NYC PASSENGER TRAIN CONSISTS 1946-1950 FROM FREDERICK L. KUHLMAN's TIMEBOOKS
COMPILED BY LARRY BOLTON AND DAVE STAPLIN
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USER’S GUIDE TO NEW YORK CENTRAL PASSENGER TRAIN CONSISTS 1946 TO 1950
Trains Covered:
The conductor’s route ran from Toledo to Buffalo, returning the next day. Westbound train dates are the date he worked them, NOT necessarily the date they departed from their home terminal. Eastbound: Train 26, The Twentieth Century Limited 83 consists Train 1-26 – The Twentieth Century Limited , first section Train 2-26 – The Twentieth Century Limited, second section 46 consists Train 28 – The New England States 70 consists Train 46 – Interstate Express 6 consists Train 68 – The Commodore Vanderbilt 36 consists Train 98 – The Paul Revere 14 consists Total eastbound trains 260 consists Westbound: Train 1 – The Pacemaker 5 consists Train 19 – The Lake Shore Limited 99 consists Train 59 – The Iroquois, later The Chicagoan 22 consists Train 159 – Chicago Express 30 consists Train 251 – Interstate Express 102 consists Total westbound trains 258 consists There were 2 deadhead moves eastbound to balance the number of trips.
Data Source
In 1998, Larry Bolton’s fellow Grand Trunk Western locomotive engineer
and Toledo area resident Charles H. Geletzke Jr. acquired copies of NYC
Toledo East Conductor Frederick L. Kuhlman's timebooks. Knowing
Larry’s interest in the New York Central and realizing the wealth of
information contained in these timebooks, Chuck passed the copies on to
him. These timebook pages are from Mr. Kuhlman's last four years
working for New York Central, a time in his career when his seniority
allowed him to hold the Toledo to Buffalo leg of No. 26, the 20th
Century Limited, for the much of this time. Unless noted in the file data listing below, all data is taken from copies of the conductor’s notebook. As with any copying effort, the images of some pages are not entirely clear. In that case, the authors have done the best job possible of figuring out what was written on the original. In some cases that was not possible. For example, blanks in the middle of a car number are an indication that the digit could not be determined. Also, as one would expect, the conductor made some errors in transcribing the information and when those were obvious, the authors corrected them wherever possible.
Data Fields
Day – The day of the week was not on the originals, so on-line calendars were used. The day along with the date help explain some consist and ridership variances Date – Came from the notebooks. Train – Came from the notebooks. Second sections of the Century were deduced from the back-up cars used in the consists and the Pullman car loading numbers. Locomotive Numbers – These came from the notebook and for trains stopping at Cleveland Union Terminal, the number of the electric used between Collinwood and Linndale is added. Often, it was omitted in the notebook. The order of operations of locomotives being changed in Cleveland (including trains not stopping at CUT) cannot be guaranteed. Car Ownership – Blanks indicate NYC ownership. Otherwise, owner initials were taken from the notebook. Ownership information was supplemented by several sources. For headend, especially express reefers, The Official Register of Passenger Train Equipment, dates March 1943, September 1944, January of 1961 and March 1964 were used. NYC subsidiaries were used from the notebooks, or from the 1943 NYC system diagram book. Pullman ownership was determined from the List of Standard and Tourist Cars No. 35, dated November 15, 1950. Cars not identified as having a railroad owner are assumed to have been retained by the Pullman Company. Car Name/Number – Came from the notebooks. The cars were copied in the order written, which may not be in the same order they were placed in the actual train. This is especially true of trains making set-offs and pick-ups in Cleveland. Loading Number – Came from the notebooks, but was not always listed Car Type – The information came from a combination of sources. Some are listed in the notebooks. For NYC