Pennsylvania Railroad New Type Room Accommodations Sleeping Cars 1952 Trains For Sale

New Type Room Accommodations Sleeping Cars on the Pennsylvania Railroad
22-page illustrated staple-bound catalog of sleeper-car arrangements available on the Pennsylvania Railroad. "This booklet has been prepared as a guide for Ticket Agents, Reservation Clerks, Information Clerks, Passenger Representatives and others concerned with the sale or reservation of sleeping car space in order that they may acquaint themselves with and answer questions about room accommodations in latest type sleeping cars. Attractively furnished rooms designed and styled for greater comfort and convenience are available in wide variety to meet the travel needs of Pennsylvania Railroad patrons. Descriptions and diagrammatic drawings of all new-type rooms are presented on the following pages.
The Pennsylvania railroad PRR 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 as well as travelers in the northeast corridor. Various trains covered this route almost hourly through the day, but the Congressional featured first class parlor cars for an upscale clientele. 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 train 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 Congressionals. 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. 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 in the Senator in addition to PRR coaches. There was no need for a sleeper on a day train, although parlor cars offered first class service and business meeting rooms.The new Budd cars were stainless steel with a tuscan stripe in the letterboard. Six of the GG1 electric locomotives (that dated from 1936) were painted Tuscan in 1952 for the Congressional and Senator to match the stripe on the passenger cars. Three more GG1s were painted silver with a wide red stripe and large keystone herald in 1955 for these trains.Models of an exact Congressional train have not been made in N scale, but Concor makes a series of Budd passenger cars whose prototypes were the Budd cars of the 1949 California Zephyr and other Burlington cars. The Concor cars are from the same era as the 1952 congressional and each car type (with some substitutions) has an approximate model in the Concor lineup. The window placements may not match the PRR cars exactly, but the model paint scheme is for the Congressional and Senator. Of course the factory painted car numbers are often not prototypical. The Concor Budd coach is a near match to the Pennsylvania P82 60-seat coach. The Concor “chair car” with window dividers approximates the reclining seat PRR coaches. The parlor cars are very similar to the PRR prototype. It is thus possible to make a beautiful train with a prototypical consist with factory-painted model cars.This afternoon Congressional consist was published by Robert Wayner in Passenger train consists 1923-1973, page 76, for a train arriving at Newark NJ on August 29, 1961. A coffee-shop-tavern car was within the coach section when the train was launched, but apparently it was not in the train in 1961.Table of prototype and model consistsprototype carprototype #makermodel carmodel #yearproto?GG1 electric locomotivePRR 4927KatoGG1 locomotive (tuscan), orPRR 49131952yesGG1 electric locomotiveKato-KoboGG1 locomotive (silver)PRR 48721955yesBaggage (extra)PRRHellgate60' B60b baggage carPRR 58681925yes6 sect-6 rmt-4 dbrCN Green LaneRapidoDuplex sleeperCN Emperor1954yesCoach (P-85-H)PRR 1677Con corCoach, chair carPRR 40411951yesCoachPRR 1632Con corCoach, chair carPRR 40411951yesCoachPRR 1667Con corCoachPRR 40491951closeCoachPRR 1571Con corCoachPRR 40491951closeCoachPRR 1594Con corCoachPRR 40491951closeDinerPRR 4626Con corCoach, chair carPRR 40411952stand inKitchen-dinerPRR 4627Con corBudd DinerPRR 45001952stand inParlorPRR General LafayetteCon corParlorPRR Molly Pitcher1952closeParlorPRR Johns HopkinsCon corParlorPRR Nathan Hale1952closeParlorPRR Johan PrintzCon corParlorPRR Molly Pitcher1952closeParlorPRR Casimir PulaskiCon corParlorPRR Nathan Hale1952closeParlor-7 conference rmPRR Mattias BaldwinCon cor10-6 sleeperPRR 40491952stand inObservation-2 draw-1 dbrWm Wallace AtterburyCon corObservation Budd 1952PRR 11261952stand in

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