Sleeping Car Routings

Okay, this is for the old farts who remember when passenger trains were passenger trains, not some government-run boondoggle.

A 1920 New Haven RR Passenger Train Consist book shows sleeping cars going to the following destinations:
. Cherry Mountain (New Hampshire?)
. Kineo (Maine?)
. Mount Desert Ferry, Maine
. Rockland, Maine
. Waterville, Maine

Any idea of what the routings would have been?

I believe Cherry Mtn. NH to Springfield, then the B&M north for the rest of the route. All the others would be the State of Maine Route up to Portland, then the MEC east from there.

Gee, could we be a little bit more specific? Which main line? Which branch line?

The sleeping cars in question entered the B&M at either Springfield or Worcester, Mass. If entering at Springfield, I'm assuming they went northward where? If entering at Worcester, they went north to Lowell, on to Portland, and then what?

The routing on the Maine sleepers would be on the New Haven to Groton and Worcester, B & M via Lowell and Lawrence to Portland. The Rockland cars would be cut out at Portland and run in a separate train to that point. The train with the Mt. Desert Ferry (Bar Harbor) and Kineo cars would continue on, probably via the Back Road (Lewiston) to Waterville with the Kineo cars cut out. The main train would continue through Bangor on to the Calais Branch and then the Mt. Desert Ferry branch to a dockside terminus. The Maine Central had a fleet of coastal steamers which ferried passengers to Mt. Desert Island (Bar Harbor) and which fleet also worked out of Rockland to various islands on the coast and in Penobscot Bay. Back to Waterville, the Kineo cars would be coupled into a train for Kineo Station, at the end of a 90 mile branch from Oakland, ME. Kineo Station was on the south shore of Moosehead Lake. Passengers with their luggage would board a lake steamer that crossed a narrow portion of Moosehead and sail to the dock at the Mt. Kineo Hotel on the north shore of the lake.

The Maine Central at the time owned the Mt. Kineo House and SamOset House at Rockland, big, wooden, rambline summer hotels. SamOset if the correct spelling.

Any idea of what the routings would have been?

Cherry Mountain was the old name for Jefferson NH station, to avoid confusion with the branch to Jefferson Hill. Are there more northern New England destinations in that Consist Book? New York via the Connecticut River valley was a sleeper route. Concord NH got a NY sleeper (years..?) that would have gone Worcester- Ayer-?-Nashua- Concord, possibly continuing to WRJ or Woodsville and the north.

From the June 1920 consist book, the following are all the sleeping car assignments for the New Haven. Note, no Montreal, P.Q. service.

EASTWARD SLEEPING CAR RUNS
New York, N.Y. to Boston, Mass.
New York, N.Y. to Boston, Mass. via B&A RR
New York, N.Y. to Bretton Woods., N.H.
New York, N.Y. to Cherry Mountain, N.H.
New York, N.Y. to Concord, N.H.
New York, N.Y. to Kineo, Me.
New York, N.Y. to Montpelier, Vt.
New York, N.Y. to Mount Desert Ferry, Me.
New York, N.Y. to Portland, Me.
New York, N.Y. to Providence, R.I.
New York, N.Y. to Rockland, Me.
New York, N.Y. to Springfield, Mass.
New York, N.Y. to Waterville, Me.
New York, N.Y. to White River Jct., Vt.
New York, N.Y. to Worcester, Mass. via B&A RR
Philadelphia, Pa. to Boston, Mass.
Philadelphia, Pa. to Bretton Woods, N.H.
Philadelphia, Pa. to Mount Desert Ferry, Me.
Philadelphia, Pa. to Portland, Me.
Philadelphia, Pa. to Providence, R.I.
Philadelphia, Pa. to Rockland, Me.
Philadelphia, Pa. to Waterville, Me.
Pittsburgh, Pa. to Boston, Mass.
Washington, D.C. to Boston, Mass.
Washington, D.C. to Mount Desert Ferry, Me.
Washington, D.C. to New Haven, Conn.

WESTWARD SLEEPING CAR RUNS
Boston, Mass. to New Haven, Conn.
Boston, Mass. to New York, N.Y.
Boston, Mass. to New York, N.Y. via B&A RR
Boston, Mass. to Philadelphia, Pa.
Boston, Mass. to Pittsburgh, Pa.
Boston, Mass. to Washington, D.C.
Bretton Woods, N.H. to New York, N.Y.
Bretton Woods, N.H. to Philadelphia, Pa.
Cherry Mountain, N.H. to New York, N.Y.
Concord, N.H. to New York, N.Y.
Kineo, Me. to New York, N.Y.
Montpelier, Vt. to New York, N.Y.
Mount Desert Ferry, Me. to New York, N.Y.
Mount Desert Ferry, Me. to Philadelphia, Pa.
Mount Desert Ferry, Me. to Washington, D.C.
New Haven, Conn. to Washington, D.C.
Portland, Me. to New York, N.Y.
Portland, Me. to Philadelphia, Pa.
Providence, R.I. to New York, N.Y.
Providence, R.I. to Philadelphia, Pa.
Rockland, Me. to New York, N.Y.
Rockland, Me. to Philadelphia, Pa.
Springfield, Mass. to New York, N.Y.
Waterville, Me. to New York, N.Y.
Waterville, Me.to Philadelphia, Pa.
White River Junction, Vt. to New York, N.Y.
Worcester, Mass. to New York, N.Y. via B&A RR

Found a copy of the April 27, 1941 version. Back in 1920 they weren't as heavy on car swapping along the way, but the 1941 version has cars being picked up and dropped off along the way. It'll take a while to distill the routings.

