Federal Express (passenger train)
Encyclopedia
The Federal Express was an overnight
named passenger train run by the Pennsylvania Railroad
and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
between Washington, DC's Union Station and Boston, Massachusetts's South Station
from 1912 to 1971. Train numbers on both railroads were 172 northbound and 173 southbound. At different times, its route has taken it across the Hudson River
via a car float
between Port Morris and Jersey City
(the ferry
Maryland), the Poughkeepsie Bridge
, and finally the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
. The final routing was identical to today's high-speed
Northeast Corridor
.
The train carried sleeping cars and coaches, as well as mail and baggage. As the train operated well outside of dinner hours after 1917 (10:00 - 11:00 PM departure), food service was limited to beverages and light snacks on departure, and continental breakfast in the morning, generally dispensed from a lounge car which also contained sleeping accommodations.
into New York Penn Station. However, an omnibus
transfer was required to get to Grand Central Terminal
to continue to Boston, and the next day it was rerouted via the Poughkeepsie Bridge
. The route took it along the PRR's Belvidere-Delaware Railroad from Trenton, New Jersey
to Belvidere, New Jersey
; the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
from Belvidere to Maybrook, New York
; the NYNH&H's Central New England Railway
across the Poughkeepsie Bridge
; Dutchess County Railroad to Hopewell Junction, New York
; New York and New England Railroad
to Hawleyville, Connecticut; Housatonic Railroad
to New Haven; and the normal Shore Line route the rest of the way to Boston.
Due to freight congestion on the NYNH&H section, the train was discontinued January 9, 1916. With the opening of the New York Connecting Railroad
and its Hell Gate Bridge
on April 1, 1917, the Federal Express was restored via New York City
, running through via the new connection. This final routing was initially made in 12 hours 10 minutes, later reduced to 9 hours 45 minutes averaged both ways.
The Federal operated without interruption through World War II
, also avoiding (barely) the yearlong 1945 Office of Defense Transportation ban on sleeping car routes less than 450 miles, though the train's intermediate sleepers such as Philadelphia-Boston and Washington-Providence were so affected. This ban was in anticipation of Operation Magic Carpet.
After the war, the Federal was gradually re-equipped with railroad-owned lightweight sleepers and coaches from Pullman-Standard, including New Haven coaches of the 8600-8702 series, sleepers of the 14-roomette, 4-double bedroom Point-series of 1948 and the 6-section, 4-double bedroom, 6-roomette Beach-series of 1955. Food service was provided by a buffet-lounge car which also contained 6 double bedrooms, from the prewar and postwar PRR Falls-series until 1960, and a 1955 New Haven State-series car of similar configuration thereafter. Other PRR coaches and sleepers could sometimes be found as well on the postwar Federal, though its consist was mostly New Haven by joint agreement.
Penn Central, formed in 1968 from merger of the PRR and the New York Central
, became the operator of the entire train in 1969 when PC's court-ordered purchase of the New Haven took effect. The cars with the open sections were soon withdrawn, when PC declined to continue offering the section as a travel option (neither PRR nor NYC ever ordered lightweight sleepers with sections). Buffet-lounge service ended in 1970, replaced by a snack bar coach; only a single roomette-and-bedroom sleeper remained each way between Washington and Boston, as by that time the pick-up/setout intermediate sleepers from Philadelphia
, Penn Station and Providence had also been discontinued. Also with the PC takeover, GG1
electrics operated the train all the way between Washington and New Haven, changing to or from newly-assigned ex-PRR E units
between New Haven and Boston.
The Federal made its last runs on May 1, 1971, as Amtrak
, which began operations on that day, had declined to include an overnight train on the Northeast Corridor in its initial system. However, after only a year, popular demand caused Amtrak to re-introduce just such a service, the Boston-Washington Night Owl
(trains 66-67; 172-173 having been reassigned to a day train). The Night Owl, later extended to Newport News and renamed the Twilight Shoreliner, continued operating until 2000. The Federal name was revived briefly when trains 66 and 67 became coach/business only, but eventually the name was dropped if favor of Northeast Regional branding.
Typical of overnight trains, the Federal also carried U.S. mail as well as checked baggage. Trains 172 and 173 carried the Washington & Boston Railway Post Office
until May 1, 1971, being the next-to-last RPO service in the United States (Amtrak operated the very last, the New York & Washington RPO, until 1977).
