Erie westbound train No. 7, the Pacific Express, makes a mid-afternoon stop at Warren, Ohio, in 1949. The train provided daytime service west of Elmira, New York, through Ohio. Photo by William R. Rinn. Click image to enlarge.
(Photo by William Rinn, Audio-Visual Designs, Earlton, New York, Public Domain via W. Lenheim Collection)
ATLANTIC EXPRESS / PACIFIC EXPRESS
The Atlantic Express and Pacific Express were a pair of Erie Railroad passenger trains which together provided round-trip service between the New York City area and Chicago, Illinois. They were the Erie's oldest named passenger trains, having been named in 1885 and discontinued in 1965 under the Erie Lackawanna Railway, successor to the Erie. Specifically, the train originated at the Erie Railroad's Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey until 1956. For the last nine years the train began at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western's Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey. For the last five years the train was an Erie Lackawanna Railroad train, as the Erie and the Lackawanna railroads merged in 1960. It was the last long distance passenger train to run along the Erie Main Line.
Overview
Service type: Inter-city rail
Status: Discontinued
Locale: Midwestern United States/Northeastern United States
First service: 1885
Last service: 1965
Former operators: Erie Railroad, after 1960: Erie-Lackawanna Railroad
Route Termini: Jersey City, New Jersey/ 1956-1965:Hoboken, New Jersey / Chicago, Illinois
Distance traveled: 998.7 miles (1,607.3 km) (1954)
Service frequency: Daily
Train numbers: East: 8 / West: 7 (1954)
On-board services
Seating arrangements: Coaches
Sleeping arrangements: Open sections, roomettes and double bedrooms (1954)
Catering facilities: Diner-lounge car
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
An Erie Ink Blotter Advertisement Gallery
(Click on image to enlarge)
(Images: Erie Railroad, Public domain, via Streamlinermemories.info)
