The ''Lake Cities'' was a passenger train operated by the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...

and successor

Erie Lackawanna Railway The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...

between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and New Jersey termini — first, Jersey City and later Hoboken. The ''Lake Cities'' began in 1939 as the ''Midlander'', a Jersey City-Chicago service with sections to Cleveland, Ohio, and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. From its eastern terminus, the Erie's

Pavonia Terminal Pavonia Terminal was the Erie Railroad terminal on the Hudson River situated on the landfilled Harsimus Cove in Jersey City, New Jersey. The station opened in 1861 and closed in 1958 when the Erie Railroad moved its passenger services to nearby ...

in Jersey City, the route ran through

Port Jervis Port Jervis is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, United States, north of the Delaware Water Gap. Its population was 8,775 at the 2020 census. The communities of Deerpark, ...

to Binghamton over the traditional

Erie main line The Main Line (or Erie Main Line) is a commuter rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the United States. It runs daily commuter service and was once the north–south main ...

through Sullivan and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

in New York's Southern Tier and on to Chicago. Unlike other New York-Chicago trains, it bypassed Buffalo to the south, running through Jamestown, Youngstown, Akron and Marion. A few years before the Erie's 1960 merger with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the ''Lake Cities'' began running into the

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

. Upon the merger, it was routed over the Lackwanna's Poconos main line route in northern New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. Between 1961 and 1962, the train was known as the "''Chicago Lake Cities/Buffalo Lake Cities''", but reverted to ''Lake Cities''. Sleeper service ended on October 28, 1962. From April 26 until October 25, 1964, the ''Lake Cities'' was renamed ''The World's Fair'' in connection with the

1964 World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

in New York. After the conclusion of the fair in 1965, the ''Lake Cities'' name was restored to the train. On November 28, 1966, the ''Lake Cities'' regained diner and sleeper service to compensate for the withdrawal of the ''

Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs " San Francisco Bay Blues", " Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited ...

'' (which had its final run the previous day), but by 1967 the sleeping service went no further west than

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 census, slightly down from 36,837 at the ...

, while the dining car stopped at

Huntington, Indiana Huntington, known as the "Lime City", is the largest city in and the county seat of Huntington County, Indiana, United States. It is in Huntington and Union townships. It is also part of Fort Wayne, Indiana's metropolitan area. The population wa ...

. The Erie Lackawanna withdrew the train on January 6, 1970.

Equipment

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the Erie acquired seven lightweight sleepers from Pullman-Standard, each with ten roomettes and six double bedrooms. The ''Lake Cities'' carried one in each direction between New York and Chicago.

Station stops

This late 1960s timetable with the New Jersey and Pennsylvania stops reflects a consolidation of service with the ''Phoebe Snow'' train, which was discontinued in 1966. Before the 1960 Erie-Lackawanna merger, the ''Lake Cities route ran through New York's Sullivan and Orange Counties.1961 Erie-Lackawanna timetable, reflecting ''Lake Cities'' not taking the Orange County route, and instead taking the Poconos route :File:ERIE_TABLE1_19610625.png

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Cities (Train) Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Indiana Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey Passenger rail transportation in New York (state) Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Passenger rail transportation in Pennsylvania Passenger trains of the Erie Lackawanna Railway Passenger trains of the Erie Railroad Night trains of the United States Named passenger trains of the United States Railway services introduced in 1939 Railway services discontinued in 1970