The Federal had no need to carry a separate sleeping car between Penn Station and Boston, as the New Haven had its own overnight train between Grand Central Terminal
and South Station, the Owl (trains #2 and #3).
system to come into contact with the car frame, causing the valve to close. This disabled the brakes on all of the following cars, rendering them inoperable by the locomotive operator. Approaching automatic block signal
#1339, the engineer attempted to apply the brakes to slow the train, with no effect. The unbraked cars pushed the GG1 locomotive and two passenger cars off the end of Track 16 at the station. They crashed through the Stationmaster's office and fell through the floor of Union Station into the baggage room below. The operator at control Tower "K" had contacted station personnel by phone to warn them of the runaway train and the station was evacuated before the crash. In a remarkable demonstration of the durability of the GG1 engine, engine #4876
was later cut into three pieces, hoisted from the baggage room, and reassembled at the Altoona
shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It then re-entered commercial service and went on to be one of the last-serving GG1 engines. It is, as of 2011, being held for restoration at the B&O Railroad Museum
in Baltimore. This crash also inspired the finale for the 1976 film, the Silver Streak
.
at 3:42 AM while going around one of the New Haven electric main line's sharpest curves, the 30 mph Jenkins Curve (named for the factory of valve
manufacturer Jenkins Bros., then located on the inside of the curve). The electric locomotive, EP-4 No. 363, and 15 of the train's 17 cars derailed from track 2 (the eastbound inner track); traveling down the curve's outside embankment, the locomotive struck ALCO S-1 switcher 0949 working freight cars in the railroad's Bridgeport Lower Yard, causing it to derail as well. Two catenary
poles were knocked down, along with all of the wires, blocking all four main tracks. Fifty-eight crew and passengers were injured, including the switcher's crew; the sole fatality was the Federals engineer. The streamlined EP-4, from a class of six units which had much in common with the PRR GG1s, was not repaired and was scrapped. The cause of the wreck was determined in the official ICC
accident report to be excessive speed on the curve, which the train took at a speed estimated between 60 and 75 mph, as determined from flange marks on the rails as the train started to leave the rails. The death of the engineer, together with confusing speed estimates and braking testimony from the fireman and other crewmembers (the speedometer was not visible from the fireman's seat), prevented a clear picture as to why the engineer failed to slow his train down. However, other testimony from the fireman, in describing the engineer's last moments, suggest a possible lack of situational awareness while attempting to make up time (the train, already late leaving Penn Station
, had gotten up to 26 minutes behind schedule).
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
named passenger train run by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
between Washington, DC's Union Station and Boston, Massachusetts's South Station
South Station (Boston)
South Station, New England's second-largest transportation center , located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest train station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston, a prominent train station in the northeastern...
from 1912 to 1971. Train numbers on both railroads were 172 northbound and 173 southbound. At different times, its route has taken it across the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
via a car float
Car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go, and is pushed by a towboat or towed by a tugboat...
between Port Morris and Jersey City
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
(the ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
Maryland), the Poughkeepsie Bridge
Poughkeepsie Bridge
The Poughkeepsie Bridge is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York on the east bank and Highland, New York on the west bank...
, and finally the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
The New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area...
. The final routing was identical to today's high-speed
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
.
The train carried sleeping cars and coaches, as well as mail and baggage. As the train operated well outside of dinner hours after 1917 (10:00 - 11:00 PM departure), food service was limited to beverages and light snacks on departure, and continental breakfast in the morning, generally dispensed from a lounge car which also contained sleeping accommodations.
History
On October 18, 1912 the Federal Express (and the daytime Colonial Express) commenced operation, using the new Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal RailroadPennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad
The New York Tunnel Extension , was a major project of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the beginning of the 20th century, to improve railroad access throughout the greater New York City area...
into New York Penn Station. However, an omnibus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
transfer was required to get to Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
to continue to Boston, and the next day it was rerouted via the Poughkeepsie Bridge
Poughkeepsie Bridge
The Poughkeepsie Bridge is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York on the east bank and Highland, New York on the west bank...
. The route took it along the PRR's Belvidere-Delaware Railroad from Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
to Belvidere, New Jersey
Belvidere, New Jersey
Belvidere is a Town in Warren County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 2,681. It is the county seat of Warren County....
; the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it...
from Belvidere to Maybrook, New York
Maybrook, New York
Maybrook is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,084 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined...