cars, most came from the 1943 system diagram book, officially titled Dimensions and Classification of Passenger Equip. Cars of the New York Central System. For cars that came online after the diagram book was last updated, the ORPTEs were used, in addition to Wayner’s, Car Names Number and Consists. A key to abbreviations is listed below Pullman Plan – For Pullman equipment, a combination of the from the 1950 car listing cited above and The Descriptive List of Cars, dated September 1, 1942. For cars that had changes in plan numbers (rebuilds for example), Tom Madden’s Pullman Project files were consulted. The sub plans from the 1950 document were primarily used, even though there may have been changes for cars listed in trains for years prior to 1950. Origin – Came from the notebooks. A key for the abbreviations for both origins and destinations is included below Destination – Came from the notebooks. It should be acknowledged that some origins and destinations listed in the notebooks did not go beyond Toledo and Buffalo. In those cases, NYC Form 1001s were used where possible to track them down. This is especially true for sleepers. Also in Cleveland, CLE is used for Linndale, CUT, and Collinwood. Passenger Load – In a few cases, the conductor wrote the passenger counts in his notebooks and where that was the case, they are shown. For Pullman trains, the number will show as ---P. For trains with both Pullmans and coaches, the number will show as ---P/---C. Where no count is shown, the initials NA (not available) are shown. Errors and Omissions – Errors and omissions are the responsibility of the authors. If you believe that you can offer corrections, please e-mail staplindave@yahoo .com.
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| ADR | Adrian |
| ALB | Albany |
| AND | Anderson |
| ASH | Ashtabula |
| BG | Beech Grove |
| BOS | Boston |
| BUF | Buffalo |
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BUT |
Butler |
| CHI | Chicago |
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CIN |
Cincinnati |
| CLE | Cleveland |
| COL | Columbus |
| DET | Detroit |
| ELK | Elkhart |
| HAR | Harmon |
| IND | Indianapolis |
| LAKPL | Lake Placid |
| LEX | Lexington |
| LA | Los Angeles |
| MAD | Madison |
| NA | Not Available |
| NYC | New York City |
| PGH | Pittsburgh |
| SAG | Saginaw |
| SF | San Francisco |
| STL | Saint Louis |
| STU | Sturgis |
| TOL | Toledo |
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TOR |
Toronto |
| WAY | Wayland |
| BUS | Business car |
| DORM | Dormitory |
| HORSE | Heavyweight horse car |
| HWB | Heavyweight baggage |
| HWBC | Heavyweight baggage coach |
| HWBD | Heavyweight baggage dormitory |
| HWBM | Heavyweight baggage mail |
| HWC | Heavyweight coach |
| HWCD | Heavyweight coach dormitory |
| HWD | Heavyweight diner |
| HWDL | Heavyweight diner lounge |
| HWER | Heavyweight express refrigerator |
| HWM | Heavyweight mail |
| HWP | Heavyweight Pullman |
| HWPD | Heavyweight parlor diner |
| HWPL | Heavyweight Pullman Lounge |
| HWPT | Heavyweight Pullman tourist |
| HWPO | Heavyweight parlor observation |
| HWTO | Heavyweight tavern observation |
| HWTS | Heavyweight Troop Sleeper |
| LWB | Lightweight baggage |
| LWBC | Lightweight baggage coach |
| LWBD | Lightweight baggage dormitory |
| LWMB | Lightweight baggage mail |
| LWC | Lightweight coach |
| LWCL | Lightweight club lounge |
| LWD | Lightweight diner |
| LWDL | Lightweight diner lounge |
| LWFD | Lightweight full diner |
| LWKD | Lightweight kitchen dormitory |
| LWKL | Lightweight kitchen lounge |
| LWP | Lightweight Pullman |
| LWPL | Lightweight Pullman lounge |
| LWPLO | Lightweight Pullman observation |
| LWPO | Lightweight parlor observation |
| LWTL | Lightweight tavern lounge |
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MED |
Medical car (hospital) |
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MILK |
Milk car |
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NA |
Not available |
| RIDER | Rider car |
| SUVH | Steel underframe baggage |
| TROOP | Troop sleeper |
| TSBC | Troop sleeper baggage conversion |
| UK | Unknown |
