National High Speed Rail: The Whole Picture
Thanks to the renewal of American railroads thanks to the oil crises of first the early 50s and then the late 70s, passenger rail began to make a dramatic resurgence as it became America's preferred alternative to the automobile. This pro-rail stance common among Americans became even more prominent after and the growing hassle of getting on planes, not to mention weather hazards and more darkly the September 11 attacks. But the story of this is far longer than it seems.
At this time, the Central of Georgia railroad began to build its own line from Chattanooga to Nashville. Though Atlanta was in the original plan, it was decided against so that there would be less need for land. While this did happen, it was not completed until the Illinois Central took over after the war. As a result, the 50% the IC had in the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis was surrendered to the Atlantic Coast Line. The ACL itself also linked Nashville and Paris, TN with its own line to replace what the Southern got.
Also, many interurbans in the midwest were sold to larger railroads for their use. For example, the Toldeo- Bryan and Ft. Wayne- Logansport interurbans were given to the PRR. Whoch then linked the two to create a corridor they had almost complete domination over. Or the Lima to Cincinnati interurban was given to the C&O for use as a mainline to the Queen City. Many other parts became their own spin off rail lines. With some even becoming tourist lines. For example, the Logansport- Kokomo- Indianapolis interurban became a freight rairload that now host TTL's version of the Indiana Transportation museum.
Lastly, the South Shore, North Shore, and Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin interurbans became one big company. Which was the Chicago, Milwaukee, South Bend, and Elgin: better known as the Lake Shore line. Which proved itself a handy service to people from grater Chicagoland. Including a South Bend- Chicago- Milwaukee service that became The Lake Michigan Limited.
The start point is the speed race in the 1930s between the railroads. Beginning in 1927, when the New York Central began replacing its pacifics with the Hudsons on long distance passenger trains. Thus allowing for faster trains and fewer sections. The Pennsylvania naturally wanted to ape its bitter rival. So in the early to mid 30s it built several 4-8-4 steam engines to replace the K4 Pacifics on most passenger trains of theirs. This was actually their second attempt at a 4-8-4. The previous one, the R2, having been a M1 Mountain with a deeper firebox and trailing truck to accommodate it. However, this engine, called the R3 would be different. It was instead a fusion of Lima's Super Power design, Altoona's brains, and Baldwin's finishing touches. The R3 would be TTL's inspiration for the french designer Andre Chapelon's 4-8-4s, C&O Greenbriers, the Reading T1s (now the B&O W-5s ITTL), the SAR class 25 engines, and many more steamers. Despite already having plenty of steamers for passenger trains, though, the PRR also developed the T1 duplexes, as the ultimate passenger steamer.
The New York Central and Burlington Route also got into the battle, resulting in the Denver Zephyr and the 20th Century Limited (the latter eventually becoming the Lake Shore Limited) in the early to mid 1930s having big steam power (diesels are incapable of such speeds with 1930s technology, I think) and operational speeds of better than 120 MPH. The Pennsy steam trio (K4, R3, and T1) and the NYC steamers blew the Europeans out of the water in terms of steam speeds, with both putting up numbers of better than 150 mph all-out on test runs and further narrowing the schedules of the name trains. Meanwhile, Santa Fe, Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Great Northern inaugurated their great streamliners, introducing the Super Chief, City of San Francisco, Empire Builder, Sunset Limited and Coast Daylight into the world of railroading. This by the end of the 1930s caught America's imagination, and the western streamlined trains soon began dispensing with their coach cars (or improving them) in favor of coach trains that run similar routes. Following the Santa Fe's example with its Super Chief and El Capitan. The Southern US railroads soon follow, with the Southern's Crescent, ACL's Champion, and SAL's Silver Star as a result. Several midwestern railroads made up trains to match up with the top-line streamliners, producing the IC's City of New Orleans, NP's North Coast Limited, Rock Island's Rocky Mountain Rocket and others.
This would be further taken up after the war. When the Esch-Cummins consolidation act was finished. Many trains continued under their new owners. While many more joined the fray. Beginning when Santa Fe created the Missouri Chief, a St. Louis counterpart of the Super Chief. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Coast Line upgraded The Dixie Limited, which served Chicago- Jacksonville- Miami, with their "Yellow Belly" 4-8-4s (The NC&StL 4-8-4s of OTL), as the main power.
In addition, new rail lines were built. Including the IC's own line from Nashville to Atlanta (much of it was actually built in the days when EH Harriman owned the IC and CofG). While the SP built new lines from Los Angeles to San Diego and the San Joaquin Valley. As well as a line from Las Vegas to Phoenix, AZ.