; the NYNH&H's Central New England Railway
Central New England Railway
The Central New England Railway was a railroad from Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts west across northern Connecticut and across the Hudson River on the Poughkeepsie Bridge to Maybrook, New York...
across the Poughkeepsie Bridge
Poughkeepsie Bridge
The Poughkeepsie Bridge is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York on the east bank and Highland, New York on the west bank...
; Dutchess County Railroad to Hopewell Junction, New York
Hopewell Junction, New York
Hopewell Junction is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,610 at the 2000 census...
; New York and New England Railroad
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...
to Hawleyville, Connecticut; Housatonic Railroad
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.The...
to New Haven; and the normal Shore Line route the rest of the way to Boston.
Due to freight congestion on the NYNH&H section, the train was discontinued January 9, 1916. With the opening of the New York Connecting Railroad
New York Connecting Railroad
The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pacific Railway, Providence and Worcester Railroad and New York and Atlantic Railway...
and its Hell Gate Bridge
Hell Gate Bridge
The Hell Gate Bridge or Hell's Gate Bridge is a steel through arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Wards Islands in New York City, over a portion of the East River known...
on April 1, 1917, the Federal Express was restored via New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, running through via the new connection. This final routing was initially made in 12 hours 10 minutes, later reduced to 9 hours 45 minutes averaged both ways.
The Federal operated without interruption through World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, also avoiding (barely) the yearlong 1945 Office of Defense Transportation ban on sleeping car routes less than 450 miles, though the train's intermediate sleepers such as Philadelphia-Boston and Washington-Providence were so affected. This ban was in anticipation of Operation Magic Carpet.
After the war, the Federal was gradually re-equipped with railroad-owned lightweight sleepers and coaches from Pullman-Standard, including New Haven coaches of the 8600-8702 series, sleepers of the 14-roomette, 4-double bedroom Point-series of 1948 and the 6-section, 4-double bedroom, 6-roomette Beach-series of 1955. Food service was provided by a buffet-lounge car which also contained 6 double bedrooms, from the prewar and postwar PRR Falls-series until 1960, and a 1955 New Haven State-series car of similar configuration thereafter. Other PRR coaches and sleepers could sometimes be found as well on the postwar Federal, though its consist was mostly New Haven by joint agreement.
Penn Central, formed in 1968 from merger of the PRR and the New York Central
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
, became the operator of the entire train in 1969 when PC's court-ordered purchase of the New Haven took effect. The cars with the open sections were soon withdrawn, when PC declined to continue offering the section as a travel option (neither PRR nor NYC ever ordered lightweight sleepers with sections). Buffet-lounge service ended in 1970, replaced by a snack bar coach; only a single roomette-and-bedroom sleeper remained each way between Washington and Boston, as by that time the pick-up/setout intermediate sleepers from Philadelphia
30th Street Station
30th Street Station is the main railroad station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the five stations in SEPTA's Center City fare zone. It is also a major stop on Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridors...
, Penn Station and Providence had also been discontinued. Also with the PC takeover, GG1
PRR GG1
The PRR GG1 is a class of electric locomotives that was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad for use in the northeastern United States. A total of 140 GG1s were constructed by its designer General Electric and the Pennsylvania's Altoona Works from 1934 to 1943....
electrics operated the train all the way between Washington and New Haven, changing to or from newly-assigned ex-PRR E units
EMD E-unit
EMD E-units were a line of passenger train diesel locomotives built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division and its predecessor the Electro-Motive Corporation . Final assembly for all E-units was in La Grange, Illinois. Production ran from May, 1937, to December, 1963. The name E-units...
between New Haven and Boston.
The Federal made its last runs on May 1, 1971, as Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
, which began operations on that day, had declined to include an overnight train on the Northeast Corridor in its initial system. However, after only a year, popular demand caused Amtrak to re-introduce just such a service, the Boston-Washington Night Owl
Twilight Shoreliner
The Twilight Shoreliner was a sleeper train operated by Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor. The Federal replaced the Twilight Shoreliner and eventually became just another regional train.- Consist :The Twilight Shoreliner's consist initially was:...
(trains 66-67; 172-173 having been reassigned to a day train). The Night Owl, later extended to Newport News and renamed the Twilight Shoreliner, continued operating until 2000. The Federal name was revived briefly when trains 66 and 67 became coach/business only, but eventually the name was dropped if favor of Northeast Regional branding.
