Corridor Then...

Guys are saying PRR trains did run to the 1939 Fair-- but nobody's claiming such a train appeared in a PRR timetable, are they? If so, where'd the trains originate? How many a day?

Scheduled PRR trains? From where?

Don't have a summer 1939 LIRR timetable, but the June 1940 empl TT shows nothing but MU trains on the line to Port Washington-- and they all ran to/from Great Neck or Port Washington.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:To my best knowledge, PRR trains ran directly to the '39 Fair. To the '64 that I was around to attend, only the LIRR and the NYCTA IRT Queensboro Line served.

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I would guess you're right. I wasn't around then --- nor were you Gil (LOL) --- but I have a faint recollection of reading someplace that PRR pressed a DD1 or two into service in 1939 in order to provide direct service to the Fair Grounds. This is a plausible story since I know for sure that at least one operable DD1 was still stored in Sunnyside many years after that.

Also --- and I am not sure about this, it's another faint recollection --- I think there may have been one New Haven special that operated direct to the 1964 World's Fair, presumably by using FL9s across Hell Gate and changing ends at Harold. There doesn't seem to be anything that would have operationally prevented such a move.

I think that by 1966 the Pennsy was already in steep decline. I looked at a 1926 timetable and, in one direction, the Pennsy had about 30 trains between NYP and WAS. I may not have decoded all the symbols correctly but I think there were that many daily trains. I assume a similar number was scheduled the other direction, between WAS and NYP. And, that was before the mainline electrification, and at a time when Washington was a much less important destination than it became later.

In 1926 the Pennsy was still calling itself the Standard Railroad of the World.

In the 1939-1940 era, there were a number of DC electric motors
(DD-1's) that were assigned to the LIRR for passenger service. During
that period, there were trains to far eastern Long Island that started out
of Penn Station with a DD-1 and changed to steam apparently at Jamaica.
I am pretty sure that during the above period there were at least a few
trains that ran through to the world's fair but in 1964 it was a different
story.
Noel Weaver

I too remember reading somewhere about DD1-powered PRR runthroughs to the 1939 fair, but I can't find a print reference at the moment. While it doesn't disprove their existence, this 1939 PRR ad poster promotes the LIRR connection rather than through trains, but it's aimed at long-distance riders, not local excursionists.

Myself, I was among the masses who rode the IRT from Grand Central to the 1964 fair after coming down from Connecticut on the New Haven.

None of the passenger railroads serving New York added trains for the 64-65 World Fair (other than shuttle trains operated by the LIRR). However, the New York Central and Erie Lackawanna gave Worlds Fair-related name to the North Shore Limited and Lake Cities, respectively, for those years.

MODERATOR'S NOTE:

No one seems to be interested in the Corridor Now part of this thread.

Off it goes to Mr Benton's Rail Travel and Trip Reports Forum

JoeG wrote:I looked at a 1926 timetable and, in one direction, the Pennsy had about 30 trains between NYP and WAS.

Yeah, the 2/26 Guide reprint lists many (all?) the thru trains to Florida etc on the NY-Washington timetable-- I didn't think you ever could ride from NY to Washington on the Orange Blossom Special or the Crescent, but it seems you could then. In later years (maybe even in 1927) the long-distance trains quit carrying short-haul riders, and a traveler from NY to Washington could only choose from 16 trains or so.

Noel Weaver wrote: I am pretty sure that during the above period [1939-40] there were at least a few trains that ran through to the world's fair

But not scheduled trains?

(The 6/39 NY-Phila public timetable doesn't mention any thru trains.)

Vincent wrote:Were there any extra trains added for any of the other recent World's Fairs? (Montreal '67,................

For Expo '67, CN added several new trains and expanded existing schedules with additional equipment they borrowed and bought from US railroads. CP even got into the act and added a second Transcontinental train: The Expo Limited”

D&H also saw an increase in passengers and obtained the famous Alco PA’s from the Santa Fe and cars from the Rio Grande. This "new" equipment actually arrived after Expo '67 ended but lasted until Amtrak then was revived as the Adirondack in 1974.