BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD-Brief History and Time Line
For more than 160 years, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad linked 13 great states with the nation, providing a friendly,
folksy style of passenger and freight service not often found on other railroads that were its contemporary, save for the
Erie Railroad. What follows is a partial timeline, a partial family tree, and the names of the men who headed the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad through its 160 year history. While by no means, complete, just the major events and components that went
into assembling the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as so many of us came to know it, from the mountain grades of western Maryland
to the high speed double tracked speedway across Ohio and Indiana.
Timeline of Key Events
1827. Baltimore and Ohio receives its charter.
1828.Ground is broken and cornerstone is laid.
1830. B&O is completed to Ellicott's Mills (Ellicott City,MS)
1832. B&O reaches Point of Rocks
1842. B&O reaches Cumberland,MD
1852. B&O reaches Wheeling,VA (now WVA) on the Ohio River.
1873. Metropolitan Subdivision opens for traffic.
1886. B&O line from Baltimore to Philadelphia opens for traffic.
1896. Mount Royal Station opens, giving B&O a second passenger terminal.
1901.Daniel Willard becomes B&O President.
1907.Washington Union Station Opens
1909. Cincinnati,Dayton & Hamilton RR acquired.
1912. West Virginia,& Pittsburgh and Coal and Coke RRs acquired.
1929. B&O gains control of the Buffalo,Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway and the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad.
1931. First air conditioned train is placed in service.
1932. BR&P and B&S merged into B&O.
1937. First Electromotive EA streamlined passenger diesels enter service.
1941. Daniel Willard steps down as B&O President.
1942. Daniel Willard dies.
1944 B&O receives first EMD FT road freight diesels.
1949. Passenger service on the Old Main Line is discontinued.
1955. Last passenger service on the Buffalo Division is discontinued.
1958. Passenger service from Baltimore to Philadelphia and New York is discontinued.
1963. Chesapeake and Ohio gains control of the B&O.
1971. Amtrak takes over all through line passenger service on B&O and promptly scuttles it. Passenger service later
returns as far as Parkersburg,WV.
1973.Chessie System is formed as holding company for Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio, and Western Maryland railroads.
1985. Western Maryland is operationally merged into B&O.
1987. B&O is merged into Chesapeake and Ohio, which in turn, is merged into CSX Transportation. B&O Surrenders
its charter.
PRESIDENTS OF THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD
The following are the men who headed up the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad through its 160 year history of linking 13 great
states with the nation. John Snow, who headed CSX from 1987 to 2002 is the man who closed out the proud history of this great
railroad. He is now Secretary of the Treasury.
1.Philip E.Thomas 1827-1836
2.Joseph Patterson, 1836
3.Louis McLane, 1836-1848
4.Thomas S. Swann, 1848-1853
5.William G. Harrison, 1853-1855
6.Chauncy Brooks, `1855-1858
7.John W. Garrett, 1858-1884
8.Robert Garrett, 1884-1887
9.Samuel Spencer (1887-1888) He later became Southern Railway's first president in 1894.
10.Charles F. Mayer, 1888-1896
11.John F. Cowen, 1896-1901
12.Leonore F. Loree, 1901-1904
13.Oscar C. Murray, 1904-1910
14.Daniel Willard, 1910-1941
15.Roy B. White, 1941-1953
16.Howard E. Simpson, 1953-1961
17.Jervis Langdon, 1961-1964
18. Walter Tuohy, 1964 (also headed C&O)
19. Greg S. Devine, 1965-1969
20.Hays T. Watkins, 1969-1972
21.J.W. Hanifin, 1973-1974
22. HaysT. Watkins, 1974-1978
23.John T. Collinson, 1979-1983
24. John W. Snow, 1984-1987 (last B&O President)
Partial Family Tree of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The following are some of the companies that went into forming the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as so many of us came
to know and love over the years:
1/Baltimore and Ohio proper
2.Northwestern Virginia
3.Central Ohio Railroad
4.Sandusky,Newark, and Mansfield
5.Baltimore,Pittsburgh and Chicago
6.Pittsburgh and Connellsville
7.Hempfield Railroad
8.Pittsburgh and Western
9.Pittsburgh Junction
10.Akron and Chicago Junction
11.Valley Railway (Cleveland Terminal and Valley)
12.Marietta and Cincinnati
13.Cincinnati,Hamilton and Dayton
14.Ohio and Mississippi
15.Winchester and Potomac
16.Valley Railroad
17. Baltimore Belt Line
18. Buffalo,Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway
19.Buffalo and Susquehanna
20.Cleveland, Loraine & Wheeling
21.West Virginia and Pittsburgh
22.Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western
It should be kept in mind that this list does not comprise all of the components that went into making up the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad as we knew it, only the major ones. After these were assembled into one cohesive railroad system, the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad had assumed the final form it would carry into CSX Transportation in 1987. The following is
the 1972 profile of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, along with a list of operating divisions it had at the time:
Mileage: 5491
Locomotives: 995
Passenger cars: 23 ( all used in commuter service)
Freight Cars and company service: 56,305.
