Pennsylvania Railroad Congressional Photo Print

The Pennsylvania railroad was the largest in the US by revenue and traffic, and called itself the standard railroad of the world. The Congressional was the premier day train connecting New York City with Washington DC. It catered to businessmen, politicians and government people in the northeast corridor. Various trains covered this route almost hourly through the day, but the Congressional featured first class parlour cars. The trains made the run in less than 4 hours with 7 stops. The PRR began passenger service from New York City to Washington in 1885 that eventually spawned the "Congressional Limited Express." In the 1920s, all-steel heavyweight cars were the norm. In January 1935 the line was electrified and the Congressionals were the first trains to get the new GG1 electric locomotives. Meanwhile, the competition including the Reading Railroad’s Crusader (1937) was upgrading to streamliners while the Pennsylvania ran stodgy heavyweight trains. In 1952, PRR served the New York to Washington route with new 18-car streamliners called the “Morning Congressional” and “Afternoon Congressional”. Two trainsets were bought for the Congressional Passenger train service. They departed New York and Washington in the early morning, were turned on arrival, and arrived back in the evening. Another streamliner introduced the same year, also with new Budd cars, was the Senator. The passenger train is shown here with GG-1 #4868 in 1965 in this photo by The Pennsylvania Railroad. It ran from Washington to Boston with the segment north of New York City carried by the New York and New Haven railroad. NY&NH coaches were used Copyright © 2000-202 Stan Feldman