Trail Blazer (train)

The Trail Blazer was a deluxe all-coach train, inaugurated between New York and Chicago via Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 17:25 schedule operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The trains departed New York City and Chicago every day at 4:30 pm and 3:00 pm, respectively, and arrived at the destination the next morning. The Trail Blazer was one of the first all-coach trains (along with the Santa Fe's El Capitan) to provide premium services comparable to a Pullman train. The Trail Blazer name was first used in 1927 for the East St. Louis-Pittsburgh preferred freight VL-6.

Trail Blazer

The keystone plate of the Trail Blazer
Overview
Predecessor	The General
First service	July 28, 1939
Last service	July 26, 1959
Successor	General
Former operator(s)	Pennsylvania Railroad (1939–1959)
Route
Stops	New York, NY (Pennsylvania Station) (ET) Newark, NJ Trenton, NJ Philadelphia, PA (North Philadelphia Station) Paoli, PA Lancaster, PA Harrisburg, PA Altoona, PA Pittsburgh, PA Canton, OH Mansfield, OH Crestline, OH Lima, OH (ET) Fort Wayne, IN (CT) Plymouth, IN Gary, IN Englewood, IL (Union Station) Chicago, IL (Union Station) (CT)
Distance travelled	907.7 miles (1,460.8 km)
Average journey time	17 hours
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	76 (Chicago to New York 77 (New York to Chicago)
On-board services
Seating arrangements	644 (14-car consist, incl. 72 Lounge seat)
Catering facilities	Twins-Unit Dining Car
Observation facilities	Lounge observation car
Entertainment facilities	Radio broadcast, magazines and beverages
Baggage facilities	Combine Baggage car provided
Other facilities	Extra lounge car at the front-end
Technical
Operating speed	53.4 mph (86 km/h)

Two days before service began, the Trail Blazer equipment, including streamlined P70's, twin-unit diner, and observation designed by Raymond Loewy, were exhibited at Penn Station, made press runs to Philadelphia, and returned to New York on July 28 after display at Philadelphia. On July 28, 1939, service officially began, and was an immediate success. On July 29, 1939, the first eastbound Trail Blazer arrived at New York World's Fair for a special ceremony. Eastbound trips continued to run direct to the Fair.

PRR S1 #6100 hauling the Trail Blazer, PRR's premier, luxury all-coach train between New York and Chicago in Nov., 1942.

According to LIFE magazine, reservations were made as far as 6 weeks in advance during the first month of service. The PRR felt very pleased with the performance of this new coach-only train. Instead of the eight-car consist originally planned, the train had to carry an average of ten.[1] The number of passengers on the Trail Blazer frequently exceeded those of Pennsylvania's better-known train, the Broadway Limited and PRR's rival, New York Central's coach-only Pacemaker. New York Central's Pacemaker offered identical service and schedule but with ordinary heavyweight equipment inaugurated on same day. The Trail Blazer carried about 132,000 passengers in the first year and 175,000 in the second. In 1940-41 it sometimes operated in second and third sections. [2]

Historical photographic and films evidences showing that PRR S1 #6100 "The Big Engine" was the preferred engine of this popular, highly profitable (It carried 35 times more passengers than Broadway Limited in 1939, gross revenue equal to $2,260,000 in 1940 or $47,207,696 today). The Trail Blazer was one of the longest and heaviest passenger train (more than 1000 tons) during the heyday of PRR's passenger services in the early 40s. Besides PRR S1 #6100, streamlined K4s, PRR S2 direct-drive steam turbine engine #6200, and PRR T1 were assigned to haul the train occasionally.

In 1948, PRR re-equipped the Trail Blazer with new EMD E8 Diesel engines, new lightweight P85b 44-seat coaches and new twin-unit dining car built by PRR's own shop and ACF. In 1949, the westbound schedule shortened to 15 hours 40 mins. Due to rapidly declining demand, the Pennsylvania Railroad combined the Trail Blazer and General into one service. However, their timetable continued to distinguish the two trains until July 26, 1959, when PRR removed the name Trail Blazer" [3]