Operating Divisions: (before Chessie System 1973 restructuring)
1.Baltimore
2.Cumberland
3.Monongah
4.Pittsburgh
5.Buffalo
6.Akron-Chicago
7.Toledo-Indianapolis
8.Ohio-Newark
9.St. Louis
10.Cincinnati Terminal
11.Chicago Terminal
THE CHESSIE SYSTEM YEARS
When the Chessie System began to issue employee timetables for its component railroads, all of which relied on the B&O's
printshop for much of their in house printed goods' needs, divisions on B&O and Chesapeake and Ohio began to be merged
together. The B&O Divisions have already been mentioned. The following is an approximation of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railway's divisional structure:
1.Richmond-Norfolk Division
2.Clifton Forge Division
3.Hinton-Huntington Division
4.Ashland-Russell Division
5.Nichlolas,Fayette & Greenbrier Railroad
6.Cincinnati-Chicago Division
7. Columbus Division
8. Saginaw-Grand Rapids Division
9. Detroit Division
10.Muskegon Division
11.Canadian Division
This does not necessarily comprise all of C&O's operating division, since no fewer than 5 divisions were in Michigan
alone. The Chessie System made the following combinations:
1.Baltimore Division and Cumberland Division into MARYLAND DIVISION
2.Pittsburgh Division and Buffalo Division into PENNSYLVANIA DIVISION
3.Monongah Division remained unchanged.
4.Akron-Chicago Division remained the same.
5.Ohio-Newark Division combined with C&O's Ashland-Russell and Columbus Divisions.
6.Western Division:combining B&O's St. Louis and Toledo-Indianapolis divisions with C&O's Cincinnati-ChicagoDivision
On the C&O Side:
1.Richmond-Norfolk Division was combined with Clifton Forge Division, forming the VIRGINIA DIVISION.
2.Clifton Forge Division combined with Hinton-Huntington Division forming the WEST VIRGINIA DIVISION.
In 1977,the Western Maryland Railway was incorporated into B&O's Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Monongah divisions,
though it continued in a semi autonimous state of operation with its own diesel fleet. Complete operational merger into B&O
came in 1985. This move was made after the Western Maryland abandoned its own main line from Cumberland to Connellsville,
Pennsylvania, utilizing trackage rights over B&O between those points.
GENERAL OPERATIONS
The following is a description of each of the operating divisions that made up the pre Chessie System Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, beginning with the Baltimore Division, on whose territory it all began.
1.Baltimore Division-birthplace of the railroad. Bounded by Philadelphia on the east,Washington,DC and Weaverton,Md.
It also included the Old Main Line to Point of Rocks, Maryland.
2.Cumberland Division-Covered the territory between Weaverton,MD,Grafton,WV, and Cumberland, MD and included all of the
branch lines that connected to the Metropolitan Subdivision.
3.Pittsburgh Division- covered the territory from Cumberland, MD to New Castle Jct. and on up to Butler,PA. It also included
branches to Johnstown,PA and Wheeling and Morgantown, WV.
4.Buffalo Division-covered the territory between Butler,PA, Buffalo and Rochester,NY with the lines splitting at Ashford
Junction,NY. The BR&P's corporate structure still existed on paper even at this late date.
5.Akron-Chicago Division covered between New Castle Jct.Pa and Pine Junction,IN, and included several branches reaching
to Cleveland, Loraine, and Fairport,OH. Its mainline between New Castle Jct. and Pine Jct. was the east-west speedway of the
railroad.
6.Monongah Division- covered all B&O lines in West Virginia, virtually all of which provided the railroad with much
of its coal traffic. Territory was bounded by Wheeling, Parkersburg, and Huntington,WV.
