New York Central System vs Pennsylvania Railroad Throw Down. Round 3

Greetings All,

This week we'll showcase the New York Central System's 20th Century Limited versus the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited in round 3 of the NYC vs PRR Throw Down. A disclaimer before we begin. The amount of information available for both trains is staggering. Each has legions of die hard fans and each has been well examined, researched, documented, cataloged, photographed, painted etc. Both were subjects of major motion pictures. You get the picture. So I'll just present some factual tidbits and an overview of each. Links are available for further reading.

20th Century Limited

Inaugurated June 2, 1902

Discontinued December 3, 1967

Train # 25  All Pullman New York (Grand Central Terminal) to Chicago (LaSalle Street Station)

Train # 26  All Pullman Chicago (LaSalle Street) to New York (Grand Central Terminal)

For most rail fans the 1938 streamlining of the NYC 20th Century Limited and adversary Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited brought these two flagships to the pinnacles of their careers. Little known is that the project was a joint effort of the NYC, PRR, the Pullman Company and Pullman-Standard. The cars for both the 20th Century Ltd and Broadway Ltd were ordered as a group for cost saving reasons. NYC ordered a total of sixty two cars, enough for four Century train sets. The train often operated in multiple sections to accommodate demand. Interior designs of the cars varied greatly as both railroads hired different designers.

The Central once again hired Henry Dreyfuss who rendered this latest edition of the Century, stunning, sophisticated and stylish beyond anything that had been done to date on any railroad. The 1938 century was a train without peer, from it's rakish Dreyfuss streamlined Hudson to its mid train double diners (transformed after dinner into Cafe' Century, an elegant night club with piped in music) to it's city themed observation lounge cars.

A Dreyfuss 4-6-4 Hudson leads the 1938 20th Century Limited

The red carpet treatment at Grand Central Terminal

The 20th Century Limited at LaSalle Street Station with a pair of E7s

New York central Promotional Film from 1935

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcC9laB3UFU

Press Releases from 1938

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/grandcentral-streamliner/

Additional Information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Limited

Modeling the 20th Century Limited in HO scale

https://www.walthers.com/exec/page/20th_century

In 1946 the A.T.S.F. and N.Y.C. offered run through coast to coast service so passengers would not have to change trains at Chicago. A.T.S.F. sleepers ran east bound on the 20th Century and N.Y.C. sleepers ran west bound on the Chief.

Pennsylvania Railroad

Broadway Limited

Inaugurated November 14, 1912

Discontinued September 10, 1995

Train #29 All Pullman New York (Pennsylvania Station) to Chicago (Union Station)

Train #28 All Pullman Chicago (Union Station) to New York (Pennsylvania Station)

The Broadway Limited started it's life originally called the Pennsylvania Special on June 2, 1902. It was renamed in November 1914 to avoid confusion with another PRR passenger train, the Pennsylvania Ltd. The name conferred to the broad way of the PRR's four track mains not the street in Manhattan, although it is spelled the same. In the heavyweight era the Broadway was an all sleeper car train with no coach service. It was the only PRR train to get new light weight sleeper cars prior to World War II. In 1949 the Broadway was once again re-equipped with new streamline equipment including a twin unit dining car, a mid train lounge car and squared off observation cars. 

The all Pullman sleeper Broadway Limited was the last of it's kind outlasting the 20th Century Ltd and Panama Ltd until it was merged with the Three Rivers in December 1967. The Broadway would last thru the Penn Central merger as train 48 and 49 and well into the Amtrak takeover. On September 10, 1995 the Broadway was discontinued due to significant funding problems.

PRR's iconic S1 6-4-4-6 locomotive leads the Broadway Limited

  

An older advertisement for the Broadway Limited

An A-B-A trio of E7s leads the Broadway Limited.

Additional Information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Limited

http://streamlinermemories.info/?category_name=broadway-limited

Comparisons

                            20th Century Limited                      Broadway Limited

Schedule Times;                                       16 hours                                     16 hours

Longevity                                                 65 years                                     83 years  

Profitability                                            Often sold out                          Often lightly patronized

                                                         Second sections needed          Faced discontinuance before WWII

The Judges Scoring

Both trains catered to the wealthy and elite. But I think the 20th Century Limited was the train of choice for most of the wealthy and elite as evidenced by the need for advance sections of the train. The 20th Century Limited reached iconic status. The Broadway looks to be seen as a worthy competitor but not really in the same class. Maybe this was due to marketing. Maybe it was the "Water Level Route" but the 20th Century Limited is known as a world class train. Perhaps one of the finest in the world ever. That is tough to beat. So for this round I give the nod to the 20th Century Limited.