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It was this month in 1900 that Mr. John Luther Jones (that’s Casey to you and me) lost his life while manning the Cannonball Express. As you’ll see in a second, although he was killed in a train collision, his heroic act saved the lives of all of the passengers and crew aboard, so I think it’s fitting that we honor him by talking about famous trains today. Also, I think my dad will like this one because he works for the railroad and has developed an affinity for trains over the years. Hi, dad! Without further ado…
1. The Cannonball Express, AKA the New Orleans Special, was Illinois Central Railroad’s fastest line back in 1900. Casey Jones (so called because of his hometown – Cayce, Kentucky) volunteered to make the Memphis, Tenn., to Canton, Miss., route when the usual engineer turned up sick. The train was already 95 minutes behind schedule, but Casey loved a challenge and was excited to see if he could get the train on time. It’s what he was known for, after all – his extreme punctuality. Legend has it that people would set their watches based on when Casey’s famous whistle sounded as it passed through their town (he had a distinct train whistle). Anyway, it was looking like he had a pretty decent chance of making it to Canton “on the advertised,” when tragedy struck: a train in Vaughan, Mississippi, was stuck on the tracks when it should have been pulled off to the nearby house track. An air hose had apparently broken and locked the brakes in place. Casey couldn’t see the train on the tracks in advance because he was coming around a curve, but he did what he could to slow the train as much as possible and sounded the whistle continuously to warn the other train. He told Sim Webb, his fireman, to jump for it. He stayed in place until impact, still trying to slow the train as much as possible. Although he had slowed it from 75 mph to 35 mph, his position on the train and the force of the impact killed him, probably instantly. But thanks to his efforts, he was the only fatality.
2. I knew the Orient Express had been around for a while, but it’s older than I thought: the first run was on June 5, 1883 from Paris to Vienna. At that time it was known as the Express d’Orient. Later that year, the route was expanded to include stops in Romania and Germany and by 1889 was going as far east as Istanbul. Services were halted during WWI, but in 1919 they expanded again to include Milan, Venice and Trieste. WWII interrupted service again, but they were resumed in 1945. You can still take the Orient Express from Strasbourg to Vienna, and you can recreate the path by taking a few other trains. But, sadly, the Direct Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul ended in 1977. Or you can recreate the experience by reading some of the famous books it has been mentioned in – Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, of course, but also Bram Stoker’s Dracula, From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming, and Stamboul Train by Graham Greene, among others.
3. The Hiawatha trains, which ran from Chicago to Minneapolis, first appeared on the tracks in 1935. They were named after Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha.” There was the Twin Cities Hiawatha, which ran straight from the Windy City to the Twin Cities; the North Woods Hiawatha, running from the main line through parts of Wisconsin; the Chippewa-Hiawatha, which ran through a different part of Wisconsin; the Midwest Hiawatha from Chicago to Omaha; and the Olympian Hiawatha, which took passengers all the way from Chicago to Seattle. Those have all terminated at this point, but you can still get from Chicago to Milwaukee using the Hiawatha Service, which should get you between the two cities in about 90 minutes.
4. The California Limited is another oldie. She started her route in 1892, going from Chicago to L.A. What’s fun about this one is that she was the first to feature “the best Fred Harvey meals on rails.” The Fred Harvey Company was a chain of railroad restaurants – the first was in Topeka in 1876, but by the 1890, Fred set up a lucrative deal with Santa Fe Railroad to open up a bunch of his eateries along their routes and as a result they could be found about every 100 miles. I guess they were like the Waffle Houses of their day. Except Waffle House seems to be slightly more ubiquitous. Eventually the service spread to Santa Fe’s dining cars, which had food and service staffed by the Fred Harvey Company. Fred and Santa Fe went their separate ways in the early ‘30s when Fred realized he could make more money by going beyond one line; in fact, he started to go off of the railways entirely, setting up restaurants over Illinois Tollway Oases.
