Daylight Speedliner
 One of the Daylight Speedliner baggage-dining-coach combines | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Locale | Mid-Atlantic United States |
| Predecessor | Washingtonian |
| First service | October 28, 1956 |
| Last service | January 21, 1963 |
| Former operator(s) | Baltimore & Ohio Railroad |
| Route | |
| Termini | Philadelphia Pittsburgh |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Daylight Speedliner was an American named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in the 1950s and early 1960s. Equipped with three or four streamlined, self-propelled Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) coupled together, it initially operated between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, via Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D. C., as Trains #21–22.[1]
The B&O had been using RDCs in local Baltimore–Washington, D.C., commuter service since 1950. Pleased with their reliability and lower operating costs compared to heavyweight passenger trains drawn by steam locomotives, the B&O decided in 1955 to replace its money-losing Washingtonian steam train with RDCs, ordering four RDC-1s with reclining coach seats and two RDC-2s with baggage compartments. The RDC-equipped Daylight Speedliner entered service on October 28, 1956, and reduced the railroad's operating expenses by almost half, compared to the Washingtonian train it replaced.[2]
After B&O discontinued passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, the Daylight Speedliner operated between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, covering the 333-mile (536 km) route on a seven-hour schedule, until its discontinuation on January 21, 1963.[2]
Stations[edit]
| Station | State |
|---|---|
| Baltimore (Camden Station) | Maryland |
| Washington (Union Station) | District of Columbia |
| Silver Spring | Maryland |
| Harpers Ferry | West Virginia |
| Martinsburg | |
| Cumberland | Maryland |
| Connellsville | Pennsylvania |
| McKeesport | |
| Pittsburgh (P&LE Station) |
Schedule and equipment[edit]
In 1961, the westbound Daylight Speedliner, operating as B&O's Train # 21, departed Baltimore at 9:00 a.m. and then Washington, D.C., at 10:00 a.m., arriving in Pittsburgh at 4:20 p.m. on the following schedule (principal stops shown in blue):[3]
| City | Departure time |
|---|---|
| Baltimore, Md. (Camden Station) | 9:00 a.m. |
| Washington, D.C. (Union Station) | 10:00 a.m. |
| Silver Spring, Md. | 10:11 a.m. |
| Harpers Ferry, W. Va. | 11:02 a.m. |
| Martinsburg, W. Va. | 11:25 a.m. |
| Cumberland, Md. | 12:55 p.m. |
| Connellsville, Pa. | 3:00 p.m. |
| McKeesport, Pa. | 3:55 p.m. |
| Pittsburgh, Pa. (P&LE Station) | 4:20 p.m. |
| source: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad System Time Tables, April 30, 1961 | |
Unusual for RDCs, the lead RDC-2 car was configured by B&O as a combination dining car/baggage car/coach (pictured) offering full meal service, with the addition of a kitchen and six tables, listed in B&O's 1961 time table as a "refreshment diner". Two of these unique cars were built for the service; both survive today. One is on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Md; the other is at the Danbury Railway Museum in Danbury, Conn.[3][4]
References[edit]
- ^ Herbert H. Harwood, Jr. (1990). Royal Blue Line. Sykesville, Md: Greenberg Publishing. ISBN 0-89778-155-4.
- ^ a b Harry Stegmaier, Baltimore & Ohio Passenger Service, Vol. 2 – Route of the Capitol Limited. Lynchburg, Va.: TLC Publishing, 1997 (ISBN 1-883-089-00X).
- ^ a b Baltimore & Ohio Railroad System Time Tables, April 30, 1961.
- ^ Stephen J. Salamon; David P. Oroszi; David P. Ori (1993). Baltimore and Ohio – Reflections of the Capitol Dome. Silver Spring, Md.: Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-08-8.
