The ''Royal Blue'' was the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)'s flagship
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., in the United States, beginning in 1890. The Baltimore-based B&O also used the name between 1890 and 1917 for its improved passenger service between New York and Washington, collectively dubbed the ''Royal Blue Line''. Using variants such as the ''Royal Limited'' and ''Royal Special'' for individual ''Royal Blue'' trains, the B&O operated the service 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 ...
. Principal intermediate cities served were
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, and
Baltimore
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 ...
. Later, as Europe reeled from the carnage of World War I and connotations of European royalty fell into disfavor, the B&O discreetly omitted the sobriquet ''Royal Blue Line'' from its New York passenger service and the ''Royal Blue'' disappeared from B&O timetables. Beginning in 1917, former ''Royal Blue Line'' trains were renamed: the ''Royal Limited'' (inaugurated on May 15, 1898), for example, became the ''
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 passenge ...
'', continuing west from Washington to
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
via
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. During the
Depression, the B&O hearkened back to the halcyon pre-World War I era when it launched a re-christened ''Royal Blue'' train between New York and Washington in 1935. The B&O finally discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, including the ''Royal Blue''.
Railroad historian Herbert Harwood said, in his seminal history of the service, "First conceived in late Victorian times to promote a new railroad line ... it was indeed one of the most memorable images in the transportation business, an inspired blend of majesty and mystique ... Royal Blue Line ... Royal Blue Trains ... the ''Royal Blue'' all meant different things at different times. But essentially they all symbolized one thing: the B&O's regal route."
Between the 1890s and World War I, the B&O's six daily ''Royal Blue'' trains providing service between New York and Washington were noted for their luxury, elegant appearance, and speed. The car interiors were paneled in
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
, had fully enclosed vestibules (instead of open platforms, still widely in use at the time on U.S. railroads), then-modern heating and lighting, and
leaded glass windows. The car exteriors were painted a deep "
Royal Saxony blue" color with
gold leaf
Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...
trim,
[John F. Stover, ''History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad''. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 1987 (), pp. 172–176.] a color personally chosen by the B&O's tenth president,
Charles F. Mayer.
The B&O's use of
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
instead of steam power in a Baltimore tunnel on the Royal Blue Line, beginning in 1895, marked the first use of electric locomotives by an American railroad and presaged the dawn of practical alternatives to steam power in the 20th century.
[F.G. Bennick, "B&O was first U.S. railroad to use electric locomotives", ''B&O Magazine'', April 1940, pp. 19–23.] Spurred by intense competition from the formidable
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 ...
, the dominant railroad in the lucrative New York–Washington market since the 1880s, the ''Royal Blue'' in its mid-1930s reincarnation was noted for a number of technological innovations, including
streamlining and the first non-
articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
on a passenger train in the U.S., a harbinger of the
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 eventual demise.
[Harwood, ''Royal Blue Line'', pp. 147–148.]
History
1880s–1918
Prior to 1884, the B&O and the Philadelphia-based
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 ...
both used the independent
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881.
It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...
(PW&B) between
Baltimore
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 ...
, Maryland, and
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 ...
, Pennsylvania, for their New York–Washington freight and passenger trains. In 1881, the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased a controlling interest in the PW&B, and in 1884 it denied the B&O further use of the PW&B to reach Philadelphia.
The B&O then built a new line from Baltimore to connect to the
Philadelphia and 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 called ...
in Philadelphia, completed in 1886.
The B&O's passenger trains then used the Reading's
New York Branch
The New York Branch or the Bound Brook Route was a railway line in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was operated by the Reading Company and owned by two of its subsidiaries, the North Pennsylvania Railroad and the Delaware and Bound Brook Railroad. ...
northward from Philadelphia to
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, located along the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,402,[Communipaw Terminal
The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replacing ...]
in
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[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 ...]
to either
Liberty Street Ferry Terminal
Liberty Street Ferry Terminal or Liberty Street Terminal was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's passenger ferry slip in lower Manhattan, New York City and the point of departure and embarkation for passengers travelling on the Central Railroad of ...
or
Whitehall Terminal
The Whitehall Terminal is a ferry terminal in the South Ferry section of Lower Manhattan, New York City, at the corner of South Street and Whitehall Street. It is used by the Staten Island Ferry, which connects the island boroughs of Manhattan ...
on New York's Manhattan Island.