7.Ohio-Newark Division- covered the territory between Parkersburg,WV, Cincinnati, plus the Central Ohio Line. It also
included a joint B&O_PRR line between Columbus and Newark.
8.Toledo-Indianapolis Division- covered the territory between Toledo, Hamilton,Oh,Indianapolis,IN and Springfield, IL.
9.St.Louis Division-covered the remainder of the railroad west of Cincinnati to St. Louis,MO and included a couple of
branch lines that intersected at Flora, IL.
10.Chicago Terminal Division also known as the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad. It covered the territory
between Pine Island Jct., Grand Central Station, Blue Island and was the Chicago terminal for the B&O. Barr Yard was and
still is the major classification yard for the Chicago terminal. Last individual employee timetables for these divisions were
all issued October 25,1970.
Throughout the system, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad maintained 86 agency stations, whose agents not only handled freight
billings for those stations, but for several hundred other stations on the railroad as well. A few also handled passenger
ticket sales for Amtrak and the MARC Commuter Authority as well. Tasks of the station agent included the ordering of cars
for local shippers in his community, billing of freight to destination, handling of train orders at stations equipped with
train order signals, and in some cases, the sale of tickets and checking of baggage, particularly at those B&O stations
used by Amtrak.
Other tasks of the station agent included preparation of lists of switching to be done by the local freight or
other freight train scheduled to switch the station, maintenance of sets of tariffs, keeping of station books, revenue collections,
maintenance of the station and its premises, to name but a few.
In addition to Tariff books, waybill , bill of lading and other forms, including ticket stock,where applicable, tools
of the trade for the B&O station agent included torpedoes, fusees, lanterns, switch keys, telephones, the employee timetable,
and other publications specific to the agent's function. A few examples of consolidated agency stations on, say, the
Buffalo Division, for example, included Silver Springs, which handled billings for Perry (till service there ended in 1973)
and stations south to Gainesville, Bliss, and Farmersville, while Warsaw handled billings for Warsaw, Wyoming, Pavilion. LeRoy
handled freight billings for that station plus DL&W Jct., Lime Rock, P&L Jct., Wheatland, Scottsville, with Brooks
Avenue handling freight billings for the remainder of the line and all Rochester terminal trackage. On the Buffalo Side, agency
stations included East Salamanca, Springville, and Orchard Park.
In addition to the 86 agency stations around the system, the B&O had major freight terminals at Chicago,Cumberland,
Baltimore, Pittsburgh,Willard, Cincinnati,Akron, St. Louis, and New Castle (which complemented Pittsburgh). On the former
Buffalo,Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway, major yards were located at DuBois, East Salamanca, Buffalo, Rochester, and Johnsonburg.
In terms of diesel motive power, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is noted for having had one of the largest fleets of
EMD F3/F7 cab units and one of the largest fleets of GP9 roadswitchers of any railroad east of the Mississippi River. While
the F3 andGP9s are usually thought of primarily as freight diesels, the B&O bought a few equipped for passenger service
and so deployed them. The passenger Geeps eventually wound up in the 6600-6618 block while the F3 passenger units got 1400
series numbers before they were bumped into freight service, though they kept their boilers for emergency passenger service.
We will take a look at the diesel rosters for 1960 and the final years under the Chessie System banner.
B&O Diesel Motive Power
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad received its first diesel road passenger units in1937; the EMD EA, which was the first
of the long line of E series passenger diesels, the last of which was an E9A delivered to the Union Pacific in early 1964.What
follows is the diesel roster as it looked in 1960. In most cases, road numbers are the final road numbers for various units
before their ultimate retirements.
EMD E6A 2000 hp
1408-1414 7 units
EMD E7A 2000 hp
1415-1430 16 units
EMD E8A 2250 hp
1431-1453 23 units
EMD E9A 2400 hp
1454-1457 4 units
EMD E6B 2000 hp
2407-2413 7 units
EMD E7B 2000 hp
2414-2416 3 units
EMD E8B 2250 hp
2417-1419 3 units
EMD FTA 1350 hp
4400-4413 14 units
EMD F3A 1500 hp
4430-4472 43 units
EMD F7A 1500 hp
4473-4643 170 units
Alco FPA1 1500 hp
5000-5021 22 units
Alco FPB1 1500 hp
5200-5201 2 units
Alco FPB2 1600 hp
5202-5214 12 units
EMD FTB 1350 hp
5400-5413 14 units
EMD F3B 1500 hp
5420-5526 107 units
BLW RS10 1000hp
6200-6215 16 units
EMD GP9 1750 hp
6400-6618 219 units
FM H16-44 1600 hp
6700-6709 10 units
EMD SD9 1750 hp
7400-7414 15 units
Alco S-1
600 hp 8010-8015
6 units
BLW S-10 1000 hp
8200
1 unit
EMD SW1 600 hp
8400-8422 23 units
GE 44 Ton 600 hp
8801-8802
2 units
Alco S2
1000 hp 9000-9114
115 units
BLW ?
