The ''Marylander'' was a
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
(B&O) afternoon
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
between New York City and Washington, D.C., operated by the B&O in partnership with the
Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly calle ...
and the
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
between
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...]
,
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, and
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
.
The ''Marylander''s origin can be traced back to the late 1890s, when the B&O began its famed
Royal Blue Line service between New York and Washington. Operating as #524 northbound and #525 southbound, the trains were called the ''New York Express'' and the ''Washington Express'', respectively, in the 1910s and 1920s. The ''Marylander'' and its predecessors offered a high level of passenger amenities, such as parlor cars with private drawing rooms, full
dining car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...
service, deluxe
lounge car
A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a re ...
s, and onboard radio and telephone service. The ''Marylander'' made history in 1948 when it was the first moving train to offer onboard television reception.
It was one of B&O's faster trains on the route, maintaining a four-hour schedule until its discontinuation in October 1956 due to declining patronage.
History
First introduced by the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
(B&O) as one of the New York–Washington
Royal Blue Line trains in the 1890s, the ''Marylander'' began life as Train #524, the ''New York Express'', departing Washington at 1 p.m. Southbound, the ''Washington Express'' operated as Train #525 with a mid-afternoon departure from Jersey City.
By the late 1920s, Trains #524 and #525 were among the B&O's ten daily passenger trains in each direction between Washington and New York. On May 29, 1929, the B&O dubbed its mid-afternoon deluxe Washington-New York train the ''
Columbian''.
By the early 1930s, intense competition from the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
in the New York–Washington market prompted the B&O to air condition the train in 1932, the first railroad to do so.
Also introduced were the richly-appointed ''Martha Washington''-series
dining car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...
s, celebrated for their decor and fresh
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
cuisine served on Dresden china in ornate cars with glass chandeliers and colonial-style furnishings. Dining car specialties included oysters and Chesapeake Bay fish served with cornmeal muffins.
In September 1941, the B&O introduced a new Washington–Chicago all-coach train, calling it the ''Columbian''.
The ''Columbian's'' former afternoon schedule between New York and Washington was renamed the ''Marylander''.
Along with most other rail passenger services in the U.S. during World War II, the ''Marylander'' enjoyed a surge in passenger traffic between 1942 and 1945 as volume doubled to passengers annually on B&O's eight daily New York–Washington trains.
Following the end of the war, however, passenger volumes soon dropped below prewar levels and B&O discontinued one of its eight daily New York–Washington trains. Between the late 1940s and the mid-1950s, the ''Marylander'' and the line's flagship
''Royal Blue'' continued to serve New York, along with three New York–
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
trains: the ''
Metropolitan Special
The ''Metropolitan Special'' was the workhorse passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1920s–1960s between St. Louis, Missouri, and New York's Rockfeller Center station.
In earlier years only the east-bound #12 c ...
'', ''
National Limited
The ''National Limited'' was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. (Buses took passen ...
'', and ''
Diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
'', and two
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
trains: the
''Capitol Limited'' and ''
Shenandoah''.
Onboard television
On October 7, 1948, the ''Marylander'' made history when a live television broadcast was first shown aboard a moving train, using a receiver operated by
Bendix Corporation
Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...
technicians.
The second game of the
1948 World Series
The 1948 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1948 season. The 45th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Boston Br ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
between the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
and the
Boston Braves was watched by the ''Marylander''s passengers, along with a
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
er, news reporters, and B&O officials. As the New York-bound train departed Washington's
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
at 1:35 p.m. and hurtled northward on B&O's right-of-way through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey at an average speed of , technicians tuned the receiver to the strongest signal. An
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
reporter observing the demonstration said, "Technically, it was surprisingly good."
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported the following day that "only when the train passed under bridges or steel structures, or was out of the range of television transmitters, was there any indication that the receiver was operating under unusual circumstances".
A B&O official observing the experiment said that reception was mostly "as good as one finds in the average home".
Demise
The overwhelming market dominance of the Pennsylvania Railroad was evident when it introduced the
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
''Morning Congressional'' and ''Afternoon Congressional'' streamliners in 1952.
By the late 1950s, most U.S. passenger trains suffered a steep decline in patronage as the traveling public abandoned trains in favor of airplanes and automobiles, utilizing improved
Interstate Highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
s. The ''Marylander'' and B&O's other New York–Washington passenger trains were no exception, as operating deficits approached annually and passenger volume declined by almost half between 1946 and 1957.
As financial losses mounted, the B&O discontinued the ''Marylander'' in October, 1956.
Less than two years later, on April26, 1958, the railroad discontinued all of its remaining passenger trains between Baltimore and New York, ending service altogether to the latter city.
En route
In Baltimore, the ''Marylander'' used the B&O's
Mount Royal Station (), at the north end of the Howard Street tunnel in the fashionable
Bolton Hill neighborhood. Designed by Baltimore architect
E. Francis Baldwin and opened in 1896, Mount Royal Station is a blend of modified
Romanesque and
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
styling and built of Maryland granite trimmed with Indiana limestone, with a red tile roof and a
clocktower
Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildin ...
. The station's interior featured marble mosaic flooring, a fireplace, and rocking chairs.
Because the B&O had no direct rail service across the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
into New York City, the ''Marylander'' and B&O's other New York-bound trains terminated at the
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
's Jersey City Terminal. Passengers were then transferred to buses that met the train right on the platform. These buses were ferried across the Hudson River into
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, where they proceeded to various "stations" around the city on four different routes, including the
Vanderbilt Hotel
4 Park Avenue (formerly known as the Vanderbilt Hotel) is a 22-story building in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Warren and Wetmore, the structure was built for Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and opened in 191 ...
,
Wanamaker's
John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...
,
Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...
, and
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
.
Stations
Schedule and equipment
The ''Marylander'' operated on afternoon schedules in both directions, with a 1 p.m. departure from
Washington, D.C., Union Station and a 5 p.m. departure from Jersey City, arriving at its destination four hours later.
In the ''Marylander''s final year of operation, the ''
Official Guide'' listed the following schedule for train # 525, the southbound ''Marylander'', as of February 1956 (unconditional stops denoted in blue, bus connections in yellow):
Northbound, the ''Marylander'' departed Washington at 1:00 p.m. as train # 504, arriving at Jersey City 5:00 p.m.:
Between the 1930s and its discontinuance in 1956, the ''Marylander'' was equipped with air-conditioned coaches, parlor cars with private
drawing rooms
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...
, a
lounge car
A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a re ...
, and a full
dining car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...
serving complete meals.
Beginning in mid-August 1947, onboard telephone service was provided, making the B&O (along with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
) one of the first three railroads in the U.S. to offer telephone service on its trains, using a forerunner of
cell phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
technology.
The train's accelerated four-hour schedule necessitated the use of
track pan
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shor ...
s to replenish the ''Marylander''s
4-6-2 ''President''-class Pacific steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s' water supply without stopping, to maintain as fast a schedule as possible. By September 1947, the ''Marylander'' and all other B&O New York–Washington passenger trains were powered by diesel locomotives.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal via
New Jersey City University
New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...
{{Infobox B&O Named Trains
Named passenger trains of the United States
Transportation in Baltimore
Transportation in Jersey City, New Jersey
Passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Railway services discontinued in 1956