The new route presented problems in Baltimore, because a ferry boat was necessary to cross the harbor between
Locust Point and
Canton to connect with the B&O's Washington Branch.
The solution was the
Baltimore Belt Line
The Baltimore Belt Line was constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the early 1890s to connect the railroad's newly constructed line to Philadelphia and Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, New York City/Jersey City with the re ...
, which included a long tunnel under Howard Street in downtown Baltimore. Work began on the tunnel in 1891 and was completed on May 1, 1895, when the first train traversed the tunnel. To avoid smoke problems from steam engines working upgrade in the long tunnel under the middle of Baltimore, the B&O pioneered the first mainline
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
of a U.S. railroad, installing an overhead
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
system in the tunnel and its approaches.
An electric locomotive first pulled a ''Royal Blue'' train through the Howard Street tunnel on June 27, 1895.
The project also included the construction of B&O's second passenger terminal in Baltimore,
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
Ephraim Francis Baldwin (October 4, 1837 – January 20, 1916) was an American architect, best known for his work for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and for the Roman Catholic Church.
Personal life
Although born in Troy, New York, Baldwin live ...
in 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, the station was built of Maryland
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
trimmed with
Indiana limestone
Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...
, with a red tile roof and landmark
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. It opened the following year on September 1, 1896. "It was considered," said ''
the Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', "the most splendid station in the country built and used by only one railroad."
[Charles V. Flowers, "Mount Royal Closes Doors But Tower Clock Will Run", '']The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'', July 1, 1961. That evaluation was shared by railroad historian
Lucius Beebe
Lucius Morris Beebe (December 9, 1902 – February 4, 1966) was an American writer, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist.
Early life and education
Beebe was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, to a prom ...
, who proclaimed Mount Royal "one of the celebrated railroad stations of the world, ranking in renown with
Euston Station, London, scene of so many of
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
' departures, the
Gare du Nord
The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...
in Paris, and the feudal fortress of the
Pennsylvania ">ailroadat
Broad Street, Philadelphia".
Even before the Baltimore Belt Line project was finished, the B&O launched its ''Royal Blue'' service on July 31, 1890. Powered by
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
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 having exceptionally large diameter
driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...
s for speed, the ''Royal Blue'' trains occasionally reached . After the Baltimore Belt Line project was completed, travel time between New York and Washington was reduced to five hours, compared to nine hours in the late 1860s.
The trains were noted for their elegance and luxury. The parlor cars' ceilings and upholstery were covered in royal blue, and the dining cars ''Queen'' and ''Waldorf'', panelled in
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
, featured elaborate cuisine such as
terrapin
Terrapins are one of several small species of turtle (order Testudines) living in fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae.
The name "t ...
and
canvasback
The canvasback (''Aythya valisineria'') is a species of diving duck, the largest found in North America.
Taxonomy
Scottish-American naturalist Alexander Wilson described the canvasback in 1814. The genus name is derived from Greek ''aithuia'', ...
prepared by French-trained chefs.
[Stover, p. 228.] A ''Railway Age'' magazine article of the time reporting on the ''Royal Blue'' called it "the climax in railway car building".
1918–1920s
As a result of the U.S. entry into World War I and resulting congestion on the nation's railroads, the wartime
United States Railroad Administration
The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...
(USRA) ordered the Pennsylvania Railroad to permit B&O passenger trains to use its
Hudson River tunnels and
Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...
in Manhattan, beginning April 28, 1918, eliminating the B&O's need for the ferry connection from Jersey City.
[Harwood, ''Royal Blue Line'', pp. 118–127.] Following the end of World War I, the Pennsylvania Railroad continued to allow B&O passenger trains to use Pennsylvania Station for another eight years. On September 1, 1926, the Pennsylvania Railroad terminated its contract with the B&O, and the latter's trains reverted to the use of the
Jersey Central'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 ...
.
[Harwood, ''Royal Blue Line'', pp. 118–127, 150.] B&O's busiest ''Royal Blue'' bus terminal, located in the
Chanin Building Chanin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alabama Chanin, American fashion designer
*Irwin Chanin
Irwin Salmon Chanin (October 29, 1891 – February 24, 1988) was an American architect and real estate developer, best known ...
at Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, opened on December 17, 1928. Connected to
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
by an underground
concourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.