Meanwhile, the Santa fe rerouted its mainline from Las Vegas, NM to Belen by rerouting it via Santa Fe, NM, and dropping the bypass from Belen out of Albuquerque. As such, Belen made a dramatic resurgence as one of the Santa Fe's most important yards. As did Avard, OK after the Santa Fe acquired the St. Louis- San Fransisco.
Lastly, the Grant Northern, now owning the former IC line from Chicago to Omaha and S. Dakota, built a line to link the Twin Cities and Madison, WI. To create their own service independent of the Burlington.
Legal changes allowed the railroads to charge what they like on the passenger trains for extra fare, allowing the railroads to have the funds to continually improve their services. Out west, luxury trains ruled, with the
Super Chief,
City of San Francisco, and
Empire Builder setting the standard by which everyone else was judged. A deal between the Great Northern and Southern Pacific created the
Coast Daylight, a Seattle-San Diego/Los Angeles train which was an instant hit, and the Western Pacific/Rio Grande/Burlington Route
California Zephyr, now under complete control of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, being another huge hit owing to the scenic charms of the route. To say nothing of the California Eagle, its St. Louis equivalent. Also, the Southern Pacific expanded the Golden State, a LA- Chicago train train previously run with the Rock Island, to higher quality. Then it also introduced a St. Louis streamliner in competition with the Missouri Chief, called the
Cotton Belt Limited.
Recognizing the jet age, the trains one by one got new equipment, diesels replacing steam power mainly in the form of EMD units and ALCO PAs, (though ITTL, most railroads, and especially eastern railroads like the C&O, PRR, and the latter's subsidiary N&W were far slower in that regard) and ever-better equipment. This reduced passenger losses (and even allowed profits in some cases), and while some contraction was inevitable, by the late 1950s the trains that do live on being able to prosper based on a clientele that wanted comfort as well as speed, and railroads that were prosperous enough to do this properly did indeed do so, with full dining cars (with ever-better fare) and innovative moves to get more passengers on the routes making it easier and easier to operate the trains.
The New York Central's
Lake Shore Limited, Pennsylvania's
Broadway Limited, and the Chesapeake and Ohio's
Nickel Plate Limited ruled the New York-Chicago traffic. The
Super Chief,
Golden State and
City of Los Angeles lugged it out over the Chicago-Los Angeles route. The PRR/N&W Cavalier and the C&O's George Washington duked it out in Chicago- Vorginia traffic. The
California Zephyr and
City of San Francisco fought for the Chicago-San Francisco market and the
Empire Builder and
North Coast Limited fought to Chicago-Seattle, with the by then hugely-busy
Coast Daylight linking the West Coast. Santa Fe's
Texas Chief soon also ran between Chicago and Houston, and the
El Capitan became the night train complement to the
Super Chief. The Southern's
Southern Crescent, the ACL
Champion, and the IC (formerly SAL)'s
Silver Star owned the Northeast Corridor to the South markets, with the
Southern Crescent going to Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans while the
Silver Star and
Silver Meteor raced on to Florida. Lastly, the Midwest- South market was almost completely dominated by the IC, which ran the City of New Orleans, and the ACL, running the Dixie Limited to Florida.
All by the late 1950s had given up on trying to compete with airlines on speed and instead fancied themselves as luxury hotels on rails, and it showed in ever-better amenities and ever-bigger consists. However, these tactics for the most part worked, and by the early 1960s, airlines that couldn't easily get into domestic markets (Pan Am in particular) were teaming up with the passenger trains to act as feeders into the airline network, using connections between the cities and airports that both sides (and the cities they served) were eager to build. Furthermore, reductions in freight traffic on the Northeast Corridor for the Pennsylvania opened up new possibilities, and the completion of a tunnel under Manhattan between the Pennsylvania and Grand Central Stations in 1962 opened up possibilities for through trains between as far apart as Boston and Washington, and the Pennsylania's trains of the corridor were incredibly busy, showing that if the speed and frequency were there, the possibility of wide-scale passenger traffic was there. Night passenger trains by the early 1960s were adding to this, as the New York Central's
Watchman, which began operations in 1958, was a sign of what was to come - a night train with a first-class restaurant on board, it was meant for business travelers to get on after dinner in New York, sleep most of the way to Chicago, and eat a very good breakfast on the train before the train arrived in Chicago, and as if to make the point, the Watchman's sleeping cars came with showers and a robe service, so that riders could feel good and refreshed when they got off the train at either end of the route. This train was also unique in that it was one of the last major passenger trains hauled by steam. With the
J-4 series of Hudsons, which were among the last mainline steamers in America, being used to haul the train until 1980, when diesels took over almost all the major NYC passenger trains. Likewise, the PRR created their own counterpart called The Keystone Limited. Which ran to Chicago via Columbus, and was also pulled by their newest steam passenger power at first, in their case, the T1 Duplexes.