5. The California Zephyr is one you can still ride in its entirety from Chicago to Emeryville, California. The Zephyr was one of the first to be billed as a mini-vacation in and of itself; in the late ‘40s you would even find Zephyrettes on board. About 12 women were assigned to each train and they were tasked with doing just about anything (within reason, people, within reason) to make sure that their passengers had a relaxing trip – including babysitting and serving as tour guides. The Zephyr that rides the rails today isn’t the original, but if you want to see a replica of the real thing, head to Disney’s California Adventure, where a fake Zephyr houses a bakery and ice cream counter near the front of the park.
6. The Rock Island Rockets were notable because they were some of the first diesel-powered trains. And they had a line called the Des Moines Rocket, which ran from Chicago to DSM. I like to give the 515 a shout-out whenever I can, so consider my duty fulfilled for the week. Other Rockets ran from Chicago to Peoria, Fort Worth to Houston, Minneapolis to Kansas City, and Kansas City to Denver.
7. The North Coast Limited started operations on April 29, 1900 – the day before Casey Jones made his fateful run on the Cannonball, but wasn’t anywhere near the disaster – the North Coast Limited ran from St. Paul to Puget Sound. In her heyday, the NCL was known for consistently having the best dining car service in the business – fresh flowers adorned the tables set with linen table cloths.
8. The Orange Blossom Special is pretty well known thanks to the Ervin T. Rouse song that was later the name of a 1965 Johnny Cash album (which Johnny covered on the album). It ran from New York to Miami. Ervin T. Rouse and Chubby Wise saw the Orange Blossom when it was in Jacksonville, Florida, and were inspired to write a fiddle tune about it (Chubby was a legendary bluegrass fiddler)… at least, that’s the story. Records show that the train they saw was a streamlined train, which wouldn’t have been the Orange Blossom, which used heavyweight Pullman sleepers, diners and coaches. If they did indeed see a streamlined train, it was likely the Silver Meteor, a streamlined train with stainless steel coaches.
Here’s a double whammy for you: Mr. Cash performing both Casey Jones and Orange Blossom Special (he uses the harmonica instead of the fiddle).
9. The Royal Blue was the B&O Railroad’s passenger train between NYC and DC starting in 1890. And it was royal indeed – one railroad historian called it “An inspired blend of majesty and mystique.” The interiors of each car were made of mahogany, the cars were heated and lighted and the windows were made of leaded glass. The chefs were trained in France and prepared duck and terrapin. In the ‘30s and ‘40s they served meals on Dresden China and decked out the cars with glass chandeliers and colonial-style furnishings (they called it the “Martha Washington” series). FDR liked to ride the Royal Blue when he was in office, often taking a special presidential train from D.C. to the family estate in Hyde Park, New York. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip tried the train in 1957, but even their glamour wasn’t enough to keep the line afloat – its last run departed from Washington Union Station at 3:45 p.m. on April 26, 1958, and was covered by Edward R. Murrow for CBS.
10. The Marrakesh Express is a real train, in case that Crosby, Stills & Nash song ever had you wondering. Graham Nash took the train from Casablanca to Marrakesh in 1966 and booked himself a posh first-class seat, but found himself bored and went back to sit with the “ducks and pigs and chickens.”
Do you have any memorable train rides to tell of? Tell us all about it in the comments. I’m afraid I have nothing to contribute this time, although I’m suddenly inspired to take a cross-country train trip!
Comments (22)
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What about the Atichson, Topeaka and the Santa Fe? Awesome Jazz tune written about this railine……
posted by Myra on 4-24-2009 at 3:57 pm
The Chattanooga Choo Choo?
posted by Tracie on 4-24-2009 at 3:59 pm
And I just noticed Casey Jones was mentioned in the first one. He used to live in Jackson, Tenn., where I live…because we have a whole tourist trap dedicated to him. We have his home and a replica of his engine. You can stay the Casey Jones Hotel, in a train car even.
posted by Tracie on 4-24-2009 at 4:03 pm
When I was a small child, my older sister and I rode the “Nancy Hanks” from Gordon Ga. to Savannah Ga. The only thing I remember from the ride is standing in the aisle, as the train swayed, and the clackety clack sound.
posted by Vickey on 4-24-2009 at 4:05 pm
What about the “City of New Orleans”?
posted by Sparky on 4-24-2009 at 4:06 pm
glad to see that someone already mentioned the ‘City of New Orleans’- maybe the best-known in the States, largely because of the song.