The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or t ...
, it was trimmed in
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
and furnished with
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
lighting fixtures and leather sofas. This arrangement would continue until the eventual demise of the ''Royal Blue'' in 1958.
Recalling the past glamor of the 1890s ''Royal Blue Line'', the B&O introduced its ''Colonial''-series dining cars such as the ''Martha Washington'', which were particularly noted for their 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. The B&O's manager of dining car services said his department's objective was "...to be hospitable to our patrons in all respects – to make them feel the comfort, convenience and homelike atmosphere of our accommodations as soon as they step on our trains."
Dining car specialties included oysters and Chesapeake Bay fish served with cornmeal muffins. B&O president
Daniel Willard
Daniel Willard (January 28, 1861 – July 6, 1942) was an American railroad executive best known as the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) from 1910 to 1941. He served on or headed several government railroad commissions in World ...
personally sampled his dining cars' cuisine while traveling about the line, and recognized particularly pleasing meals with letters of appreciation and autographed pictures given to the dining car chefs.
1930s–1940s
As the 1930s dawned, the B&O's New York passenger service faced two significant competitive disadvantages, compared to the Pennsylvania Railroad. First, the B&O lacked direct access to Manhattan Island, resulting in slower overall travel time. Second, the Pennsylvania's move in the early 1930s to replace steam power with modern, smokeless
electric service along its entire New York–Washington mainline was met with enthusiastic public approval.
The B&O responded by introducing
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s, air conditioning, and
streamlining on its New York trains. On June 24, 1935, the B&O inaugurated the first lightweight, streamlined train in the eastern U.S., when it began operating a re-christened ''Royal Blue'' train between Washington and New York. When the specially modified
4-4-4-type steam locomotive prepared for the run proved less than satisfactory in terms of stability at speed, it was replaced by a new
EMC 1800 hp B-B
Electro-Motive Corporation (later Electro-Motive Division, General Motors) produced five 1800 hp B-B experimental passenger train-hauling diesel locomotives in 1935; two company-owned demonstrators, #511 and #512, the Baltimore and Ohio Ra ...
diesel-electric "
box-cab
A boxcab, in railroad terminology, is a locomotive in which the machinery and crew areas are enclosed in a box-like superstructure (from boxcar). It is a term mostly used in North America while in Victoria (Australia), such locomotives have b ...
" locomotive with a carbody by
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
and mechanicals by
Electro-Motive Corporation
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...
. Designated # 50 by the B&O, this marked the first single-unit, passenger road diesel locomotive use in the U.S.
Previously, early experiments with
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
s to replace steam in railroad applications included short, articulated trainsets (such as
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
* Burlington, Prince Edward Island
* Burlington Bay, no ...
's ''
Pioneer Zephyr
The ''Pioneer Zephyr'' is a diesel-powered trainset built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington Route. The trainset was the second internal combustion-powered streamli ...
'' and
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
's ''
M-10000
The M-10000 was an early American streamlined passenger trainset that operated for the Union Pacific Railroad from 1934 until 1941. It was the first streamlined passenger train to be delivered in the United States, and the second to enter regula ...
''), double-head sets of box-cab locomotives (developed by EMC) used to power the 1936 version of the
AT&SF
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...
(Santa Fe) ''
Super Chief
The ''Super Chief'' was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Ill ...
'' (similar to number 50), and the cab/booster unit combinations developed with Union Pacific's
M-10002
The Union Pacific Railroad's M-10002 was a diesel-electric streamliner train built in 1936 by Pullman-Standard, with prime movers from the Winton Engine division of General Motors Corporation and General Electric generator, control equipment and ...
and
M-10003 – M-10006 trainsets.
The B&O was not entirely satisfied with the ride quality of the lightweight ''Royal Blue'' train, however, and replaced it on April 25, 1937, with streamlined, refurbished heavyweight equipment, painted light gray and royal blue with gold striping, designed by
Otto Kuhler
Otto August Kuhler (July 31, 1894 – August 5, 1977) was an American designer, one of the best known industrial designers of the American railroads. According to ''Trains'' magazine he streamstyled more locomotives and railroad cars than Cr ...
. The B&O conveyed the displaced trainset to the
Alton Railroad
The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 an ...
, where it ran as the ''
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
'' for decades.
