NYC 1928 Post Ad

rhensley_anderson Mar 3, 2018

  1. rhensley_anderson

    rhensley_anderson TrainBoard Supporter

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    This 1928 Saturday Evening Post ad reads:
    A new fleet of thoroughbreds to haul the new York Central limiteds
    This winter a new fleet of thoroughbreds of the rails - the giant "Hudson" type locomotives - is being placed in service..

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    14 through trains from Chicago to New York usually running in 17 or 18 sections?
    Does that really imply about 250 passenger trains per day from Chicago to New York?
     
  3. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    More than that, though I don't know the figures. I do remember that the Century ran at least two sections, sometimes three out of Grand Central every day, and all sections were Extra-Fare. Extra-Fare meant they were guaranteed to arrive at every(!) station within 30 minutes of the advertised or that fare was returned. BTW, the Century usually ran 18-20 cars each section.
     
  4. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    No, not all of the 14 trains ran in multiple sections. I miss those old magazines with understandable, well composed and civil prose, even in the adverts. Thanks for posting that one, Roger.
     
  5. mr magnolia

    mr magnolia TrainBoard Member

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    Hi
    Don’t want to be daft, but what actually is a ‘section’ and why is it important enough to be focussed on in an advert?

    To me, it sounds like it’s a controlled section of the track and therefore a delay opportunity - but presumably it’s actually something else, that a customer would think was a good thing?

    Thanks
    Donald


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
     
  6. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Donald. A Section was an independent train consist formed when there were too many passengers for the original train during the high traffic passenger period of 1920-1950. The second section of a train usually would be on an adjacent track to the first section, and leave five or ten minutes after the first section. Occasionally during the extremely high traffic period of WW-II a third and possibly a fourth section would be necessary for runs between New York City and Chicago.
     
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  7. mr magnolia

    mr magnolia TrainBoard Member

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    Ah, excellent, thanks. Some service level, that.
    Shame we can’t do this on our rush hour Railways in Scotland - I’d likely get a seat! (to be fair, my major intercity commute train leaves every 15 mins throughout the day anyways)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
     
  8. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Donald, I guess it's a cultural and continental difference. You, in the UK and continent, run smaller trains more often, probably close to being full. We colonians (back in the day) tended to have scheduled each train at an absolute hour, then panicked when passengers overwhelmed that one train. Then the powers that be scampered to find sufficient rolling stock and power for a second section. The few times I rode in a second section, the hardware definitely was not up to the standards of the primary section, except maybe the Century. Can't let the extra fare folks suffer, doncha know. Seriously though, our passenger rail managers were rigid to their schedules. They couldn't conceive of of running hourly trains between termini. However to be fair, the US is a heckuva lot larger than the UK or Europe. The trip between New York and Chicago never was less the 16 hours even with the Century. So management would need many more train sets to run them hourly. Better to run multiple sections whenever necessary, which during non-wartime, might be once or twice a week.
     
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