Typical of overnight trains, the Federal also carried U.S. mail as well as checked baggage. Trains 172 and 173 carried the Washington & Boston Railway Post Office
Railway post office
In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...
until May 1, 1971, being the next-to-last RPO service in the United States (Amtrak operated the very last, the New York & Washington RPO, until 1977).
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
and South Station, the Owl (trains #2 and #3).
Union Station crash
On the morning of January 15, 1953 at Washington's Union Station, the Federal overran the end of the track and into the concourse. According to official ICC reports, a design flaw on New Haven coach #8665 allowed the handle of an angle cock valve in the air brakeAir brake (rail)
An air brake is a conveyance braking system actuated by compressed air. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1872. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell...
system to come into contact with the car frame, causing the valve to close. This disabled the brakes on all of the following cars, rendering them inoperable by the locomotive operator. Approaching automatic block signal
Automatic Block Signal
Automatic Block Signaling, or ABS, is a block system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of blocks and then functions to control the movement of trains between them through automatic signals...
#1339, the engineer attempted to apply the brakes to slow the train, with no effect. The unbraked cars pushed the GG1 locomotive and two passenger cars off the end of Track 16 at the station. They crashed through the Stationmaster's office and fell through the floor of Union Station into the baggage room below. The operator at control Tower "K" had contacted station personnel by phone to warn them of the runaway train and the station was evacuated before the crash. In a remarkable demonstration of the durability of the GG1 engine, engine #4876
PRR 4876
PRR 4876 is a GG1-class electric locomotive located at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was built in 1939 and was involved in the only accident to befall a GG1. In 1953, the locomotive overran the buffer stop and crashed into Union Station in Washington, D.C. after...
was later cut into three pieces, hoisted from the baggage room, and reassembled at the Altoona
Altoona, Pennsylvania
-History:A major railroad town, Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as the site for a shop complex. Altoona was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1854, and as a city under legislation approved on April 3, 1867, and February 8, 1868...
shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It then re-entered commercial service and went on to be one of the last-serving GG1 engines. It is, as of 2011, being held for restoration at the B&O Railroad Museum
B&O Railroad Museum
The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland, originally named the Baltimore & Ohio Transportation Museum when it opened on July 4, 1953. It has been called one of the most significant collections of railroad treasures in the world and has the...
in Baltimore. This crash also inspired the finale for the 1976 film, the Silver Streak
Silver Streak (1976 film)
Silver Streak is a 1976 comedy-thriller film about murder on a Los Angeles-to-Chicago train journey. It stars Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Pryor, Patrick McGoohan and Ned Beatty and is directed by Arthur Hiller. The film score is by Henry Mancini...
.
Bridgeport wreck
Two and a half years later, the Federal was involved in another serious wreck, this time with fatal consequences. On July 14, 1955, New Haven train 172, bound for Boston, derailed in BridgeportBridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
at 3:42 AM while going around one of the New Haven electric main line's sharpest curves, the 30 mph Jenkins Curve (named for the factory of valve
Valve
A valve is a device that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically pipe fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category...
manufacturer Jenkins Bros., then located on the inside of the curve). The electric locomotive, EP-4 No. 363, and 15 of the train's 17 cars derailed from track 2 (the eastbound inner track); traveling down the curve's outside embankment, the locomotive struck ALCO S-1 switcher 0949 working freight cars in the railroad's Bridgeport Lower Yard, causing it to derail as well. Two catenary
Railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
poles were knocked down, along with all of the wires, blocking all four main tracks. Fifty-eight crew and passengers were injured, including the switcher's crew; the sole fatality was the Federals engineer. The streamlined EP-4, from a class of six units which had much in common with the PRR GG1s, was not repaired and was scrapped. The cause of the wreck was determined in the official ICC
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
accident report to be excessive speed on the curve, which the train took at a speed estimated between 60 and 75 mph, as determined from flange marks on the rails as the train started to leave the rails. The death of the engineer, together with confusing speed estimates and braking testimony from the fireman and other crewmembers (the speedometer was not visible from the fireman's seat), prevented a clear picture as to why the engineer failed to slow his train down. However, other testimony from the fireman, in describing the engineer's last moments, suggest a possible lack of situational awareness while attempting to make up time (the train, already late leaving Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...
, had gotten up to 26 minutes behind schedule).