The ''Trail Blazer'' was a deluxe all-coach train, inaugurated between New York and Chicago via

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

on 17:25 schedule operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The trains departed New York City and Chicago every day at 4:30 pm and 3:00 pm, respectively, and arrived at the destination the next morning. The ''Trail Blazer'' was one of the first all-coach trains (along with the Santa Fe's ''

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its talles ...

'') to provide premium services comparable to a Pullman train. The ''Trail Blazer'' name was first used in 1927 for the East St. Louis-Pittsburgh preferred freight VL-6. Two days before service began, the ''Trail Blazer'' equipment, including streamlined P70's, twin-unit diner, and observation designed by Raymond Loewy, were exhibited at Penn Station, made press runs to Philadelphia, and returned to New York on July 28 after display at Philadelphia. On July 28, 1939, service officially began, and was an immediate success. On July 29, 1939, the first eastbound ''Trail Blazer'' arrived at New York World's Fair for a special ceremony. Eastbound trips continued to run direct to the Fair. PRR S1 hauling the Trail Blazer

According to LIFE magazine, reservations were made as far as 6 weeks in advance during the first month of service. The PRR felt very pleased with the performance of this new coach-only train. Instead of the eight-car consist originally planned, the train had to carry an average of ten. The number of passengers on the ''Trail Blazer'' frequently exceeded those of Pennsylvania's better-known train, the ''

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central ...

'' and PRR's rival, New York Central's coach-only ''Pacemaker''. New York Central's ''Pacemaker'' offered identical service and schedule but with ordinary heavyweight equipment inaugurated on same day. The ''Trail Blazer'' carried about 132,000 passengers in the first year and 175,000 in the second. In 1940-41 it sometimes operated in second and third sections. Historical photographic and films evidences showing that

PRR S1 The PRR S1 class steam locomotive (nicknamed "The Big Engine") was a single experimental duplex locomotive of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was designed to demonstrate the advantages of duplex drives espoused by Baldwin Chief Engineer Ralph P. ...

#6100 "The Big Engine" was the preferred engine of this popular, highly profitable (It carried 35 times more passengers than

in 1939, gross revenue equal to $2,260,000 in 1940 or $ today). The ''Trail Blazer'' was one of the longest and heaviest passenger train (more than 1000 tons) during the heyday of PRR's passenger services in the early 40s. Besides PRR S1 #6100, streamlined K4s,

PRR S2 The Pennsylvania Railroad's S2 class was a steam turbine locomotive designed and built in a collaborative effort by Baldwin Locomotive Works and Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, as an attempt to prolong the dominance of the steam lo ...

direct-drive steam turbine engine #6200, and PRR T1 were assigned to haul the train occasionally. In 1948, PRR re-equipped the ''Trail Blazer'' with new EMD E8 Diesel engines, new lightweight P85b 44-seat coaches and new twin-unit dining car built by PRR's own shop and ACF. In 1949, the westbound schedule shortened to 15 hours 40 mins. Due to rapidly declining demand, the Pennsylvania Railroad combined the ''Trail Blazer'' and ''

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

'' into one service. However, their timetable continued to distinguish the two trains until July 26, 1959, when PRR removed the name ''Trail Blazer"

Standard Consist in 1943

According to the PRR's roster on 26 November 1943, the consist of Train #77 The Trailblazer had 14 rebuilt heavyweight passenger cars with streamlined features in total which including one PB70ER passenger baggage car, nine P70KR 56-seat coaches, one D70CR Kitchen Dormitory car with 18 berths for the staff and a D70DR full Dining car with Polaroid windows installed, one P70GSR 68-seat coach, and one POC70R coach-observation. Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA Train Number: 76 The Trail Blazer, Westbound, Depart at 3pm Destination: New York City, arrive at 9:25am *

#6100 6-4-4-6 Duplex Steam Engine or PRR K4s Double Headed * PB70ER Baggage Lounge Car (25 lounge seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * D70CR Full Dining Car (60 seats, 18 tables) * D70DR Kitchen Dormitory (18 berths) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70KR Reclining Seat Coach (56 seats) * P70GSR Reclining Seat Coach (68 seats) * POC70R Observation-Lounge Car (31 lounge seats, 16 dining seats, 4 tables) Consist weight (minus locomotive):

Motive Power

Here is a list of motive power used on the ''Trail Blazer'': *

PRR GG1 The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 is a class of streamlined electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), in the northeastern United States. The class was known for its striking art deco shell, its ability to pull trains at up to 100 ...

4-6-0+0-6-4 electric locomotive (1939-1959, East of Harrisburg, electrified region) * PRR K4s

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomo ...

type steam locomotive (1939-1948) *

6-4-4-6 A 6-4-4-6 steam locomotive, in the Whyte notation for describing locomotive wheel arrangements, is one with six leading wheels, two sets of four driving wheels, and six trailing wheels. Other equivalent classifications are: * UIC classificat ...

type steam locomotive (1941-1946) *

6-8-6 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, represents the arrangement of six unpowered leading wheels arranged into a three-axle leading truck, eight powered driving wheels, and six unpowered tr ...

type steam turbine locomotive (1944-1948) * PRR T1

4-4-4-4 A 4-4-4-4 steam locomotive, in the Whyte notation for describing locomotive wheel arrangements, has a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of four driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. While it would be possible to make an articulated lo ...

type steam locomotive (1942-1948) *

ALCO PA The ALCO PA was a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains. The locomotives were built in Schenectady, New York, in the United States, by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (GE ...

passenger diesel electric locomotive (1948-1952) * BLW DR-6 passenger diesel electric locomotive (1948-1952) * BLW DR-12 passenger diesel electric locomotive (1948-1952) *

EMD E8 The E8 is a , A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. A total of 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Cana ...

passenger diesel electric locomotive (1948-1959)

References

Passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad Named passenger trains of the United States Railway services introduced in 1939 Railway services discontinued in 1959 {{US-train-stub