? 9200-9278
79 units
BLW ? ?
9366-9399 34 units
EMD TR3 1000 hp each 9400-9428
29 units
EMD NW2 1000 hp 9429-9499
71 units
EMD SW9 1200 hp
9500-9551
52 units
FM H10-44 1000 hp
9700-9726
27 units
The following deliveries were made in the 1960s to replace first generation units that were just about worn out:
1962: EMD GP30s 6900-6976, 77 units
1963-65: EMD GP35s 3501-3551, 51 units
1964: EMD SD35: 7401-7420, 20 units
1967: EMD GP40: 3684-3799, 116 units.
Of these, the 76 GP30s allowed all the FTs to be traded in on them, while the GP35 and GP40 fleets decimated the remaining
F3 and F7 carbody units, which were virtually worn out from millions of miles of use. In addition, Baldwin supplied
RF16 Sharks 4200-4220, along with companion booster units. These together with the Alco FAs were all removed from service
in 1967.
The following is the final diesel roster of locomotives assigned to the Baltimore an d Ohio, many of which were in Chessie
System livery, particularly the newere GP40-2s and a number of older units.
EMD SD7 1500hp 1826-1830
5units
EMD SD9 1750hp 1831-1840
10 units
EMD GP40-2 3000 hp 1977
1 unit
EMD GP35 2500hp 3500-3575
76 units
EMD GP40 3000hp 3684-3799
116 units
EMD GP38 2000hp 3800-3849 50
units
EMD GP40-2 3000 hp 4000-4099
100 units
EMD GP40-2 3000 hp 4100-4261,GM50
163 units
EMD GP40-2 3000 hp 4287-4311,4322-4351
4422-4447
56 units
EMD GP9 1750 hp 6400-6618,6655-6683
248 units
EMD GP30 2250 hp 6900-6976
77 units
EMD SD35 2500 hp 7400-7419
20 units
EMD SD40 3000 hp 7500-7531
32 units
EMD SD40-2 3000 hp 7600-7619
20 units
EMD SW1 600 hp 8401-8421
21 units
Alco S4 1000 hp 9001-9008
8 units
Alco S2 600 hp
9118-48,9152-55,
9160-9183
52 units
EMD SW900 900 hp 9400-9428 29
units
EMD NW2 1000 hp 9500-9551
52 units
EMD TR3 1000hp each, 9552-9557
5 three unit sets
EMD SW9 1200 hp 9600-9613
14 units
EMD SW1200 1200 hp 9614-9621
8 units
EMD TR4 1200 hp each 9622-9625
1 4 unit set
Near the end of the 1970s, all of the remaining Alco switchers were taken out of service, thus making the B&O an
all EMD railroad. All of the SD7s and SD9s were concentrated at Cumberland Yard, where they finished out their careers in
heavy switching duty.
B&O RR Freight Operations
The basic daily schedule for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad included roughly 100 or so through freight trains a day,
many of them operating seven days a week. Add to this numerous divisional locals, all of which were designated as to days
of operation, unit trains of bulk commodities, extra sections to regular trains and you have a daily schedule of several
hundred freight trains a day. The sample sche3dules shown here will only represent a few of the through freight trains and
most of the Buffalo Division's locals. As shown in a freight schedule book, a number of trains were reclassified enroute
at such locations as Willard, New Castle, Cumberland to name a few examples. Yards at such other locations as Youngstown,
Akron, and Cleveland, to name a few, primarily served industrial customers in those cities and did little, if any classifications.
