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  • B&O to Boston, via the L&HR

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #1277116  by Tom_E_Reynolds
 
B&O to Boston, via the L&HR

I came across the following scan of a timetable from 1892 that shows the B&O going from Washington D.C. to Boston, via the L&HR RR.
ptt92BOBostonf.gif
ptt92BOBostonf.gif (108.38 KiB) Viewed 2619 times
ptt92BOBostonr.gif
ptt92BOBostonr.gif (109.91 KiB) Viewed 2619 times
The advertised time seem to be:

Washington DC lv. 2:40pm
Boston ar. 8:20 am

Thats a 17 Hr 40 min trip.

Does anyone know how that compared to the PRR?
 #1277250  by Marty Feldner
 
That timetable is mine, and the scan is on my website (lhr.railfan.net).

In 1892, there was no PRR route between DC and Boston; the Pennsy only went as far east as Jersey City. It wasn't until the 1910 time frame that they built the Hudson River tunnels and Penn Station to access Manhattan. Before that the only rail crossings of the Hudson were near Albany, and the Poughkeepsie Bridge route, opened in 1889/1890.

It wasn't until the completion of the New York Connecting Railroad (Hell Gate Bridge route) in 1917 that the PRR could access New England directly via the NYNH&H. Before that the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route (as exemplified by this and other timetables) was the most direct route. In the 1914-1917 (roughly) time frame, even the PRR's Federal Express was routed over the Bel-Del, L&HR and Poughkeepsie Bridge.

So, until 1917, there was no way to compare travel times.
 #1277382  by ExCon90
 
The PRR didn't wait for the Hell Gate Bridge. The Travelers' Official Guide of June 1893 shows the following through trains, which crossed New York Harbor between Harlem River and Jersey City aboard the steamer Maryland (originally built to ferry trains between Perryville and Havre de Grace until the first bridge was built in 1866 and then transferred to New York):

The night train was the Boston & Southern Express southbound, lv Boston 7.30 pm, ar Washington 10.42 am; northbound, the Boston Express, lv Washington 3.15 pm, ar Boston 7.30 am.
The day train was the Colonial Express, lv Boston 9.00 am, ar Washington 9.45 pm; lv Washington 7.50 am, ar Boston 8.30 pm.

As far back as the Travelers' Official Guide of February 1886 there was a through train originating at the Summer St. station of the New York & New England, via Willimantic to Hartford, thence NYNH&H to Harlem River, thence the Maryland and the PRR, on the following schedule:
Lv Boston 6.30 pm, ar Washington 10.50 am; lv Washington 2.00 pm, ar Boston 7.50 am.

The night trains carried through sleepers; the Colonial Express had through coaches and parlor buffet cars.