Misplaced Pages

Metropolitan Special

The Metropolitan in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 1969
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Mid-Atlantic United States; Midwestern United States
First service	1919
Last service	April 30, 1971
Former operator(s)	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Route
Termini	Jersey City, New Jersey St. Louis, Missouri
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	11 (westbound) 12 (eastbound)
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Reclining seat coaches
Sleeping arrangements	Roomettes and double bedrooms
Catering facilities	Parlor-Dining car (Washington - Cincinnati), lunch counter and lounge rooms (Cincinnati - St. Louis)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map

The Metropolitan Special was a passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) that operated from 1971. For most of its career, it ran between St. Louis, Missouri, and Jersey City, New Jersey.

History

In earlier years only the east-bound #12 carried the name, while the Diplomat (as #11) carried the west-bound direction of the route. The train's eastern terminus was Washington, D.C. Sleeping car passengers were able to ride trains continuously from St. Louis to Jersey City, New Jersey, where at Communipaw Terminal passengers transferred to buses and ferries to Manhattan in New York City. By 1940, the eastern terminus became Baltimore, and the west-bound trip joined in carrying the Metropolitan Special name.

Major intermediate station stops included Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. The Metropolitan Special carried vast amounts of mail and express packages in many (often 10+) baggage cars and express cars Added revenue for the train came from Railway Post Office cars, which sorted and canceled mail en route, between terminals. Even with declining passenger revenue through the 1950s and 1960s, the B&O passenger department relied heavily on trains such as the Metropolitan Special because of the revenue generated by moving mail and express packages.

In 1964 it was listed as primarily a mail train, and the train served various smaller towns and villages that were bypassed by the more prestigious trains along the route, the National Limited and the Diplomat. Special was dropped from its name. The next year the B&O dropped the sleeping car from the train. However, by the end of 1967, the United States Postal Service dealt a heavy blow to the B&O, canceling most of its lucrative post office contracts. With such a drop in revenue, the fate of the Metropolitan Special was sealed. By 1969, its route was shortened to Washington to Cincinnati. The train was discontinued on the first day of Amtrak service, May 1, 1971.

Stations

References

1. Official Guide of the Railways, August 1938, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Through Car Service'
2. Official Guide of the Railways, March 1940, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Through Car Service'
3. "Table 2". C&O/B&O timetable. Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. April 26, 1964.
4. Official Guide of the Railways, December 1964, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Passenger Train Equipment'
5. Official Guide of the Railways, July 1965, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Passenger Train Equipment'
6. Official Guide of the Railways, August 1969, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Passenger Train Equipment'
7. Edmonson, Harold A. (1972). Journey to Amtrak. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 102–104. ISBN 978-0890240236. as mentioned in "Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak" (PDF). Trains. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-24.

• Renolds, Kirk & Oroszi, Dave (2000). Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Osceola, Wi: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0-7603-0746-6.

External links

Media related to Metropolitan Special 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

• Passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
• Named passenger trains of the United States
• Passenger rail transportation in Maryland
• Passenger rail transportation in Ohio
• Passenger rail transportation in Indiana
• Passenger rail transportation in Missouri
• Passenger rail transportation in West Virginia
• Railway services discontinued in 1971