And was the ‘Wabash Cannonball’ a real one or just from the song?
I have 1 very memorable train ride- AmTrak Elkhart, IN-Worchester (sp?), ME There was a fellow-passenger, female- got on (end of June) wearing multiple coats with purses galore slung around her neck and shoulders, carrying a key board (you know- the kind you hang on the wall to keep track of your car/house keys)- and a can of beer. In the middle of the night, she was trying to get off the train; I just happened to be headed for the restroom and the conductor nabbed me and said Could you please stay with her and keep her from getting opening this door and getting off the train. Horrified, I asked if she could actually do that. Oh yes, He said… and off he went and I talked to one very odd woman for about 10 min (seemed like a lot longer). She totally enjoyed herself, quit fiddling with the door mechanism, told me They’re keeping me prisoner here, you know… and a big long story. Then she peered at me and said Do you KNOW who I AM? Uh no, I said. You don’t KNOW who I AM?! She was totally stunned- told me she was famous and if anyone on that train actually KNEW who she was…
I could have kissed the conductor for returning with reinforcements. It was 1994… memorable, for sure!
posted by ann on 4-24-2009 at 4:26 pm
ps- I was positive that if the mad woman got the door open while I was on guard she was going out the door by herself… she did try
posted by ann on 4-24-2009 at 4:29 pm
My son loves trains and we ride the tourist steam engine ones as much as possible. I would say our most memorable, so far, has been the Holiday Train for the Niles Canyon Railway in Sunol, CA. We have done that twice so far and it’s always great.
Another nice one is in Boulder City, NV (at least in the spring and fall, never ridden it in the summer and it’s closed in the winter).
Locally, we go to the one in Jamestown, CA at Railtown 1897 which also has some exhibits you can tour.
posted by Sarah in CA on 4-24-2009 at 4:53 pm
I took an overnight train from Hanoi Vietnam to Sapa on the Chinese border. Hanoi is a big city and so when I woke up in the morning, I looked out and saw nothing but Jungle.(The Vietnam I was expecting) I lookout the windo and said to myself “Well, I’m in Nam”. This was in May of 2001.
posted by Franko on 4-24-2009 at 5:03 pm
There’s talk of building a high speed train line from Mpls to Chicago to compete (and hopefully reduce) w/ commuter flights. Not sure if they’d revive the Hiawatha name or what state the proposal is in right now, but it sounds like it would serve as something of a Midwest ACELA line.
posted by Jonny on 4-24-2009 at 5:10 pm
The Chattanooga Choo-Choo is now on display at a hotel. Several train cars serve as rather comfortable hotel rooms.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 4-24-2009 at 5:50 pm
I have taken the Amtrak from NYS to Florida six times. The best was when a British Conductor told facts of th Civil War all the way down. One highlight was a stone stacked pyramid in the middle of some woods. It marks the point at which the Union Troops broke through the lines around a Virginia city, I don’t remember which one. The clincher is, it can only be seen from the train.
posted by gus on 4-24-2009 at 6:05 pm
My high school mascot was the Zephyr. It got old pretty fast, having to explain to everyone that we were a train.
posted by SamR on 4-25-2009 at 12:22 am
1. The Orient express isn’t dead – the “official” one is traveling from Strasbourg to Vienna – with modern cars it’s just a regular sleeper train with none of the luxury of the old days. If you want to recreate the old days you’ve got to take the “Venedig Simplon Orient Express” – it uses some of the original cars and several other old ones who all have been modernized (AC etc.) and travels between London/Paris and Venice or Istanbul.
