The Standard Railroad of the World - 1930

[MARC Rider]

I found this surfing around on the web. It's the East-West Through Service timetables for the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1930. It's quite impressive. The New York - Pittsburgh service is almost as frequent as NEC service today. And I love the features of the extra-fare trains:

"Bath. Clothes pressing. Barber. Ladie's maid. Manicuring. Terminal telephone. Newspapers. Stock quotations. Base ball and foot ball scores (in season). Magazines. Stationery. Train secretary."

Also note that on a lot of the trains, the dining cars did not always run through the entire trip, specifically, they took them off at a stop after dinner, and put another one at a stop right before breakfast.

Most of the through trains only stopped at North Philadelphia, but a few did back into Broad Street Station. There was also a "West Philadelphia" station which was located at about where 30th St. Sation is today.

The fares, though, are a bit eye-opening, especially considering that this was during the height of the Depression:

Baltimore/Washington to Chicago:
Train fare (presumably coach): $27.78 ($467.68 in 2022 dollars)
Lower berth: $8.25 ($138.89 in 2022 dollars) plus the train fare
Compartment $23.35 ($391.42 in 2022 dollars) plus the train fare
The price quotes didn't list the extra fares assessed for the top trains like the Broadway Limited or the Golden Arrow, etc.
Also, the price of meals on board was extra, too.

I imagine that 30 bucks was a lot of money for the average person back in 1930. No wonder there were so many hoboes back then.

It also makes one think twice before complaining about a $400-$500 roomette ticket for today's Capitol Limited or Lakeshore Limited. And the Amtrak fare includes food, even if it's only flex food (but that's going to change sooner or later).

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

Even as late as 1969 Penn Central had 7 daily trains New York to Pittsburgh with 3 continuing to Chicago and 2 to St. Louis. There was also unnamed coaches only trains from Pittsburgh to Chicago and St. Louis. Today just one New York to Pittsburgh and nothing beyond by the former PRR routes

 

[MARC Rider]

Also in the timetable booklet was an ad for the TAT-Maddux transcontinental air service. This was a train-air service that took you from New York to LA in 48 hours, bypassing Chicago. "TAT" stood for "Transcontinental Air Transport," though it was also called "Take a Train." You took and overnight train from New York to Columbus, Ohio on the PRR. Then you boarded a Ford Tri-Motor for a day of flying across Flyover Country (with a few intermediate stops) to Waynoka, Oklahoma. Then back in a Santa Fe train for an overnight ride to Clovis New Mexico, then back on another plane to fly into LA (with a few intermediate stops.) I'll bet those were two fun airplane rides bouncing around in a Ford Tri-Motor. In addition to being one of the earliest passenger airlines (they started service in 1928), the also apparently pioneered the concept of inflight meal service. The PRR segment (The Airway Limited) provided dinner and breakfast in a dining car. Inflight lunch on the air segments provided by Fred Harvey. Dinner in Oklahoma and breakfast in Clovis were at a Harvey House restaurant.

They didn't exactly pick the best year to start the service, as the stock market crash of 1929 and the Depression must have been bad for business, especially considering that the one-way fare was $352 (that's $5,900 in today's money). I suspect you could go first class on the Broadway Limited and the Chief for less. TAT was merged into a couple of other airlines in 1930 to form Transcontinental and Western Air, the predecessor company of TWA. By 1930, they were flying an all-air route that took 36 hours and required an overnight in Kansas City.

 

[west point]

Last time I looked in the late 1970s the Columbus PRR terminal was still there on the south portion of the airport

 

[MARC Rider]

Last time I looked in the late 1970s the Columbus PRR terminal was still there on the south portion of the airport

The station stop for the TAT service was called "Port Columbus," and was 7 miles east of the regular Columbus station.

 

[Willbridge]

Even as late as 1969 Penn Central had 7 daily trains New York to Pittsburgh with 3 continuing to Chicago and 2 to St. Louis. There was also unnamed coaches only trains from Pittsburgh to Chicago and St. Louis. Today just one New York to Pittsburgh and nothing beyond by the former PRR routes

In 1969 I rode PC Train 13 from Columbus (dep 2:25 p.m.) to Indianapolis (arr. 6:25 p.m.). It had a lightweight NYC coach. On the day before, I rode the Penn Texas from Indianapolis to Columbus and though it had a dining car and two sleepers, the coach was a heavyweight with walkover seats and ads hanging over the aisles for a south Jersey bank.