Breakdown of the trains operating on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad went something like this:
Through Trains; 55 eastbound, 59 westbound
Locals by Division:
New York Division: 4
Baltimore Division: 15
Cumberland Division: 7
Monongah Division: 28
Pittsburgh Division: 6
Buffalo Division: 9
Akron-Chicago Divsion: 17
St. Louis Division: 12
Toledo-Indianapolis Division: 11
Ohio-Newark Division: 18
A total of 69 switching yards, a few of them major facilities, such as Willard, Cumberland, Chicago, New Castle, and
Pittsburgh, provided the support system for the B&O's freight service, which, for a long time, used the trade names of
Sentinel, Time Saver, and Tofcee to differentiate the B&O's services from those of other railroads. In the freight schedule
book, work performed by each train at a given location was indicated to the right of the schedule as follows: pu-pick up,
so=set off, in some cases trains did both jobs at some location. Where a train was reclassified before continuing its run
was also indicated where appropriate. Here are some sample schedules, many of them sample schedules for the Buffalo Division:
No.102 Pittsburgh to Buffalo
Lv Pittsburgh (Glenwood) 300pm
Ar Butler 630pm
pu/so
Lv Butler
730pm
Ar Punxsutawney
1000pm pu/so
Lv Punxsutawney 245
am
Ar East Salamanca 815 am
reclassify
Lv East Salamanca 915 am
Ar Buffalo
1130 am
No.404 Pittsburgh to Buffalo
Lv Pittsburgh (Laughlin Jct) 1230 am
Ar Butler
315 am so
Lv Butler
330 am
Ar Punxsutawney
800 am reclassify
Lv Punxsutawney
1100 am
Ar East Salamanca 430
pm so/pu
Lv East Salamanca 530
pm
Ar Buffalo
900 pm
Southwest Steel Special (SWSS)
Lv Buffalo
100 am
Ar East Salamanca 300 am
so/pu
Lv East Salamanca 430 am
Ar Punxsutawney 900 am
so/pu
Lv Punxsutawney 1155 am
Ar Butler 245
pm so/pu
Lv Butler
315 pm
Ar Pittsburgh (W.Grove) 545 pm so
Lv Pittsburgh (W.Grove) 600 pm
Ar Pittsburgh (Glenwood) 630 pm reclassify
Salamanca-Rochester 94 (SR94)
Lv East Salamanca 1030 am
Ar Rochester
500 pm
Rochester-Salamanca 97 (RS97)
Lv Rochester
730 pm
Ar East Salamanca 200 am Day 1
Buffalo-Glenwood 97 (BG97)
Lv Buffalo
100 pm
Ar East Salamanca 315 pm so/pu
Lv East Salamanca 445 pm
Ar Punxsutawney 915 pm reclassify
Lv Punxsutawney 1115 pm
Ar Mosgrove 1215
am pu
Lv Mosgrove
100 am
Ar Butler
200 am so/pu
Lv Butler
315 am
Ar Pittsburgh (W.Grove) 545 am so
Lv Pittsburgh (W.Grove) 600 am
Ar Pittsburgh (Glenwood) 630 am
Chicago Trailer Jet
Lv Cumberland 1100am
Ar Connellsville
145 pm
Lv Connellsville 205
pm
Ar New Castle Jct. 440 pm
Lv New Castle Jct. 505 pm
Ar Willard
815 pm
Lv Willard
850 pm
Ar Garrett (EST) 1130 pm
Lv Garrett (CST) 1045 pm
By Pine Jct.
130 am
Ar Chicago(Forest Hill) 300 am
Ar Chicago (Robey St.) 345 am
Make up of this train: Chicago, Forest Hill Trailer Service, Connecting trains at Cumberland: Advance Chicagoan, New
England Westerner.
MHTN (Manhattan)
Lv Gateway Yard 130pm
Lv HN Cabin
230pm
Ar Shops
615 pm
Lv Shops
630 pm (CST)
Ar Cincinnati (Storrs) 1230am so-pu
Lv Cincinnati (RH Tower) 200 am
Ar Chillicothe
425 am
Lv Chillicothe
445 am
By Belpre
700 am
Lv Parkersburg
725 am
AR Grafton
1045 am
Lv Grafton
1110 am
Ar Cumberland 230
pm
Make up of this train: 1. Cincinnati and beyond.2. Cumberland
St. Louisan
Lv Cumberland
1220 pm
Ar Grafton
340 pm
Lv Grafton 405
pm
Ar Parkersburg
705 pm
By Belpre 735
pm
Ar Chillicothe
945 pm
Lv Chillicothe
1005 pm
Ar Cincinnati
1220 am
Lv Cincinnati
120 am
Ar Shops (EST) 450
am
Lv Shops (CST)
540 am
Ar East St. Louis 1000am
Baltimore Jet
Lv Chicago (Robey St.) 1000pm
Lv Chicago (Barr Yard) 1159 pm
By Pine Junction
1245 am
Ar Garrett (cst)
345 am
Lv Garrett (est)
500 am
Ar Willard
745 am pu
Lv Willard
900 am
Ar New Castle Jct.