Okay, from the April 27, 1941 consist book, here are the New Haven sleeping car routings. All this before air travel was plentiful and interstate highways didn't exist.

Chicago to Boston (PRR/NH)
New Haven to Boston (NH)
New York to Boston (NH)
New York to Boston (NH/B&A)
New York to Bretton Woods (NH/B&M)
New York to Claremont Jct. (NH/B&M)
New York to Concord (NH/B&M)
New York to Farmington (NH/B&M/MEC)
New York to Hyannis (NH)
New York to Keene (NH/B&M)
New York to Portland (NH/B&M)
New York to Portsmouth (NH/B&M)
New York to Providence (NH)
New York to Rockport (NH/B&M/MEC)
New York to Springfield (NH)
New York to White River Jct. (NH/B&M)
New York to Woods Hole (NH)
New York to Woodsville (NH/B&M)
New York to Worcester (NH/B&A)
Penn. Station to Ellsworth (NH/B&M/MEC)
Penn. Station to Montreal (NH/B&M/CV/CN)
Penn. Station to Plymouth (PRR/NH/B&M)
Penn. Station to Portland (PRR/NH/B&M)
Penn. Station to Rockland (NH/B&M)
Penn. Station to St. Albans (NH/B&M/CV)
Penn. Station to Waterville (NH/B&M/MEC)
Philadelphia to Ellsworth (PRR/NH/B&M/MEC)
Philadelphia to Farmington (PRR/NH/B&M/MEC)
Philadelphia to Plymouth (PRR/NH/B&M)
Philadelphia to Portland (PRR/NH/B&M)
Philadelphia to Rockland (PRR/NH/B&M/MEC)
Philadelphia to Waterville (PRR/NH/B&M/MEC)
Pittsburgh to Boston (PRR/NH)
Washington to Boston (PRR/NH)
Washington to Bretton Woods (PRR/NH/B&M)
Washington to Hyannis (PRR/NH)
Washington to Springfield (PRR/NH)
Washington to Montreal (PRR/NH/B&M/CV/CN)
Washington to Ellsworth (PRR/NH/B&M/MEC)

This listing doesn't cover the assorted other CN, CP, B&M or B&A routings. I found a Chicago-Boston through sleeper, but not a Boston-Chicago through sleeper.

From the routings list, this jumped out at me:

Penn. Station to Plymouth (PRR/NH/B&M/MEC)

If it's Plymouth NH, there's no MEC involved; if it's Plymouth, MA, there's no MEC or B&M involved. I doubt if Plymouth, ME. merited a dedicated sleeper. Ah, well - it was years ago .. may as well let sleeping cars lie (ba-dump bump).

No nit is too small to be picked.

PBM

During some period/s of time, I believe sleeper or sleepers were routed to Farmington, ME where sportsmen could change to the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes RR to continue on
to fishing or hunting camps in the Rangeley area. Anyone have any timetable info about such connections?

In the B&M 1916 timetable, train 111 [daily ex. Sun.] ran Boston to Kennebago, ME, via Rumford, with stops in South Rangeley and Oquossoc on the west shore of Rangeley Lake.

At that time, trains through Farmington continued north to either Carrabasset or Phillips. Strong, ME was the split-off point, north of Farmington. Sunday saw one train from Boston to Farmington and it terminated there. There two ex. Sunday trains per day. both splitting at Strong, to continue to Carrabasset and Phillips.

At that time, there were no sleepers.

Well, I guess it was indeed Plymouth, N.H. and not Plymouth, Me. The consists just show municipality names, and don't include the state. Oh well, scratch MEC from the routing. It most definitely was not Plymouth, Mass.

By 1941, the SR&RL two-foot gauge was long gone, although the terminal in Farmington was not.

Oh, the Boston-Chicago 12-1 Sleeper ran via No. 175, The Colonial, from Boston to Penn. Station.

In 1921 Official Guide there was a MEC train (707 or 7)that left Portland 8:30a or 8:35a ar Farmington 12:00n or 12:05p connected with SR&RL train to
Rangeley that left Farmington 1:10p ar Rangeley 4:15p
Reverse trip Lv Rangeley 6:45a ar Farmington 11:47a connect to MEC train/s (24 or 724) 2:06p ar Portland 5:50p
Does anyone know if any of those MEC trains had parlor car or through sleeper service to Farmington? The 1921 Guide (page 26) shows "through train service" from NYC to Farmington
on the State of Maine and Bar Harbor Express, but does not list equipment to Farmington.
What dates did MEC have sleepers to Farmington, ME? and schedules?

"MC" is Michigan Central. "MEC" is Maine Central.

Concerning the through service, it also included through ticketing. At Grand Central Terminal, New York, one could purchase a NH/B&M/MEC/SRRL ticket - it came perforated in four parts so that each railroad's conductor could collect his ticket.