Royal Blue Line : The Classic B and O Train Between Washington and New York

by Harwood, Herbert H., Jr.; Wilson, Courtney B.

• ISBN13: 9780801870613
• ISBN10: 0801870615
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-02
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

Although it was America's first public railroad, chartered in 1827, the Baltimore & Ohio did not enter the lucrative Philadelphia and New York City markets until the 1880s, long after its rivals, notably the Pennsylvania Railroad, had established themselves in the Northeast corridor. In order to compete, B & O executives realized they would need to create a railroad like no other, and in 1890 they launched the Royal Blue Line, offering premier passenger service between Washington, D.C., and New York City. Boasting the company's fastest locomotives (designed specifically for the line and featuring the country's first mainline passenger diesel engine), its most luxurious passenger cars (the first in the nation to be air-conditioned), and dining cars that served exquisite regional cuisine--as well as a motor coach service that took passengers from the line's New Jersey terminus into Manhattan, still fondly remembered by many as the most civilized way to enter the city--the Royal Blue Line was, as advertised, the "Finest Daylight Train Service in the World." In Royal Blue Line, Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., recounts the 70-year history of the B & O's showcase service, detailing the creation of the "Royal Blue" image, the design of equipment and services appropriate to this image, the B & O's distinctive marketing campaigns, and its stubborn corporate pride in the line, which led to questionable business decisions and, ultimately, financial collapse. Generously illustrated with over 250 evocative photographs, advertisements, menus, timetables, and maps, Royal Blue Line vividly recalls America's most regal railway journey.

Author Biography

Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., worked in the finance and marketing departments of the B & O Railroad and its successor, Chessie System Railroads, for thirty years. He is the author of numerous books about railway history, including Impossible Challenge: The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Maryland and The Lake Shore Electric Railway Story. He lives in Baltimore. Courtney B. Wilson is Executive Director of the B & O Railroad Museum, located in Baltimore.

Table of Contents

A Personal Preface	vi
Foreword	viii
Prologue: A Winning Loser	ix
Genesis; A Belated Awakening, 1835-1881	11	(19)
A Difficult Birth, 1881-1886	30	(12)
John Garrett's Railroad, 1887-1890	42	(15)
Color Plates	57	(16)
Speed, Color and Class: The Royal Blue Line; the Early 1890s	73	(12)
Pioneering Again: Building the Belt Line, 1890-1896	85	(13)
Turn-of-the-Century Splendor and Seed, 1898-1918	98	(21)
Penn Station and Afterwards, 1918-1930	119	(17)
Royal Blue Reborn, the 1930s	136	(21)
Rise, Fall and Rise...Perhaps, 1941-1990	157	(21)
Appendices and Other Matter
Appendix 1 Locomotives of the Royal Blue Line	178	(6)
Appendix 2 Original Royal Blue Line Passenger Cars, 1890, 1893	184	(1)
Appendix 3 Royal Blue Streamliner Consists, 1935-1958	185	(1)
Appendix 4 Stations of the Royal Blue Line	186	(5)
Bibliography	191	(4)
Index	195	(3)
With Thanks To...	198