Penn Texas
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleMidwestern United States/Northeastern United States
First serviceDecember 12, 1948
Last serviceSeptember 30, 1970
Former operator(s)Pennsylvania Railroad
From 1968: Penn Central
Route
TerminiNew York City, New York
St. Louis, Missouri
Stops14
Distance travelled1,050.6 miles (1,690.8 km) (1950)
Average journey timeEastbound: 21 hrs 10 min
Westbound: 19 hrs 25 min (1950)
Service frequencyDaily (1948–1970)
Train number(s)Eastbound: 4
Westbound: 3
On-board services
Seating arrangementsReserved coach
Sleeping arrangementsRoomettes and double bedrooms
Catering facilitiesDining car
Entertainment facilitiesClub-Lounge
Baggage facilitiesChecked
Technical
Rolling stockStreamlined passenger cars by Pullman Standard
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Penn Texas was a named passenger train of the Pennsylvania Railroad that ran from New York City's Pennsylvania Station to St. Louis' Union Station from 1948 to 1970. The train also had a branch from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., via York, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland.[1] The train offered sleeping cars that would run continuous to different Texas branches to El Paso, Houston and San Antonio over the Missouri Pacific's Texas Eagle.[2] Accordingly, this service was the longest distance that an American railroad offered for through sleeper service to the east coast, with exception of trains running from California to New York. Coach passengers heading to Texas would need to change at St. Louis Union Station. Throughout this period, the Pennsylvania's competitor, the New York Central Railroad operated a competing Southwestern Limited which also offered sleeping cars which would hitch with Texas Eagle trains.

As premium ridership fell with relation to passenger travel on jet airlines, through sleeper service beyond St. Louis ended on June 30, 1961.[1][3] The Penn Texas would survive the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad with the New York Central Railroad creating Penn Central.[4] However, declining ridership and the Penn Central's June 1970 filing for bankruptcy reorganization[5] were followed by further cuts. Westbound trips from New York City to St. Louis ended on June 30, 1970 and the eastbound trips from St. Louis had their final run on September 30, 1970.[1] (The New York Central's competing Southwestern Limited had ended its service four years earlier in 1966.[6] The Pennsylvania Railroad's Spirit of St. Louis, another New York–St. Louis train (but which lacked linked cars with the Texas Eagle) continued until 1971, early in the Amtrak era.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Penn Texas". american-rails.com. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Pennsylvania Railroad" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad. August 6, 1950. Retrieved December 22, 2018 – via streamlinermemories.info.
  3. ↑ "Pennsylvania Railroad: Passenger Train Schedules, Accommodations, Fares" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad. April 26, 1964. Retrieved December 22, 2018 – via streamlinermemories.info.
  4. ↑ Simon, El (January 31, 2018). "The Short, Troubled Life of Penn Central Passenger Trains". Passenger Train Journal (1). Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ Linda Charlton (June 22, 1970). "Penn Central is Granted Authority to Reorganize Under Bankruptcy Laws". The New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Southwestern Limited". american-rails.com. Retrieved December 22, 2018.


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