The authorization of the Shinkansen's construction in 1959 did not go unnoticed in America, and most of the major rail lines all helped pay for part of the financial cost of the building of the Tokaido Shinkansen in return for understanding how the route worked. They, like many others, were more than a little surprised with the results of the Shinkansen, and the New York Central began planning a route built to similar standard before the Shinkansen went into service in October 1964.
Such was the success of the Shinkansen that, despite the huge costs involved, the the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New Haven Railroad began to collaborate on their own attempt. Together they upgraded the NH line from Boston to New York and the PRR from there to Washington DC. This new operation, which became known as the
Metroliner, was inaugurated in 1967, and soon it was considered by many superior to the airlines that operated between the same areas. In no small part due to its superior dining options, clean conditions, and service at reasonably high speeds even in the face of poor weather. Concurrently, the Pennsy also used the same treatment to upgrade the
Pittsburgher, its NY-Pittsburgh passenger train, freight rail was naturally included in its plans for faster trains. The end result was the Keystone Corridor, a perfectly speedy rail service from New York to Pittsburgh. This also allowed the PRR to retire many of its steamers or sell them off to preservationists. With many K4 Pacifics being sold to museums, parks, enthusiasts, and pretty much anyone who wanted a steamer.
All too soon, the success of this service was noticed in the West by the Southern Pacific. They themselves proceeded to make similar upgrades to the route of their Coast Daylight passenger service from San Fransisco to Los Angeles. This line had already been upgraded via the use of EMD diesels and concrete ties in the place of wood ties and steamers. But by 1975, the SP had created a high speed transit operation on par with that of Japan. The SP even went up to 11 in trying to beat the Santa Fe in Chicago- LA traffic. As it took the flatter terrain of the ex-Rock Island line and made similar modifications, thus also upgrading the Golden State passenger train.
This plan led President JFK to establish the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, which both helped to fund and develop American high-speed trains and their infrastructure and to push for regulatory improvements. Pan Am also bought in, offering to assist the NYC and SP with the high-speed lines.
Eventually, the Chicago area was next to be subject to the new high speed rail craze. But it was the New York Central that held most of the cards in the Midwest. They initially started with the James Whitcomb Riley on the Chicago-Indianapolis-Cincinnati mainline in 1975. This newly improved service was a success, and soon, the NYC used the line splitting at Greensburg to create another high speed service to Louisville. This was followed shortly after with the upgrading of the lines from Cleveland to Chicago and Cincinnati. But the NYC was not going to stop there. For it expanded the scope of their higher speed rail program, and made the upgrades all the way to Buffalo, NY.
The effect was hard to understate. New York City's problems in the 1970s led to an economic boom in upstate New York (particularly Troy and Albany), as people chose to live further away from the crime and poverty stricken big city while still having access to it. The PRR's Metroliner services were so popular by the mid-1970s that it actually caused a reduction in air traffic in the Northeast Corridor, and Atlantic City saw a major revival of its fortunes in the 1970s as travelers could reach it more easily. It was a similar situation in California, and perhaps more importantly the lines themselves proved to be hugely profitable for the Southern Pacific, New York Central and Pennsylvania.
In 1973, the Southern Railroad took a note of the Pennsy's book. Then it made heavy conversions to their ex- Florida East Coast mainline and included a new branch to Orlando. The end result of this was Brightline. A successful passenger service which naturally won the hearts of many Floridans fed up with traffic jams and who felt a plane ride between the two cities was absurd.
The Baltimore and Ohio was generally not a part of the operations. But with a few exceptions. Namely, it received the exclusive contract with both the Southern and ACL to shuttle their Cincinnati- bound trains up to Detroit. This did eventually motivate the B&O to try and compete with the IC in the Chicago- St. Louis market. As well as make a few attempts at their own long distance train. Though the only one that truly stuck was the
Big Apple Limited. Which from from New York to Chicago via Baltimore and Akron.
