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Abraham Lincoln

Postcard depiction of the streamlined train.
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Illinois and Missouri
First service	1935
Last service	1977
Successor	State House
Former operator(s)	B&O/Alton Railroad (1935–1947) GM&O (1947–1971) Amtrak (1971–1977)
Route
Termini	Chicago, Illinois St. Louis, Missouri
Distance travelled	284 mi (457 km) (Amtrak)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend 0 mi Chicago 37 mi 60 km Joliet 124 km 77 mi Normal 185 mi 298 km Springfield 257 mi 414 km Alton IL MO Mississippi River 284 mi 457 km St. Louis–Union Station The route after its revival in 1976. This diagram: view talk edit

The Abraham Lincoln was a named passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1935 into the 1960s. The Abe Lincoln ran between Chicago and St. Louis on the B&O's subsidiary Alton Railroad. The train later passed to the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and then finally to Amtrak, which retained the name until 1978. Service between Chicago and St. Louis is now known by the umbrella term Lincoln Service. This train was the first streamlined passenger service to travel the 284 miles between Chicago and St. Louis, with Joliet, Bloomington-Normal, Springfield and Alton in between. Passengers can get a glimpse of the Mississippi River between Alton and St. Louis.

Pre-Amtrak

The original streamlined Abe Lincoln was one of two non-articulated, streamlined trains built with government assisted funding in 1935. The locomotive, B&O No. 50, was powered by an 1800-hp box-cab diesel made by EMC. After delivery, No. 50 was retrofitted with a quasi-streamlined, sloped front end. The Abraham Lincoln continued to operate following the Alton Railroad's merger with the GM&O in 1947, and one of the streamliner trainsets survived into the 1960s.

Amtrak

Following its takeover of most passenger rail service in the United States on May 1, 1971, Amtrak retained the Abraham Lincoln as a daily Chicago–St. Louis service, operating in tandem with the GM&O's old Limited. In November of that year Amtrak extended both the Abraham Lincoln and the Limited (now known as the Prairie State) through Chicago to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In October 1973, Amtrak replaced the rolling stock with the new French-built Turboliner; as part of this change the trains were re-branded as Turboliners and truncated to Chicago. In February 1976 Amtrak returned conventional rolling stock to the route and revived the Abraham Lincoln name along with the Ann Rutledge. Amtrak added the State House to the Chicago–St. Louis corridor in 1977. Also in 1977, Amtrak extended the Abraham Lincoln to Kansas City and renamed it the Ann Rutledge — a name that had briefly disappeared from the timetable in 1976–77 when Amtrak extended the Inter-American to Chicago. Today service between Chicago and St. Louis is handled by the Lincoln Service.

Equipment

American Car and Foundry (ACF) constructed two lightweight trainsets for the B&O, one for the Abraham Lincoln and one for the Royal Blue, which ran between New York City and Washington, D. C. Each trainset consisted of eight cars: a baggage/mail car, three coaches, a lunch counter/diner, two parlor cars, and a parlor-observation car. The B&O rebuilt both baggage/mail cars in 1936: the Abraham Lincolns became a baggage/buffet car with seating for 24, while the Royal Blue's became a baggage/chair car with seating for 44.

On July 26, 1937, the Abraham Lincoln received the Royal Blue's equipment, while the Abraham Lincoln's original equipment was assigned to the Ann Rutledge. This consist included a 60-seat chair car (#5806) that the B&O had built in its own shops in 1936. Both of the consists had the first 64-seat chair car rebuilt into a buffet-lounge, while the lunch counter/diners became full dining cars.

The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio ordered additional chair and parlor cars from ACF in 1947 but otherwise made few changes to the trains' equipment. The new cars seated 68 and 31, respectively.

Stations

See also

• Ann Rutledge
• Lincoln Service
• Royal Blue

References

1. ^ Schafer, Mike; Welsh, Joe (1997). Classic American Streamliners. Osceola, Wisconsin: MotorBooks International. ISBN 978-0-7603-0377-1.
2. Schafer, Mike (2000). More Classic American Railroads. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7603-0758-8.
3. Goldberg, Bruce (1981). Amtrak--the first decade. Silver Spring, MD: Alan Books. OCLC 7925036.
4. ^ Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.

External links

Media related to Abraham Lincoln (train) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Named trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Abraham Lincoln Ambassador Blue Ridge Limited Capitol Limited Chicago Night Express Washington–Chicago Express Cincinnatian Cleveland Night Express Columbian Daylight Speedliner Diplomat Fort Pitt Limited Great Lakes Limited Marylander Metropolitan Special National Limited New York Night Express Night Express Pittsburgh 79 Royal Blue Shenandoah Washington–Chicago Express Washington Night Express Washington 80 Washingtonian West Virginian West Virginia Night Express

• Former Amtrak routes
• Named passenger trains of the United States
• Passenger rail transportation in Illinois
• Passenger rail transportation in Missouri
• Passenger trains of the Alton Railroad
• Passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
• Passenger trains of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
• North American streamliner trains
• Railway services introduced in 1935
• Railway services discontinued in 1978