1230 pm
Lv New Castle Jct.
1250 pm
Ar Connellsville
335 pm reclassify
Lv Connellsville
605 pm
Ar Cumberland
905 pm
Lv Cumberland
935 pm
By Weaverton
1135 pm
Lv Brunswick
1150 pm
Ar Washington 100
am so
Lv Washington
125 am
By Halethorpe
200 am
Ar Baltimore (Mt. Clare) 230 am s/o
Ar Baltimore (Bayview) 330 am
The next bunch of train will be the Buffalo Divsion locals as operated in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Butler-Bruin Turn
Lv Butler 900 am
Ar Petrolia 1130 am
lv Petrolia 300 pm
Ar Butler 600 pm
Butler-Parkers Landing Turn
Lv Butler 1030a
Ar Parker 300p
Lv Parker 400p
Ar Butler 700p M-S
Knox-Marienville Turn, Ex. Sun
Lv Marienville 800a
Ar Knox 1100a
Lv Knox 200p
Ar Marienville 500p
Marienville-Mt. Jewett Turn, Ex Sun
Lv Marienville 800p
Ar Mt. Jewett 1030p
Lv Mt. Jewett 1145p
Ar Marienville 400a
Riker-Clearfield Turn, Ex. Sun
Lv Riker 930a
Ar Clearfield 200p
Lv Clearfield 300p
Ar Riker 600p
Riker-East Salamanca and Return
Riker 900a
East Salamanca 400p
East Salamanca 715p
Riker 200a
East Salamanca -Buffalo and Return
Lv East Salamanca 925 a
Ar Buffalo 100 p
Lv Buffalo 130p
Ar East Salamanca 530p
LeRoy-Silver Springs and Return, Ex. Sun
Lv LeRoy 715a
Ar Silver Springs 900a
Lv Silver Springs 300p
Ar LeRoy 430p
Several times a week, this train went into and out of Perry 3 or 4 times a week as traffic warranted, usually Monday, Wedenesday,Friday,
and sometimes Saturday until service to Perry was discontinued June 16,1973.
LeRoy-Wheatland Turn
Lv LeRoy 455p
Ar Wheatland 630p
Return LeRoy 1130p
This train used the same locomotive as the Silver Springs job. Until the end of the 1960s, each conductor had his own assigned
caboose. After that, this train used the same caboose as well as locomotive and went into Rochester as needed.
PASSENGER OPERATIONS
While B&O's innovative freight services were the railroad's 'bread and butter', it was the road's through line passenger service
that was the glamour girl for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Such feature trains as The Capitol Limited, National Limited,Cincinnatian,
and Shenandoah, to name a few provided the B&O with that glamour and provided the railroad with an excellent public relations
and advertising tool, for it was a prevailing philosophy at the B&O that good passenger service would have a positive effect
on potential customers for the railroad's array of freight service. What follows are a few sample consists as taken from the
December 1, 1957 consist book. Service north of Baltimore was discontinued on April 27,1958, but here are the consists for
several feature trains in the Royal Blue passenger fleet: Train No.1 The National Limited:
A. Consist out of Jersey City:
1.Coach-lounge (bge)(dorm) Jersey City to St. Louis
2.Coach (R.S.) 40 Seats JC to StL. RS17
3.Coach (R.S.) 40 Seats JC to St.L. RS18
4.Coach (R.S) JC to St. L RS19
5.Diner
6.Sleeper(16 Rmtte,4dbr) JC to Louisville 15
7.Sleeper (14 Section) JC to St.L. 13
B.Train No.1 Consist from Washington,DC
to Cincinnati:
1.RPO Washington to St. Louis
2.RPO Washington to Grafton
3.Coach-lounge (bge.)(dorm) JC to St.Louis
4.Coach (RS) 40 Seats JC to St.L RS17
5.Coach (RS) 40 Seats JC to St.L RS18
6.Coach RS JC to St.L RS19
7.Diner
8.Sleeper (16rmt,4dbr) JC to Louisvl. 15
9.Sleeper (14 sections) JC to St.L. 13
10.Sleeper (14 rmte,4dbr) Washington to St.L 12
11.Sleeper (14 rmte,4dbr) Wash.to Fort Worth, MP-30
12.Lounge-Obs.(2dbr,1comp.1dr) Wash. to St.L. 11
From Cincinnati to St.Louis, the consist of Train No.1, the westbound National Limited remained the same as when the train
departed Washington when additional cars were switched into the train, which originated at Jersey City,NJ. Eastbound No.2
ran with much the same consist as No.1 once the equipment was turned at St. Louis, Louisville, and Fort Worth. The coaches
were then redesigated RS27,28,29, the sleeper from Fort Worth, B&O32. One variation was the picking up of a 10/5 sleeper at
Parkersburg after the eastbound train left Cincinnati. The RPO out of St. Louis came off at Cincinnati and a mail and express
car was switched into the train at Washington. Provision for a make up train was made in the event that No.2 was excessively
late into Cincinnati from the west. This "messenger train" as the B&O called it, consisted of the following equipment:
1.Dormitory Cincinnati to Jersey City
2.Combine, Cincinnati to Jersey City
3. 2 coaches, Cincinnati to Jersey City
4, Diner
5. 1 or 2 sleepers, if required.
