By J. Bruce Richardson, Corridor Rail Development Corporation; March 31, 2021
Hyperbole was nothing new for competitive railroads in the middle of the 20th Century. The Pennsylvania Railroad told us the PRR was “Serving The Nation.” In the Southeast, Seaboard Air Line Railroad heralded itself as “The Route of Courteous Service.”
In the geographic middle between those two railroads was the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company, an east/west coal road which modestly proclaimed it was “George Washington’s Railroad” and further explaining “Original Predecessor Company Founded by George Washington in 1785.” Additionally, the C&O’s stylistic logo was “C and O For Progress.”
It was a young George Washington when Virginia was still a colony that first proposed the canal while working as a surveyor.
In his spare time between winning the Revolutionary War as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and becoming the first President of the new United States of America, Washington, indeed, did help found the James River and Kanawha Canal, built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight between Virginia’s western counties and the coast. The canal’s towpath ultimately became the right-of-way for C&O predecessor Richmond and Allegheny Railroad.
The modern C&O – as many other railroads – was formed from a number of smaller roads. It ultimately took the savvy and financial wizardry of Collis P. Huntington (of the Big Four of California) to knit the C&O together into a cohesive railroad which stretched from the coal docks of Hampton Roads in the Norfolk area through Virginia and into the coal fields of West Virginia and beyond.
Ultimately, the C&O operated from 1868 to 1987 when first the Chessie System and then ultimately CSX became the modern version of the much larger railroad.
When CSX made the sale of the original C&O main line to the Commonwealth of Virginia this week the primary trackage was that which Collis Huntington had put together as the backbone of his early consolidated railroad.
In the summer of 1956 the C&O was operating three premium streamliner passenger trains over much of the line which was just transferred to the commonwealth. The Sportsman, The George Washington and The F.F.V. (Fast Flying Virginian) were streamliners handling passengers traveling between the East coast and Midwest.
The George Washington and The F.F.V. handled cars which originated in New York Pennsylvania Station and transferred to the C&O at Washington Union Station. Other parts of the trains originated in Newport News and continued through Richmond’s elaborate Main Street Station and were joined in Charlottesville at the C&O’s colonial-style passenger station. (Today the station is privately held and houses a law office.)
Beyond Charlottesville the trains headed for destinations such as Detroit, Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago and St. Louis with the help of the New York Central Railroad beginning in Cincinnati.
Much of this route today is covered by Amtrak’s tri-weekly Cardinal, operating from New York Penn to Chicago via Washington, Charlottesville, Cincinnati and Indianapolis to Chicago Union Station.
In non-pandemic times the Cardinal’s consist is a baggage car, one Viewliner sleeping car, an Amfleet II diner/lounge and three coaches.
In the C&O times, all of its trains over the route served both the Homestead resort at Clifton Forge, Virginia and the Greenbrier resort at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. As these classic resorts were playgrounds for the wealthy, both stations had house tracks to serve the many private cars the wealthy used as the private jets of their day.
From the July 1956 edition of The Official Guide of the Railways for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway:
The George Washington, Trains 1-41-21 and 2-22-42, Daily
Air-Conditioned.
Sleeping Cars –
Washington to Cincinnati, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
New York to Louisville, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Newport News to Chicago, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Richmond to St. Louis, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Dining Service –
New York to Washington
Washington to Charlottesville
Richmond to Charlottesville
Newport News to Cincinnati (Chessie Club Buffet Lounge for all passengers)
Ashland to Cincinnati
Ashland to Louisville
Cincinnati to Chicago and St. Louis
Streamlined Reclining Seat Coaches –
Washington to Cincinnati and Louisville
Newport News to Cincinnati
The F.F.V., Trains 3-43-23 and 6, Daily
Air-Conditioned.
Sleepers ready at Washington 9:30 p.m., Richmond at 9:30 p.m.
Sleeping Cars –
New York to Hot Springs, (11 Double Bedrooms) (In Train 303 Clifton Forge to Hot Springs.)
New York to White Sulphur Springs, (11 Double Bedrooms)
White Sulphur Springs sleepers may be occupied at that point until 8:30 a.m.
New York to Ashland, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
New York to Ashland, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
New York to Ashland, (daily, except Saturdays) (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Washington to Ashland, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Newport News and Richmond to Cincinnati, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Dining Services –
New York to Washington
Newport News to Charlottesville (“Tidewater Tavern” – Buffet Lounge for all passengers)
Clifton Forge to Cincinnati
Indianapolis to Chicago and St. Louis
Streamlined Reclining Seat Coaches –
Washington to Cincinnati
Newport News to Cincinnati
Through Streamlined Reclining Seat Coach – New York to Ashland.
The Sportsman, Trains 5-47-5 and 4-24-46, Daily
Air-Conditioned.
Sleeping Cars –
Richmond to Detroit, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Charlottesville to Chicago, (via Toledo) (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms)
Clifton Forge and White Sulphur Springs to Cleveland, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms) Occupancy until 8:00 a.m.
Hinton to Columbus, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms) Occupancy until 8:00 a.m.
Columbus to Detroit, (10 Roomettes, 6 Double Bedrooms) Occupy at Columbus 9:30 p.m.
Coach Lunch Service –
Washington to Charlottesville
Richmond to Charlottesville
Dining Service –
Charlottesville to Detroit
Toledo to Chicago
Streamlined Reclining Seat Coaches –
Washington to Detroit
Newport News to Detroit