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  • Best long distance passenger trains post WWII to 1960

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This forum is for discussion of "Fallen Flag" roads not otherwise provided with a specific forum. Fallen Flags are roads that no longer operate, went bankrupt, or were acquired or merged out of existence.

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 #1560677  by CarterB
 
What trains would you consider to have been the best on the following routes, according to levels of first class service.
1. Key criteria to be best first class accommodation/s available on the route, best dining service and menus, best on board services available.
2. Secondary considerations, best convenient end points arrivals/departures, scenery en route daylight. bar cars, lounges, domes, observation cars.
3. other considerations you may wish to add

Route 1 East Coast to Midwest ( except NYC to Chicago, we know 20th Century and Broadway would top that list)
Route 2 Midwest to West Coast ( except Super Chief, which would top most lists)
Route 3 Midwest to Florida
Route 4 Transcontinental thru car or good connecting services.
 #1560696  by ExCon90
 
Route 2:
> Chicago -- Bay Area: California Zephyr, particularly for point 2 -- scenery, timing, and standard-height domes (5 in all, which worked out as basically 3 for coach passengers, leaving 2 for first class.
> Chicago -- Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles; maybe not quite the equal of the Super Chief, but right up there. The dome diner was unequaled, with splendid views of the scenery; the steward was in striped trousers and morning coat for breakfast and lunch, and tuxedo at dinner -- best-dressed man on the train in an era when people dressed up, not down, for travel.

I think it would be interesting to see some opinions on a Route 5: competitive routes under 500 miles.
 #1588742  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Mr. Morris, from one who "rode 'em all" save "my MILW's" Olympian Hiawatha.

Of course, the Super gets the prize - safe to say the most impeccable train ever on North American rails. And, like Mr. ex-Con, I concur the "City of LA" is a close runner-up (also; my A-Day Eve ride).

Now on the Zephyr; possibly circumstances - raining "cats and dogs" ascending the Rockies during June 1963, friends of my Mother and Father from Aspen (formerly Greenwich), who not knowing we only boarded at Denver and they would not sell us a room, condescendingly noted a "what are you doing UP THERE???". Then continuing Westward two days later, two hours late and my train hating Father "climbing the walls", threatening to bail out at Salt Lake City, and wondering (privately) "why is this train meandering all over California instead of just going straight to San Francisco?", it was not all that fun.

Subsequent segments, such as Jan '69 Denver-SLC and Jul '68 Oak-Sacramento just showed me cars having all the aesthetics of an OR and mediocre food. But alas, this just me.

Finally, on Mr. Ex-Con's added point #5; probably that goes to to SP's Lark. Impeccable food service - especially from the folks that brought you the Automat - and still eight Pullmans circa '63. Opening the shade Eastward Engineer's side to a crystal clear Pacific view near Oxnard will go down as one of my "most memorable".

Finally, allow me to give Honorable Mention to both CN's Cavalier and PRR's Pittsburgher. Viewing Sleepers "stretching out of sight", was indeed a sight.
 #1588839  by eolesen
 
I don't know that you could single out individual trains as much as the operators. ATSF and UPRR valued their reputations more than many other roads up and maintained them until the end. Others.... not so much.

My only pre-Amtrak experience was Chicago to north of Green Bay and was so unmemorable of an experience my parents couldn't remember if they took the MILW or the CNW...
 #1589053  by D Alex
 
CarterB wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 5:44 pm What trains would you consider to have been the best on the following routes, according to levels of first class service.
1. Key criteria to be best first class accommodation/s available on the route, best dining service and menus, best on board services available.
2. Secondary considerations, best convenient end points arrivals/departures, scenery en route daylight. bar cars, lounges, domes, observation cars.
3. other considerations you may wish to add

Route 1 East Coast to Midwest ( except NYC to Chicago, we know 20th Century and Broadway would top that list)
...(etc.)...
I don't understand your 'limitations' here; firstly, the Broadway Limited was offered by the PRR, NOT the NYC. The Lakeshore and the Broadway were both overnight trains leaving NY late in the afternoon, and both arrived at their respective stations in Chicago mid-morning (with the Lakeshore being just a bit quicker), so there WAS quite a bit of competition between the 2. On the Lakeshore, often people would awaken for breakfast around the section where the view of Lake Erie was on their right, so maybe the scenery was just a bit better on that train.

If speed wasn't terribly important but service was, the Capitol Limited by B&O was a good choice, especially since the B&O offered direct bus service from 5 different NYC 'stations', which would bring you directly to the train waiting in Jersey City. From there, B&O's service was second to none, and many people chose this train, even though it routed you down all the way to Maryland before heading back north. But, you would get to see more mountains than the PRR could offer.

Erie's post-war Chicago service became more and more pathetic through the years. The Erie railroad didn't want to be carrying passengers, and it showed. Around this time, there was a popular joke about a guy running up to ticket counter at Penn station; "I need to get to Buffalo in the worst possible way!", he tells the agent. "OK, I'll put you on the Erie, then", the agent replies...

And from NYC to Chicago, there were a few transfer options, but about the only one which really made any sense was taking the D&LW or the LV to Buffalo, then transferring to the NKP. The LV was probably the more scenic of the 2, but much slower.
 #1589067  by Gilbert B Norman
 
D Alex wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:17 am Erie's post-war Chicago service became more and more pathetic through the years. The Erie railroad didn't want to be carrying passengers, and it showed. Around this time, there was a popular joke about a guy running up to ticket counter at Penn station; "I need to get to Buffalo in the worst possible way!", he tells the agent. "OK, I'll put you on the Erie, then", the agent replies.
Mr. Alex, from one who has ridden the ERIE "bumper to bumper", they were hardly seeking NY-Chicago passenger business, but rather, back then, there was still NY-Meadville, Salamanca-Chicago, and another 100 segments over which rail remained viable at least for Mail and Express plus whoever showed up to ride.

Only Sleepers and, surprisingly, Bagg-Dorms were lightweight, but I found the crews to be friendly and the food quite good. Scenery; the Starucca Viaduct and a few vistas along the Delaware to be "it".

Finally, my experiences were on the "Erie Limited" and "Lake Cities". However, I knew railfans who wanted the experience and rode the 25hr, Coach only, Pacific Express "all the way".

Lastly, the Erie Lackawanna tried, to little avail, to upgrade the product. They renamed the Erie Limited the Phoebe Snow, assigned ex DL&W lightweight Coaches (the DL&W version of Phoebe had been whacked), lightweight Diners to two of the three sets, and Phoebe's Obs-Lounges Meadville-Hoboken running over the more scenic and populous DL&W.