In later years, as the railroad sought to cut costs, the consists were more or less fixed or semi fixed for each train still
operating. At least two sets of equipment per train were needed to maintain daily service, with three sets of equipment needed
on the longer distance runs.
12-1-57 Consist information for No.5 THE CAPITOL LIMITED
1. From Jersey City, this train was made up as follows:
a.Storage Mail (sealed) Philadelphia-Washington
b.3.Coach-Lnge-bge.dorm. Jersey City-Washington
c. coach r.s. 56 seats Jersey City-Chicago No.250
d.2 coaches, r.s. Jersey City to Washington
e. diner jersey city to washington
f. Parlor (8 and 4) No.501
g. Sleeper (16 rmte-4 dbr) Jersey City-Chicago No.58
h. Sleeper (14 rmte-4dbr) Jersey City-Chicago No.59.
BOTH trains 5 and 6 were all Pullman west of Washington as shown by the consist for No.5 West of Washington:
No.5 THE CAPITOL LIMITED
1.Coffee Shop (bge) (Dorm) Washington to Chicago
2.Sleeper (16 rmte-4dbr) Jersey City to Chicago No.58
3.Sleeper (14 rmte-4dbr) Jersey City to Chicago No.59
4.Sleeper (12 dr ) Washington to Chicago No.57
5,Dome Sleeper(5rmte,1single br,3dr)Wash-Chicago No.500
6.Sleeper (16rmt-4 dbr.) Washington to Chicago No.55
7-8-9.Sleepers 10rmte,6dbr) Wash.-Chicago Nos.54-53-52
10.Sleeper(10-6) Pittsburgh-Chicago No. P-6
11.Sleeper (5dbr- obs.lounge) Washington-Chicago No.50
Consist for No.6 from Chicago to Washington was pretty much the same, except for a through sleeping car from Los Angeles received
from one of B&O's western connections at Chicago. At least two sets of equipment were required to maintain daily service each
way. For some trains, B&O kept extra equipment at strategic locations to put together 'make up' sections in the event the
regular train was excessively late and have this "messenger train" as the extra train was referred to, assume the schedule
of the delayed train. This helped maintain on time performance of certain feature trains, something that few other railroads
did in the passenger business, save for the Lackawanna during heavy traffic periods.
OPERATIONS ON THE BUFFALO DIVISION
This section will cover the operations of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Buffalo Division in some detail as it is the author's
home territory. Covered will be the passenger operations that expired in 1955 and the spinoff of the entire Division to the
Genesee and Wyoming as the Rochester Southern and Buffalo and Pittsburgh railroads.The passenger operations,which provided
the glamour to the Buffalo Division will be covered first as these operations are of particular interest to the writer, whose
late grandmother rode the Silver Lake Branch train to Rochester and return. Depots that once served passengers on the Buffalo
Division still stand at the following locations: Downtown Rochester,NY(former BR&P HQ),Brooks Avenue,Scottsville,Mumford,LeRoy,Warsaw,Orchard
Park,Springville,East Salamanca,Salamanca, DuBois,Punxsutawney,Johnsonburg. There may be others, but these are the ones known
to the author to still be standing.