 

[Willbridge]

And if that extra fare, coaches only "Standard Railroad" stuff was too pricey, there was a folksier alternative....

 

[Seaboard92]

Even as late as 1969 Penn Central had 7 daily trains New York to Pittsburgh with 3 continuing to Chicago and 2 to St. Louis. There was also unnamed coaches only trains from Pittsburgh to Chicago and St. Louis. Today just one New York to Pittsburgh and nothing beyond by the former PRR routes

Technically that isn't quite true. The Capitol Limited runs on the former Pennsylvania Mailine to Alliance where it diverges onto the Pennsylvania Cleveland Line where it jumps on the New York Central Route. Then at Hammond, IN everything jumps onto the Pennsylvania Railroad on one of the Conrail S Curves between the two former competing roads.

Last time I looked in the late 1970s the Columbus PRR terminal was still there on the south portion of the airport

I would love to see a photo of that if you can find one.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I found this surfing around on the web. It's the East-West Through Service timetables for the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1930. It's quite impressive. The New York - Pittsburgh service is almost as frequent as NEC service today. And I love the features of the extra-fare trains:

"Bath. Clothes pressing. Barber. Ladie's maid. Manicuring. Terminal telephone. Newspapers. Stock quotations. Base ball and foot ball scores (in season). Magazines. Stationery. Train secretary."

Also note that on a lot of the trains, the dining cars did not always run through the entire trip, specifically, they took them off at a stop after dinner, and put another one at a stop right before breakfast.

Most of the through trains only stopped at North Philadelphia, but a few did back into Broad Street Station. There was also a "West Philadelphia" station which was located at about where 30th St. Sation is today.

The fares, though, are a bit eye-opening, especially considering that this was during the height of the Depression:

Baltimore/Washington to Chicago:
Train fare (presumably coach): $27.78 ($467.68 in 2022 dollars)
Lower berth: $8.25 ($138.89 in 2022 dollars) plus the train fare
Compartment $23.35 ($391.42 in 2022 dollars) plus the train fare
The price quotes didn't list the extra fares assessed for the top trains like the Broadway Limited or the Golden Arrow, etc.
Also, the price of meals on board was extra, too.

I imagine that 30 bucks was a lot of money for the average person back in 1930. No wonder there were so many hoboes back then.

It also makes one think twice before complaining about a $400-$500 roomette ticket for today's Capitol Limited or Lakeshore Limited. And the Amtrak fare includes food, even if it's only flex food (but that's going to change sooner or later).

Nice find Joe. When I started riding the Pennsy it was already on its last legs, second only to the SP for lousy service and equipment!

 

[MARC Rider]

Nice find Joe. When I started riding the Pennsy it was already on its last legs, second only to the SP for lousy service and equipment!

Funny, riding the Pennsy in the early 1960s is what got me hooked on riding trains. I remember that a lot of the cars were kind of old-fashioned, but maybe they were 30-40 years old, not much older than an Amfleet now. The older cars, especially the MP-54s on the suburban lines, were a bit noisy, and I would look down the tracks waiting for the train, hoping it would be a Silverliner and not an MP-54. Riding the Northeast Corridor to either New York or Baltimore, you never knew what kind of equipment you were going to get. It was kind of fun, because you might get an old p-70 or a very comfortable long-distance coach, or maybe even the tubular train if you took the Keystone. Except for a meal in a Northeast Corridor dining car when I was 10, I never bothered with the meal service. I thought the snack bar coach was over priced (especially on my teenager budget), and it was a drag having to stand in line in an aisle with coach seating. I seem to recall that the cars, while old, were mostly clean and in good repair. The service seemed to be pretty reliable, too, although my mom, when she was taking trips to Baltimore to see family, was always complaining about the train stopping in random places in Maryland for no apparent reason.