Amtrak was formed in 1967 to co-ordinate the passenger rail services both public and private in the United States. Such was the success of the high-speed lines that others soon scrambled to jump on board. While the NYC began high-speed operations on its busy Chicago-Detroit Wolverine route in time for the American Bicentennial in 1976. Amtrak from its formation was meant to co-ordinate private-sector operations as well as take over those of railroads that sought to exit the passenger business, though that scenario never happened yet. The bill that created Amtrak also provided funds and organization for cities to take over money-losing commuter operations, which proved a hugely-beneficial provision for railroads and created multiple agencies, including Metra in Chicago, Metrolink in Los Angeles, New Jersey Transit in New Jersey, Caltrain in the San Francisco Bay Area and SEPTA in Philadelphia, to handle the commuter operations. By the 1980s, cities both large and small that had troubles with traffic congestion were looking at commuter rail as a way of alleviating congestion.
In addition, Lima's last attempts at steam power were made in the 60s and 70s. As they built the Lima Standards, which were meant to be American counterparts to the British Rail standard steam engines. They incorporated the latest developments in steam power from across the world, but were no match for the grow of diesels in general, despite the then ongoing oil crisis. As only a few actually saw service on Amtrak, with many actually going to preservationist or museums, where they actually ran. In addition, the last freight hauling steam engines in the US were built by Livio Dante Porta. Most famously a series of 2-10-0s he called "Los Lobos Rojos". Though again, only a handful saw actual revenue service. With more going to other countries or tourist railroads. Today though, plenty of both the Lima and Porta engines can be seen in Mexico.
One of Amtrak's long-term plans from its creation was to aid railroads in high-speed rail in the Midwest, but with the New York Central already having done most of the work in the eastern half. Plus Illinois Central upgrading the Chicago-St. Louis
Green Diamond and Milwaukee Road its Chicago-Twin Cities
Hiawatha, Amtrak soon was working on filling in gaps, planning out high-speed service from St. Louis to Cincinnati (ACL), Chicago to Cedar Rapids and Omaha, a second Twin Cities line via Madison (both Union Pacific), and lastly a Detroit- Cleveland line. On the latter route, the NYC beat Amtrak to the punch, their profitable lines in New York and Michigan leading to them having the confidence to plan an entire Chicago-New York high speed route, which they planned on opening in 1986. The ACL built a new line for themselves from Washington to Newport News and Norfolk, opening the line in 1984. SP's high-speed lines extended from Bakersfield to Sacramento in stages between 1976 and 1980, and the company built across Altamont Pass to San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco, connecting San Francisco to the California High-Speed Rail Network in 1985.
As the high-speed routes got built, the freight railroads' confidence in their long-distance trains grew, and the development of Amtrak's Superliners in the early 1980s (themselves clearly inspired by the Hi-Level Coaches built for Santa Fe's passenger trains in the 1960s) was an impetus for railroads to both use the Superliners and develop their own double-deck car designs. Southern Pacific's 'California Cars' and 'Cuisine Cars' were one such result, the latter being rapidly copied by the Santa Fe for its high-end
Super Chief. These cars also were used on the SP's long distance trains, those being the Sunset Limited, Golden State, and the new Cotton Belt Limited to St. Louis.
The MoPac also expanded its scope of service. Including the continuation of the Aztec Eagle, its joint work with the Mexican Railroads to haul passengers from St. Louis to Mexico City. they eventually introduced a Chicago counterpart, the
Aztec Zephyr.
Amtrak, pushed by politicians, began to co-ordinate the trains of the name railroads with their own trains, serving the lower-demand areas with traffic to the privately-held routes, though Amtrak scored some big winners on their own. The willingness to have Amtrak's trains feed into the other named trains was very much appreciated by the other railroads, and so Amtrak's desired schedule shifts to accommodate connections were by and large accepted by the freight railroads, who noticed in the 1980s a sizable growth in ridership. Both the desire to have good train travel (helped by the growing high-speed network) and the luxurious trains themselves (by the 1980s, all of the named trains ran with three-unit dining car sets that served meals as good as most restaurants, along with lounge cars with leather seats and audio-on-demand systems with headphones, all trains used all bedrooms as roomettes disappeared in the 1970s) made sure the number of riders on the trains grew dramatically. By 1990, routes like the
Super Chief,
Empire Builder,
California Zephyr and
Lake Shore Limited were routinely operating in multiple sections and the night train services were highly-popular on eastern routes.
The following is a list of long distance and high speed services that were introduced during this era, separated by railroad.
