In January 1927 I count eight daily through passenger trains between New York and Chicago on the Pennsylvania Railroad, plus another 14 on the New York Central...eight of which took the "Water Level Route" through Cleveland and six which took the Canadian routing via Detroit/Windsor. By April 1971 that number was down to a total of four trains on the merged Penn Central system...the two trains shown here, the Broadway Limited, and a single nameless train on the former Water Level Route. (To be complete I need to mention the remnant of the Admiral, which ran eastbound only from Chicago to New York, apparently using equipment diverted from the other trains and the nameless coach-only No. 53 from Pittsburgh to Chicago.)

From the pages of the Official Guide, April 1971

Penn Central herald

The Manhattan Limited
The Pennsylvania Limited

Penn Central
March 3, 1971

23 55 Train Number 22 54
Daily Daily ▼ Miles Services ▲ Daily Daily
1 30P 9 25P Dp 0 New York, NY (Pennsylvania Sta.) (ET) C R Ar 7 45A 6 15P
1 45P R 9 41P 10 Newark, NJ C R D 7 12A D 6 00P
2 31P 58 Trenton, NJ C R 6 21A D 5 10P
R 3 02P 85 North Philadelphia, PA C R X 4 30P
— R11 28P Philadelphia, PA (30th St. Sta.) C R D 5 22A —
3 40P 11 56P 111 Paoli, PA C R 4 50A 3 57P
4 00P 130 Coatesville, PA (See Note) C X 3 34P
4 27P 12 48A 159 Lancaster, PA C 4 03A 3 05P
5 03P 1 20A Ar 194 Harrisburg, PA C R Dp 3 30A 2 16P
5 20P 1 40A Dp Ar 3 15A
6 31P 255 Lewistown, PA (Penn State Univ. via bus) C 2 04A 1 04P
6 54P 279 Mount Union, PA X
7 10P 291 Huntingdon, PA C
7 40P 311 Tyrone, PA C
8 02P 4 07A 325 Altoona, PA C 12 30A 11 37A
9 10P 5 16A 362 Johnstown, PA C 11 20P 10 35A
9 58P 6 02A 399 Latrobe, PA C 10 36P 9 48A
10 11P 6 19A 408 Greensburg, PA C 10 23P 9 35A
10 46P 6 50A 432 Wilkinsburg, PA X 9 49P 9 03A
11 05P 7 05A Ar 439 Pittsburgh, PA (Penn Central Sta.) C Dp 9 35P 8 50A
11 30P 7 35A Dp Ar 9 05P 8 20A
11 48P 451 Sewickley, PA X 8 45P 7 59A
12 05A 465 Rochester, PA 8 29P
12 13A 8 11A 469 Beaver Falls, PA 8 19P 7 37A
489 East Palestine, OH X F 7 52P
1 03A 8 57A 508 Salem, OH X 7 30P 6 50A
1 22A 9 17A 522 Alliance, OH X 7 12P 6 34A
1 50A 9 45A 541 Canton, OH X 6 55P 6 11A
548 Massillon, OH X 6 40P
563 Orrville, OH X F 6 24P
F 2 25A 10 24A 574 Wooster, OH X 6 08P
3 08A 11 10A 614 Mansfield, OH 5 27P
3 30A 11 28A 628 Crestline, OH C X 5 01P 4 25A
11 48A 640 Bucyrus, OH C X F 4 45P
685 Ada, OH C X F 3 53P
4 43A 12 41P 700 Lima, OH C X 3 33P 3 00A
1 10P 727 Van Wert, OH X 3 08P
5 45A 1 45P 759 Fort Wayne, IN C 2 29P 1 44A
6 34A 2 31P 799 Warsaw, IN C X 1 47P
6 54A 2 51P 823 Plymouth, IN (ET) X 1 23P
6 25A 2 29P 864 Valparaiso, IN (See Note) (CT) X 11 11P
6 50A 2 47P 882 Gary, IN (5th & Chase St.) X 11 25A 10 50P
D 7 16A D 3 07P 900 Englewood, IL R X R11 01A
7 40A 3 25P Ar 907 Chicago, IL (Union Station) (CT) C R Dp 10 45A 10 15P

