for PennyK

The Marylander, named for Ryan

Not to be picky but there was also an Advance Commodore Vanderbilt.

ALSO does Jeffersonian count? It was a PRR train from Chicago to Washington preumably named for Thomas Jefferson.

 

[trainman74]

Actually the correct spelling of the train's name IS Capitol Limited.

Yes, I know -- I was referring to the statement "from the nation's capitol, Washington, D.C...."

Washington, D.C. is the nation's capital. Capitol with an O is a building; capital with an A is a city.

Obviously, the train is named after the building (which was pictured on the B&O logo), not the city.