I never rode the Pennsy long-distance trains, so I don't know how bad the service got. Once or twice a bunch of us took one of the Chicago trains (not the Broadway Limited) to Harrisburg instead of the Silverliners. We had to get on in North Philadelphia. The train was fine for the 2-hour trip, but nothing special compared to the Northeast corridor trains. I didn't ride the Broadway Limited until 1973, after it was taken over by Amtrak, but maybe it was still being run by Penn Central for Amtrak. Again, it wasn't too luxurious, but the dining car was fine, and I enjoyed riding in the observation car.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Funny, riding the Pennsy in the early 1960s is what got me hooked on riding trains. I remember that a lot of the cars were kind of old-fashioned, but maybe they were 30-40 years old, not much older than an Amfleet now. The older cars, especially the MP-54s on the suburban lines, were a bit noisy, and I would look down the tracks waiting for the train, hoping it would be a Silverliner and not an MP-54. Riding the Northeast Corridor to either New York or Baltimore, you never knew what kind of equipment you were going to get. It was kind of fun, because you might get an old p-70 or a very comfortable long-distance coach, or maybe even the tubular train if you took the Keystone. Except for a meal in a Northeast Corridor dining car when I was 10, I never bothered with the meal service. I thought the snack bar coach was over priced (especially on my teenager budget), and it was a drag having to stand in line in an aisle with coach seating. I seem to recall that the cars, while old, were mostly clean and in good repair. The service seemed to be pretty reliable, too, although my mom, when she was taking trips to Baltimore to see family, was always complaining about the train stopping in random places in Maryland for no apparent reason.

I never rode the Pennsy long-distance trains, so I don't know how bad the service got. Once or twice a bunch of us took one of the Chicago trains (not the Broadway Limited) to Harrisburg instead of the Silverliners. We had to get on in North Philadelphia. The train was fine for the 2-hour trip, but nothing special compared to the Northeast corridor trains. I didn't ride the Broadway Limited until 1973, after it was taken over by Amtrak, but maybe it was still being run by Penn Central for Amtrak. Again, it wasn't too luxurious, but the dining car was fine, and I enjoyed riding in the observation car.

Since I never rode the Broadway Ltd ( Penn or Amtrak), the best Pennsy Train I rode on was the Metro Liner between WAS and NYP.( frequent rider once my Travel Office OK'd using Trains instead of the Infamous Eastern Shuttle!)

 

[Bob Dylan]

Since I never rode the Broadway Ltd ( Penn or Amtrak), the best Pennsy Train I rode on was the Metro Liner between WAS and NYP.( frequent rider once my Travel Office OK'd using Trains instead of the Infamous Eastern Shuttle!)

The Hill Country Flyer here in Austin has some of the old Red "Bare Bones" Pennsy Coaches, as does the Texas State Railroad in East Texas.
They are completely rehabbed, and fun to ride on these Tourist Trains.( and serve as the Low Fare Cars compared to the First Class Cars)

 

[MARC Rider]

Since I never rode the Broadway Ltd ( Penn or Amtrak), the best Pennsy Train I rode on was the Metro Liner between WAS and NYP.( frequent rider once my Travel Office OK'd using Trains instead of the Infamous Eastern Shuttle!)

I think that by the time the Metroliner went into service, it was already the Penn Central. As I recall, even in the Penn Central days, the Northeast Corridor service was reasonably reliable. My sister, though, once took one of the secondary Philly-Chicago trains, circa 1970, prompted by an air traffic controller's strike, and she had a tale of horror to retell -- train was really late, heat went off, toilets froze or were otherwise non-functional, the snack bar coach (the only food service) ran out of food. A tale of horrors that I've never experienced on any Amtrak ride I've taken.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I think that by the time the Metroliner went into service, it was already the Penn Central. As I recall, even in the Penn Central days, the Northeast Corridor service was reasonably reliable. My sister, though, once took one of the secondary Philly-Chicago trains, circa 1970, prompted by an air traffic controller's strike, and she had a tale of horror to retell -- train was really late, heat went off, toilets froze or were otherwise non-functional, the snack bar coach (the only food service) ran out of food. A tale of horrors that I've never experienced on any Amtrak ride I've taken.

Unfortunately I've been on several such Trips from Hell on Amtrak and even one on the Canadian!( 24+ Hours Late into Toronto)

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

I think that by the time the Metroliner went into service, it was already the Penn Central. As I recall, even in the Penn Central days, the Northeast Corridor service was reasonably reliable. My sister, though, once took one of the secondary Philly-Chicago trains, circa 1970, prompted by an air traffic controller's strike, and she had a tale of horror to retell -- train was really late, heat went off, toilets froze or were otherwise non-functional, the snack bar coach (the only food service) ran out of food. A tale of horrors that I've never experienced on any Amtrak ride I've taken.

At the time the PC, hemorrhaging money due in part to the looting of the company by Saunders & Co. was trying to dump all trains outside of the NEC and many of them had been applied for discontinuance and were running under court orders. There was the famous Harrisburg - Buffalo train that ran on alternate days and was run purposely to discourage patronage so the PC could convince the ICC that nobody rode it.

The "Wreck of the Penn Central" by Philadelphia Bulletin journalists Daughen and Binzen makes an interesting read of what happened to PC.