Amtrak
- Gulf Coast: New Orleans- Mobile- Jacksonville
- The Music City Star: St. Louis- Evansville- Nashville- Columbia- Charleston
- Pioneer: Phoenix- Las Vegas- Salt Lake City- Boise- Portland- Seattle
- The International: Chicago- Detroit- Toronto- Montreal
- The Floridian: Chicago- Indianapolis- Cincinnati- Chattanooga- Atlanta- Orlando-Tampa
- The Atlantic City Limited: Atlantic City- Philadelphia- Pittsburgh- Columbus- Detroit
Atlantic Coast Line
- The Dixie Limited: Chicago- Evansville- Nashville- Chattanooga- Atlanta- Jacksonville- Miami
- The Ohio River Runner: St. Louis- Evansville- Louisville- Cincinnati
- The Hummingbird: Cincinnati- Louisville- Nashville- Birmingham- New Orleans
- The Flamingo: Cincinnati- Knoxille- Atlanta- Jacksonville- Miami
Aitchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe
- The Missouri Chief: St. Louis- Tulsa- Avard, OK- Amarillo- Belen- Flagstaff- Los Angeles
- The Souix Chief: Twin Cities- Des Moines- Kansas City- La Junta- Santa Fe- Albaquerque- Belen- Flagstaff- Los Angeles
- The Texan: St. Louis- Tulsa- Oklahoma City- Ft. Worth/Dallas- Houston
Baltimore and Ohio
- The Big Apple Limited: NYC- Baltimore- Pittsburgh- Akron- Chicago
- The Buffalo Limited: Buffalo- Scranton- New York- Philadelphia- Baltimore- Washington DC
- Cincinnati- Detroit feeder service for numerous SOU and ACL trains
Chesapeake and Ohio
- The Nickel Plate Limited: New York- Bethlehem- Wilkes-Barre- Buffalo- Erie- Cleveland- Ft. Wayne- Chicago
- The Queen City Limited: New York- Bethlehem- Sayre- Buffalo- Erie- Cleveland- Lima- Cincinnati
- The George Washington: Chicago- Ft. Wayne- Cincinnati- Charleston- Washington DC
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific
- The Twin Cities Hiawatha: Chicago- Milwaukee- Twin Cities
- The Missouri Hiawatha: Chicago- Davenport- Kansas City
Erie
- The Baltimore Limited: Baltimore- Pittsburgh- Cleveland
Great Northern
- The Empire Builder: Chicago- Madison- Twin Cities- Fargo- Havre- Spokane- Seattle
- The Oregon Limited: Chicago- Madison- Twin Cities- Fargo- Havre- Spokane- Portland
- The North Coast Limited: Chicago- Madison- Twin Cities- Bismark- Billings- Missoula- Spokane- Seattle
Illinois Central
- The City Nashville: Chicago- Evansville- Nashville- Chattanooga- Savannah- Jacksonville- Miami
- The City of Birmingham: Washington DC- Richmond- Raleigh- Atlanta- Birmingham
Missouri Pacific
- The California Eagle: St. Louis- Kansas City- Salina- Pueblo- Salt Lake City- Oakland
- The Aztec Zephyr: Chicago- Quincy- Kansas City- Ft. Worth- Austin- San Antonio- Laredo- Mexico City
New York Central
- The Watchman: Chicago- New York
- The New Englander: Chicago- Toledo- Cleveland- Buffalo- Albany- Boston
Pennsylvania Railroad/ Norfolk and Western
- The Keystone Limited: New York- Philadelphia- Pittsburgh- Columbus- Chicago
- The Powhatan Arrow: Chicago- Ft. Wayne- Cincinnati- Roanoke- Norfolk
- The Pocahontas: Detroit- Columbus- Roanoke- Norfolk
- The Cavalier: St. Louis- Indianapolis- Cincinnati- Roanoke- Norfolk
- The Hoosier State: Detroit- Toldeo- Ft. Wayne- Indianapolis- Louisville
Southern Railroad
- The Queen-Crescent: Cincinnati- Chattanooga- Birmingham- New Orleans
- The Chicago Palm: Chicago- Louisville- Chattanooga- Atlanta- Jacksonville- Miami
- The Tennesseean: Washington DC- Roanoke (Via N&W)- Knoxville- Nashville- Memphis
- The Brightline: Miami- Orlando
Southern Pacific
- The Cotton Belt Limited: St. Louis- Pine Bluff- Texarkana- Corsicana- San Antonio- El Paso- Tuscon- Phoenix- Los Angeles
Union Pacific
- The City of San Antonio: Kansas City- Vinta- Dallas- Houston