[Harwood, ''Royal Blue Line'', p. 145.] Ungainly box-cab locomotive #50 was replaced with the demurely streamlined locomotive # 51 and booster # 51x, the 3,600
h.p. EMC EA/EB
The EMC EA/EB is an early passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built from May 16, 1937, to 1938 by Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. They were the first model in a long line of passenger die ...
model built by General Motors'
Electro Motive Company. Praised for its beauty and handsome profile, this was the first streamlined single-unit diesel locomotive to enter service in the U.S.
It "dazzled the press and public", said one magazine writer of the groundbreaking locomotive's introduction.
The E units took the most advanced developments of diesel locomotive technology and made them available to all operators using the consists of their choice. The earliest adopters of the new E units demonstrated the improved flexibility, efficiency and reduced maintenance costs of diesel power in daily service compared to steam and gave impetus to the dieselization of the railroad industry.
[Herbert W. Harwood, Jr., ''Impossible Challenge''. Baltimore, Md.: Bernard, Roberts and Co., 1979 (), pp. 252–254.]
Kuhler also streamlined one of B&O's
4-6-2 "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 for use on the ''Royal Blue''. Its bullet-shaped shroud became an iconic image for the ''Royal Blue'' and was modeled for years by
American Flyer
American Flyer is a brand of toy train and model railroad manufactured in the United States.
The Chicago era, 1907–1938
Although best remembered for the S gauge trains of the 1950s that it made as a division of the A. C. Gilbert Compan ...
.
''Time'' magazine, in reporting on the precarious financial condition of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and other Depression-ravaged rail lines in 1937, referred to the B&O's "swashbuckling" Royal Blue streamliner launched that year as having "symbolize
the new era in railroading ..."
In 1930, the B&O introduced air conditioning, the first U.S. railroad to do so for regularly assigned equipment, when it installed air conditioning on the ''Martha Washington'' dining car.
[Pennypacker, p. 99.] The following year, the B&O's
''Columbian'' on the ''Royal Blue Line'' became the first fully air-conditioned train on any railroad, giving the B&O a temporary advantage over arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad, which did not equip its New York–Washington trains with air conditioning until 1933.
President of the United States
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
was a frequent passenger on the B&O's ''Royal Blue Line'' during his time in office (1933–1945), when he traveled between Washington and his family home in
Hyde Park, New York
Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Frankl ...
. A special presidential train from Washington used the regular B&O–Reading–Jersey Central route to Jersey City, continuing on 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 ...
's
West Shore Line
The River Line was a Conrail rail line located between Jersey City, New Jersey and Selkirk, New York, running along the west side of the Hudson Palisades and, after passing through a tunnel at Haverstraw, New York, along the west bank of the Hud ...
along 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 ...
to
Highland, New York (opposite
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
), where the President was met by automobile.
Along with most other rail passenger services in the U.S. during World War II, the ''Royal Blue'' 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 the B&O discontinued one of its daily New York–Washington trains. In addition to its flagship ''Royal Blue'', six other B&O passenger trains continued to serve New York until April 1958: 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 ...
'',
''Capitol Limited'', ''
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 passenge ...
'', ''
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 ...
'',
''Marylander'', and ''
Shenandoah''.
['']Official Guide of the Railways
The ''Official Railway Guide'', originally the ''Official Guide of the Railways'' was originally produced by National Railway Publication Company of New York City, beginning in 1868. The guide was last published by IHS Markit in mid-2020.
Histor ...
''. New York: National Railway Publication Co., February 1956, pp. 414–418.
1950s and the end
Although all of B&O's Washington–Jersey City passenger trains had been fully dieselized by September 28, 1947, no new passenger cars were built for the ''Royal Blue'' in the postwar period. The refurbished 1937 ''Royal Blue'' trainset continued in operation to the end. 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 ''Royal Blue'' was no exception, as operating deficits approached annually and passenger volume declined by almost half between 1946 and 1957.
Amidst the downward trend, the Royal Blue Line briefly recaptured the regal splendor of its early years on October 21, 1957, when
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
and
Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
travelled on the B&O from Washington to New York.
