Washingtonian (B&O)
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.jpg/300px-Washingtonian_(B&O_train).jpg)
The Washingtonian was one of two daily American named passenger trains operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1940s–1950s between Baltimore, Maryland and Cleveland, Ohio, via Washington, D. C. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Inaugurated on April 27, 1941, the Washingtonian was primarily a daytime train with a morning departure, in contrast to B&O's other train on the route, the Cleveland Night Express.[1] Between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the Washingtonian's cars left B&O rails and were coupled to the Steel King train of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) to Youngstown, Ohio, where the Erie Railroad handled the train to Cleveland.
The Washingtonian was the venerable B&O's last passenger train to be powered by steam locomotives on its Washington, D. C. –Cumberland, Maryland mainline, not getting diesel locomotives until April, 1954.[1] Two years later, it was replaced on October 27, 1956 by the faster and more economical Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC)-equipped Daylight Speedliner between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, reducing operating expenses by half.[1] The streamlined Daylight Speedliner's seven-hour schedule on B&O's 333-mile (536 km) Baltimore–Pittsburgh route also trimmed almost two hours travel time compared to the Washingtonian.[2]
[edit] Schedule and equipment
The westbound Washingtonian, operating as Train # 21, left Baltimore at 9:00 a.m., arriving in Cleveland twelve hours later at 9:00 p.m. Eastbound, the Washingtonian was designated Train # 22. The train's consist was typically a pair of baggage/express cars, a Railway Post Office car, three air conditioned coaches, and a combination parlor-diner-lounge car.[1] In the late 1940s, as many as six additional coaches were added on weekends to accommodate the throngs of East Coast-bound passengers boarding the train at the numerous Appalachian Mountain communities along the B&O's right-of-way.[1]
In its final year of service, westbound Washingtonian Train # 21 operated on the following schedule (principal stops shown in blue, P&LE–Erie Steel King denoted in yellow):
(P&LE and Erie Railroad Steel King in yellow)
| City | Departure time |
|---|---|
| Baltimore, Md. (Mount Royal) | 9:00 a.m. |
| Washington, D.C. (Union Station) | 10:05 a.m. |
| Martinsburg, W. Va. | 11:36 a.m. |
| Cumberland, Md. | 1:15 p.m. |
| Connellsville, Pa. | 4:11 p.m. |
| McKeesport, Pa. | 5:12 p.m. |
| Pittsburgh, Pa. (P&LE Station) | 6:05 p.m. |
| Youngstown, Ohio | 7:35 p.m. |
| Cleveland, Ohio (Union Terminal) | 9:00 p.m. |
| source: Official Guide of the Railways, February, 1956[2] | |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Harry Stegmaier, Baltimore & Ohio Passenger Service, Vol. 2 – Route of the Capitol Limited. Lynchburg, Va.: TLC Publishing, 1997 (ISBN 1-883-089-00X).
- ^ a b Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co., February 1956, pp. 414–418.
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