BROADWAY LIMITED

The '''Broadway Limited''' was the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) premier named passenger train, operating one train daily in either direction between New York (or Washington, D.C.) and Chicago. The ''Broadway'' ran from 1912 (although its train Nos. 28 and 29 operated from 1902 as the ''Pennsylvania Special'') and outlasted the Pennsylvania Railroad, operating under Amtrak until 1995. The name referred not to Broadway in Manhattan, but rather to the "broad way" of the Pennsylvania Railroad's four-track right of way along a large portion of the route.

Contents

Pennsylvania Railroad's ''Broadway Limited''

Equipment used

Sample Consist

Station stops

Station Stops, 1958

Amtrak's ''Broadway Limited''

References

See also

External links

Pennsylvania Railroad's ''Broadway Limited''

Equipment used

On June 15,1938, the ''Broadway Limited'' was completely re-equipped with lightweight steel cars to replace its heavyweight steel cars. This was the same date that new, streamlined equipment made its debut on rival New York Central's "Twentieth Century Limited." The new equipment's industrial design was a product of Raymond Loewy, who also designed the PRR GG1 electric locomotive as well as some streamlined steam locomotives for the PRR. This train was only one of several pre-World War II trains to receive such an equipment investment; other PRR trains used heavyweight cars until after the War. Most of the equipment in the 1938 upgrade was built new by Pullman-Standard between March and May of that year, but the diners, RPO and baggage cars were rebuilt from heavyweight cars by the railroad's Altoona shops. The 1938 consist included the following equipment:

★ sleeper (18 roomettes), one of 8 cars named ''City of Baltimore'', ''City of Cincinnati'', ''City of Columbus'', ''City of New York'', ''City of Philadelphia'', ''City of Pittsburgh'', ''City of St. Louis'' or ''City of Washington''.

★ sleeper-lounge (2 double bedrooms, secretary's room, barber shop, shower-bath, bar/lounge), either ''Harbor Point'' or ''Harbor Springs''.

★ diner, a heavyweight car rebuilt at the Altoona shops.

★ sleeper (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 double bedrooms), one of four cars named ''Imperial Park'', ''Imperial Pass'', ''Imperial Plateau'' or ''Imperial Point''.

★ sleeper (13 double bedrooms), either ''Allegheny County'' or ''New York County''.

★ sleeper-buffet-lounge-observation (2 master rooms, 1 double bedroom), ''Metropolitan View'', ''Skyline View''.
The new, streamlined equipment traversed the 900.7 miles between New York and Chicago in 16 hours: the same timing as the New York Central's "Twentieth Century Limited." Though the Pennsylvania's route
was 60 miles shorter, slower speeds across the Allegheny Mountains
between Altoona and Pittsburgh, PA equalized the two trains' times.

Sample Consist

Westbound train #29 - Broadway Limited; sampled at Alliance, Ohio on 1941-11-13^[1].

★ Locomotive: Class K4s (4-6-2 PACIFIC) Locomotive PRR 5147.

★ Class 'MB' Baggage-Mail Car: PRR 5247

★ Class 'BE' Baggage-Express Car: PRR 6051.

★ Class 'CS' Baggage-Club Car: NYC 'VAN TWILLER'.

★ Class 'PS' Sleeper (18 Roomettes) 'CITY OF FORT WAYNE'.

★ Class 'PSL' Sleepers (2 Double Bedrooms; Buffet Lounge) 'HARBOR POINT'.

★ Class 'DA' Diners; PRR 4512.

★ Class 'PS' Sleeper (4 Double Bedrooms; 4 Compartments; 2 Drawing Rooms); 'IMPERIAL CREST'.

★ Class 'PS' Sleepers (13 Double Bedrooms); 'HAMILTON COUNTY'.

★ Class 'PSO' Sleeper-Buffet-Lounge-Observation (2 Master Rooms; 1 Double Bedroom); 'METROPOLITAN VIEW'.
Westbound train #29 - Broadway Limited; sampled at Newark, New Jersey on 1924-07-02^[2].

★ Locomotive: Class K4s (4-6-2 PACIFIC) Locomotive PRR 5375.

★ Class 'MA' Railway Post Office Car: PRR 9760

★ Class 'CS' Baggage-Club Car: PRR 'TOMS RIVER'.

★ Class 'PS' Sleeper: (12 Sections; 1 Drawing Room) 'FREDERICKTOWN'.

★ Class 'PS' Sleepers: (12 Sections; 1 Drawing Room; 1 Compartment) 'ZENO'; 'DEMOSTHENES'.

★ Class 'DA' Diners; PRR 4486.

★ Class 'PS' Sleeper (12 Sections; 1 Drawing Room; 1 Compartment); 'STRABO'.

★ Class 'PS' Sleepers (7 Compartments; 2 Drawing Rooms); 'GLEN FINLAS'.

★ Class 'PO' Sleeper-Lounge-Observation (6 Compartments); 'PITCAIRN'.

Station stops

★ New York Penn Station

★ Newark Penn Station

★ North Philadelphia (note that the train did not stop in central Philadelphia, instead bypassing it via Zoo Junction)

★ Paoli

★ Harrisburg (engine change from GG1 to diesel-electric units)

★ Baker Street Station (Fort Wayne)

★ Englewood Union Station

★ Chicago Union Station

Station Stops, 1958

★ New York Pennsylvania Station

★ Newark Pennsylvania Station

★ Philadelphia (North Philadelphia Station)

★ Paoli

★ Harrisburg Union Station (engine change from GG1 to diesel-electric units)

★ Altoona, PA

★ Pittsburgh

★ Crestline, OH

★ Lima, OH

★ Fort Wayne

★ Englewood Union Station

★ Chicago Union Station
In much earlier days, cars from PRR's Exchange Place terminal in Jersey City were added at Newark. Passengers from the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad's Hudson Terminal could transfer to these cars, and connections from Hudson Terminal were listed in PRR timetables.

Amtrak's ''Broadway Limited''

When Amtrak started up on May 1, 1971, the ''Broadway Limited'' continued to use the all-PRR route, with a split at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for trains to Washington, DC via Perryville, Maryland along the former Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mount Joy and Lancaster Railroad, Columbia and Port Deposit Railway and Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad until November 30, 1975. On November 12, 1990, due to Conrail's desire to abandon part of the former Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway in northwest Indiana, the line was rerouted to use the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad west of Pittsburgh into Chicago. In 1995 the ''Broadway Limited'' ended service, though it was briefly brought back as the ''Three Rivers''. In 1999 the ''Three Rivers'' service was discontinued by Amtrak west of Pittsburgh, and later renamed the ''Pennsylvanian'', which operates as a daylight coach and snack-car service subsidized by the State of Pennsylvania.

References

★ Amtrak's atlas, Schafer, Mike, , , Trains, 1991

★ Car Names, Numbers and Consists, Wayner, Robert J., ed., , , Wayner Publications, New York, NY, 1972, (out of print)

★ Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited, Welsh, Joe, , , Voyageur Press/MBI Publishing, 2006,
1. Wayner Publications; Robert J. Wayner; '''Passenger Train Consists; 1923-1973'''. P.21
2. Wayner Publications; Robert J. Wayner; '''Passenger Train Consists; 1923-1973'''. P.4

See also

★ List of Pennsylvania Railroad passenger trains

★ ''Metropolitan View''

★ ''20th Century Limited'', the New York Central Railroad's competing train

External links

★ ''Inside the Broadway Limited'' promotional booklet published by PRR.