2. one of the most impressive railroads is missing: the Trans-Siberian Railway – as far as I know it’s the longest railroad route in existence if you go from moscow th north-korea it’s about 6380 mi/10267 km long. A couple of my friends, when returning from an exchange Program in Seoul, went from South Korea to China by ferry and then used only trains (amongst them the Trans-Siberian) to travel back to Austria – afterwards this trip was the only thing they were talking about for months…
posted by frog on 4-25-2009 at 8:53 am
The 20th Centurt Limited. Left NYC at dinner time arrived in Chicago for breakfast via the Hudson River/Great Lakes. Great food. Great bridge games.
posted by Reginald Gordon on 4-25-2009 at 12:44 pm
In 1977 I was on an overnight train from Frankfurt, Germany (West Germany at the time) to West Berlin. The train had to go through East Germany to get there. In the beginning of the ride through W. Germany, there were some lovely castles lit up on hillsides and beautiful scenery. It got dark before we got to E.Germany, but at the first checkpoint, the stark station was lit up by bright lights while soldiers with scary-looking guns checked the train – checked our papers and guarded the train so no one could get on or off. As we pulled away from the station, I could see soldiers with guns lurking – I mean patrolling – in the woods outside the station. Each E. German town we passed through was brightly lit with streetlights, but looked deserted (the town was asleep, after all) with very few cars and very dull-looking. I eventually fell asleep and woke up in beautiful W.Berlin, but I will never forget the dramatic differences between W and E Germany that I saw on that trip. Or between W. Berlin and E. Berlin, for that matter. It was a little like being in technicolor on the W side and black and white on the E side.
posted by JMB on 4-25-2009 at 3:21 pm
I love taking the trains in Europe…you go through all of these beautiful cities. I used to take the train near my house (I lived in Bitburg, & the train station was in Erdorf) to the airport in Frankfurt if I had to fly from there. It took an hour longer (3 hours vs. 2 hours on the autobahn) but the ride was so much more interesting and pleasant since you’re going through the cities instead of around the cities on the autobahn. Just thinking about the wonderful train ride gives me another reason to miss Germany!
posted by Brandy on 4-25-2009 at 10:34 pm
Glad to see Jacksonville got a shout out here… we are definetly left high and dry here quite often…. Betsy Carter also wrote a book titled Orange Blossom Special worth Checking out.
Even though its not a train, something worth checking out for train enthusiasts, and something you might lookup on your next road trip Stacy is the Folkston Funnel in Folkston, Ga. Lots of trains go through there daily, someone told once one every 15 to 20 minutes, with a pavillion set up so you can listen to the conducters radios… worth checking out.
posted by peter on 4-25-2009 at 11:01 pm
“head to Disney’s California Adventure, where a fake Zephyr houses a bakery and ice cream counter near the front of the park”
The BEST ice cream ever! The waffle cones are incredible.
posted by Tricia on 4-26-2009 at 12:18 am
I can always tell it’s one of your posts if Disney is mentioned. :)
I’ve had quite a few train rides – some in the US, some in Italy, and a few here in New Zealand as well. The conductor on the NZ South Island trains is hilarious and always makes the trip better with his colourful commentary!!
posted by Dawn on 4-26-2009 at 5:59 am
When I was a kid my Dad was the local official Santa Fe Doctor. It meant he had a free pass anywhere on the line and could get discounts for family members.
We traveled the San Francisco Chief from Kansas City to San Fran, with reduced-priced Pullman compartments. I have never slept as well as in a Pullman bed rockin’ and rollin’ through the southwest.
I enjoyed my first meal of duck in the dining car, with it’s starched linen tablecloths and heavy, heavy silverware.
In the observation car I enjoyed my first Coca-Cola in a can.
A great way to travel.
posted by MonkeyHawk on 4-27-2009 at 5:00 am
How about the Empire State Express?
It was the first manmade vehicle to break 100mph, back in 1895. Even Henry Ford commemorated it, with a line of racing cars a few years later.
It was timed by the famous American watchmaker Webb C. Ball, and was the first transport that made it possible to get from NYC to Chicago in one day. Crazy to think how much has changed in a century!
posted by grover on 4-27-2009 at 6:04 am