Train 23 (New York-Chicago): 32 stops; 19:10; 47.3 MPHTrain 22 (Chicago-New York): 34 stops; 20:00; 45.4 MPH

Train 55 (New York-Chicago): 27 stops; 19:00; 47.7 MPHTrain 54 (Chicago-New York): 23 stops; 19:00; 47.7 MPH

NOTE for Train No. 23 at Valparaiso and for Train No. 54 at Coatesville: "Stops Saturdays, Sundays and May 31 [1971]."
NOTE: Trains No. 54 and 55 do not carry checked baggage.
NOTE: The through timetables for Chicago-New York service do not show the symbol for "No Checked Baggage" at North Philadelphia, but all other local timetables do. I have indicated "No Checked Baggage" in this timetable, but there is a slight possibility that checked baggage may have been handled on through service to and from Chicago only.

Penn Central Herald    PENN CENTRAL

PASSENGER EQUIPMENT
TRAINS NOT INDICATED CARRY COACHES ONLY.

WESTWARD EASTWARD
No. 23—MANHATTAN LIMITED.

Snack Bar Coach...New York to Chicago—(Hot-Cold Food and Beverages). (Not open between Pittsburgh and Ft. Wayne.)

Reclining Seat Coaches...Between all points.
No. 22—MANHATTAN LIMITED.

Sleeping Cars...Roomettes and Bedrooms.

Pittsburgh to New York

(Sleeping Cars open in Pittsburgh 9:00 p.m.)

Snack Bar Coach...Chicago to New York—(Hot-Cold Food and Beverages).

Reclining Seat Coaches...Between all points.
No. 55—PENNSYLVANIA LIMITED.
Sleeping Cars...Roomettes and Bedrooms.
New York to Pittsburgh
(Sleeping Cars may be occupied until 8:00 a.m.)
Snack Bar Coach...New York to Chicago—(Hot-Cold Food and Beverages).
Reclining Seat Coaches...Between all points.
No. 54—PENNSYLVANIA LIMITED.
Sleeping Car...Roomettes and Bedrooms.
Chicago to New York.

Snack Bar Coach...Pittsburgh to New York—(Hot-Cold Food and Beverages).

Reclining Seat Coaches...Between all points.


On the Broadway Limited's page I had some rather harsh words to say regarding quality of service in the Penn Central era. That would apply doubly so for these trains; whatever pride of operation Penn Central still retained was vested almost exclusively in the Broadway. It would appear that some sleeping cars were diverted from the Broadway to the eastbound Pennsylvania Limited as the Broadway and the nameless Water Level Route train show to be the only trains carrying sleepers westbound from New York to Chicago. Of course, there could be an omission in the source material; it wouldn't be the first time.

The trains on this page would not be picked up by Amtrak, leaving the Broadway Limited as the sole survivor for passenger service on the former Pennsylvania main line.

Original timetable information copyright ©1971 by National Railway Publication Company.  It is believed that the noncommercial use of this out-of-print material to document the history of the North American passenger train constitutes Fair Use under U.S. copyright law.

Railroad heralds, logos and trademarks used with intent to comply with Fair Use provisions of copyright and trademark law to illustrate the source material in its historical context. Penn Central herald obtained from Signal Signs.

All comments, original material and page design copyright ©2006-2015 by Eric H. Bowen. Page created 2015-11-28.

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LEGEND

Time:

A - A.M.

D - Train stops only to discharge passengers

F - Conditional (Flag) stop

I  - Customs/Immigration inspection stop

M - Meal stop

N - Not a passenger stop

P - P.M.

R - Train stops only to receive passengers


Services:

A - Auto loading/unloading facilities (as freight)

B - Checked baggage is handled

C - Coupon station (Ticket office)

I  - International border inspection station

M - Food service available

P - Telephone station

R - Rental cars available

T - Telegraph station

X - Checked baggage NOT handled

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