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SIGNIFICANT HEAVYWEIGHT TRAINS
By 1956, the most important passenger trains in the United States were all equipped with streamlined cars. Coincidentally, 1956 was the year the Interstate highway system was approved. And it was all downhill for the American passenger train. And after 1956, the railroads basically gave up on any further modernization of their passenger fleets.As a result, there were many passenger trains, which never were streamlined during their histories. Most of these were secondary, local, or branch line trains, often without names. But there were a few significant name trains, which basically never received new streamlined equipment.
Listed are the most significant passenger trains, which did not become streamliners. The list is somewhat arbitrary. But usually, the listed trains were named, and were the primary trains operating over a signaled main line. Had the railroads continued to invest in modernization of their passenger trains, these might have been the next trains to become streamliners.
Actually, a few of these heavyweight trains received a few lightweight cars, but not enough to make them considered streamliners. Nevertheless, as various other trains were discontinued or shortened, these trains may have received surplus streamlined cars from the discontinued trains.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
#19/#20 - Ambassador, overnight Baltimore-Detroit
#53/#54 - Cincinnatian, daytime Cincinnati-Detroit
Boston & Maine Railroad
#5/#20 - Alouette, daytime Boston-White River Jct.-Montreal (via CP)
#302/#325 - Red Wing, overnight Boston-White River Jct.-Montreal (via CP)
#307/#332 - Ambassador, daytime Boston-White River Jct.-Montreal (via CV-CN)
#732/#735 - Washingtonian/Montrealer, overnight Washington (via PRR-NH)-Springfield-White River Jct.-Montreal (via CV-CN)
Delaware & Hudson Railroad
#9-#10 - Montreal Limited, overnight New York (via NYC)-Albany-Montreal
#34/#35 - Laurentian, daytime New York (via NYC)-Albany-Montreal
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad
#1/#2 - Royal Gorge, overnight Denver-Ogden
Erie Railroad
#1/#2 - Erie Limited, overnight New York-Chicago
#5/#6 - Lake Cities, overnight New York-Cleveland
Great Northern Railway
#19/#20 - Gopher, daytime Minneapolis-Duluth
#23/#24 - Badger, daytime Minneapolis-Duluth
Illinois Central Railroad
#11/#12 - Hawkeye, overnight Chicago-Sioux City
Louisville & Nashville Railroad
#17/#18 - Flamingo, overnight Cincinnati-Atlanta-Jacksonville (via CGA-ACL)
Maine Central Railroad
#8/#23 - Gull, overnight Boston (via B&M)-Portland-Vanceboro-St. John (via CP)
Missouri Pacific Railroad
#3/#4 - Orleanean, daytime New Orleans-Houston
#9/#10 - Houstonian, overnight New Orleans-Houston
St. Louis San Francisco Railway
#105/#106 - Kansas City Florida Special, two nights Kansas City-Birmingham-Jacksonville (via SR)
Southern Railway
#15/#16 - Asheville Special, daytime Salisbury-Asheville
#17/#18 - Birmingham Special, overnight Washington-Birmingham (Lynchburg-Bristol via N&W)
#27/#28 - Carolina Special, overnight Cincinnati-Charleston SC
Wabash Railroad
#1/#4 - Wabash Cannon Ball, daytime Detroit-St. Louis