Liberty Limited

[access bob]

Has anyone heard if the Liberty Limited will be running on Saturday?????

Bob

 

[PRR 60]

Has anyone heard if the Liberty Limited will be running on Saturday?????
Bob

No. It is not operating this year.

 

[Acela150]

Yeah very true Bennett Levin won't be running the E's heard from his mouth.

 

[battalion51]

Just out of curiosity...since the E's run so often up there, does anyone know if Bennett and his crew are qualified to run the engines without a pilot? Seems like they run a lot of the same track a lot...

 

[Steve4031]

What is the Liberty Limited?

 

[Acela150]

Bennett's son Eric is qualified on most of the PA NS lines.

As for the NEC I have no clue.

The Liberty Limited is a train that carries vets from Walter Reed in DC to Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia very close to Greenwich yard.

 

[wayman]

What is the Liberty Limited?

The Liberty Limited was a private train created by Bennett Levin, a Philadelphia millionaire who owns two Pennsylvania RR E-units and three Pennsy private cars, in December 2005. Levin contacted other private car owners and assembled a fifteen-car train which ran round-trip from Washington Union Station to the CSX yard in South Philly right next to Lincoln Financial Field (the football stadium) for that year's Army-Navy game. This was in the tradition established by the PRR from the mid-'20s until their demise, when dozens of special trains were run each year from Washington and New York to Philadelphia carrying Annapolis midshipmen and West Point cadets directly to the stadium on game-day, always going right down to the field itself... which had no catenary (as you can see in the picture)! The catenary stopped short of the yard, and they coasted the GG1s unpowered to the end of the tracks; during the game, diesel switch engines facilitated turning the trains so they were set for the post-game departure.

Levin's train had a special purpose, though: it was to carry wounded veterans from Walter Reed and Bethesda to the game. And in addition to getting other private-car owners to help, he got some other incredible co-sponsors. He got the Army to donate fifty-yard-line seats, Amtrak to transport all the cars to and from Washington for free, Conrail/CSX to provide free maintenance and logistics to get to the football field, and SEPTA to provide free paratransit buses to take veterans from the train to the stadium, as well as companies like Nike and Wal*Mart to give every veteran items like blankets, cameras, and the like. An incredible effort! And he did it under the radar--no press allowed, no press release--and with the stipulation that no Pentagon brass accompany the train so the soldiers, sailors, and marines didn't have to feel compelled to salute or stay "proper", but could just relax and enjoy. Oh, and there was more to enjoy: gourmet meals in the dining cars both ways, with donated food and labor, of course.

I believe the train ran a second time in 2006; I'm not sure about 2007; and it's not running this year.

 

[PRR 60]

...I believe the train ran a second time in 2006; I'm not sure about 2007; and it's not running this year.

The train last operated in 2006. Last year the game was played in Baltimore and a train link was not practical.

 

[lrdc9_metroplitan_sub]

Water Reed & Bethesda????? Georgetown Branch or what.

 

[PRR 60]

Water Reed & Bethesda????? Georgetown Branch or what.

The service men and women were transported from the hospitals to Union Station, and rode the train from there to the Philadelphia sports complex.