As financial losses mounted, the B&O finally ceded the New York–Washington market to the Pennsylvania Railroad altogether, discontinuing all passenger service north of Baltimore on Saturday, April 26, 1958, and bringing the venerable ''Royal Blue'' to an end. As the engineer was about to ease the locomotive's throttle open for the ''Royal Blue's'' final departure from
Washington Union Station
Washington Union Station is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's headquarters, the railroad's second-busiest station, and North Ameri ...
at 3:45 p.m., the event was covered in a trainside
remote broadcast
In broadcast engineering, a remote broadcast (usually just called a remote or a live remote, or in news parlance, a live shot) is broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television studio and is considered an electronic field productio ...
by
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe fo ...
on a
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
network ''
See It Now
''See It Now'' is an American newsmagazine and documentary series broadcast by CBS from 1951 to 1958. It was created by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly, with Murrow as the host of the show. From 1952 to 1957, ''See It Now'' won four Emmy A ...
''
television special
A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...
. The train's 7:49 p.m. arrival at Jersey City Terminal was met by news reporters from ''
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 ...
'', the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'',
''Life'' magazine and ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'', on hand to cover the legendary ''Royal Blues demise.
In an editorial the next day, the ''
Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
'' lamented the end of the ''Royal Blue'', saying it "may have been one of the most famous named trains in history".
''
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 ...
'', in a
front page
Front Page or The Front Page may also refer to:
Periodicals
* ''Frontpage'' (techno magazine), a German magazine for electronic music
* ''FrontPage Africa'', a Liberian daily newspaper
* ''FrontPage Magazine'', an online political magazine som ...
article accompanied by a photograph of train engineer Michael Goodnight bidding farewell to a 7-year old passenger, said "It was a sad and simple story yesterday as the nation's oldest railroad discontinued its crack ''Royal Blue'' and its five other passenger trains ... end
ngsixty-eight years of continuous through service, operated in a gentlemanly fashion ... a kind of ante-bellum, gracious way of life ... and the reputation for very special service."
Mount Royal Station continued as the eastern terminus of B&O's passenger service until June 30, 1961, when it closed permanently as a rail passenger facility.
It was one of thirteen Baltimore buildings selected in 1959 for the
Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
.
The building and
trainshed
A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...
were subsequently acquired by the
Maryland Institute College of Art
The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...
(MICA) in 1964 and are preserved as examples of late 19th century industrial architecture.
Schedule and equipment
In the 1890s–1910s period, the ''Royal Limited'' operated in both directions simultaneously, with 3 p.m. departures in New York and Washington, arriving at its destination five hours later, at 8 p.m. During the steam era,
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 shorte ...
s at various locations on the Royal Blue Line were used to replenish locomotive water without stopping, the only place on the B&O system where this was done.
In 1935, travel time between Jersey City and Washington was reduced to four hours, with the ''Royal Blue'' attaining speeds of up to on sections of the Reading's fast track in New Jersey. From 1935 to the end of service in 1958, the ''Royal Blue'' made a daily round trip, departing New York in the morning and returning from Washington in the evening. According to the ''
Official Guide'' of February 1956, the ''Royal Blue'' operated on the following schedule as train (unconditional stops highlighted in blue, bus connections in yellow).
Eastbound, the train departed Washington at 3:45 p.m. as train # 28, arriving at Jersey City 7:40 p.m.
Between 1937 and 1958, the ''Royal Blue'' 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 ...
for coach passengers, 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, and a flat-end
observation car
An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the rearmost carriage, with windows or a platform on the rear of th ...
with a "cafe-lounge" bringing up the rear of the train.
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.
[Bert Pennypacker, "Dial direct at 110 mph", '']Trains Magazine
''Trains'' is a monthly magazine about trains and railroads aimed at railroad enthusiasts and railroad industry employees. The magazine primarily covers railroad happenings in the United States and Canada, but has some articles on railroading els ...
'', April 1968.
See also
*
B&O Railroad Museum
The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balti ...
(Baltimore), where selected equipment, diner
china
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
silverware
Silverware may refer to:
* Household silver including
**Tableware
**Cutlery
**Candlesticks
*The work of a silversmith
* Silverware is also a slang term for a collection of trophies
A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achieveme ...
, and other artifacts from various ''Royal Blue'' trains are exhibited.
References
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, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Blue
Named passenger trains of the United States
North American streamliner trains
Passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Railway services discontinued in 1958
Railway services introduced in 1890
Transportation in Baltimore
Transportation in Jersey City, New Jersey