Passenger Trains > The George Washington, Roger Puta Photographs

1. C&O E8A 4014 with Train 41, The George Washington, near Byrd Field (Airport), Richmond, VA coming from Newport News, VA on November 16, 1968.

2. The rear. That looks like one of my clunkers to the left.

Enjoy,
Marty Bernard



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/17 11:21 by MartyBernard.

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Once again, thanks Marty for posting and sharing Roger's photos. I am surprised that this train was still complete with C&O equipment as so many times in the later years one could find B&O engines and cars on C&O trains and C&O equipment on the B&O. This could occur on any given day.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Old C&O Railway Richmond, VA based T&E crews worked the George Washington between Richmond and Newport News, VA. Nice shot!!

That is the interlock called Fort Lee and in the background of the second shot is the I295 bridge where double track ends.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

and the clunker looks like a 1962 Mercury Meteor - had distinctive cone tail-lights .... was the model car I learned to drive on. Ours was a light tan, which is what this one looks like as well.

This train was like an east coast equivelant then of the present day 27/28 into Portland with coach, food service, and sleeper, a portion of the longer distance GW.

The middle passenger car is likely one of these combination coach-snack bar dining cars. When I rode the train from Richmond to Williamsburg just a month prior to these photos (October 5, 1968), this was the car that I sat in. Don't believe I bought anything to eat on the short trip. The boy seen at the snack bar, in his best Southern drawl, asked the attendant "what do y'all have on the breakfast suggestion?".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/17 06:48 by Slumbercoach.

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I think a lot of us would give anything to ride a train like that again.

Great photos all around. Especially love the rare look at an interior

Slumbercoach Wrote:
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> The middle passenger car is likely one of these
> combination coach-snack bar dining cars. When I
> rode the train from Richmond to Williamsburg just
> a month prior to these photos (October 5, 1968),
> this was the car that I sat in. Don't believe I
> bought anything to eat on the short trip. The boy
> seen at the snack bar, in his best Southern drawl,
> asked the attendant "what do y'all have on the
> breakfast suggestion?".

What impresses me is that 50 years later you remembered what that little boy said verbatim

Awesome, it was a great train... I used to ride it from Washington to Louisville......

Slumbercoach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The middle passenger car is likely one of these
> combination coach-snack bar dining cars. When I
> rode the train from Richmond to Williamsburg just
> a month prior to these photos (October 5, 1968),
> this was the car that I sat in.

That sure looks like one of the two C&O coach-diners that were converted from two of the Pullman-Standard 1950 center-divider coaches. They both went to Amtrak, and were numbered #8410 and #8411. The 8410 survives in private ownership in the Los Angeles, CA area. That is an extremely rare photo of the interior of the dining area, looking towards the vestibule end restroom lounge which became a kitchen with some hot food capability. The interior looks nicer than I would have imagined. It looks like it even had carpet in the dining area, even though it was really more of a snack bar than a diner.

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Slumbercoach Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The middle passenger car is likely one of these
> > combination coach-snack bar dining cars. When
> I
> > rode the train from Richmond to Williamsburg
> just
> > a month prior to these photos (October 5,
> 1968),
> > this was the car that I sat in. Don't believe
> I
> > bought anything to eat on the short trip. The
> boy
> > seen at the snack bar, in his best Southern
> drawl,
> > asked the attendant "what do y'all have on the
> > breakfast suggestion?".
>
> What impresses me is that 50 years later you
> remembered what that little boy said verbatim

Yes, being a Michigander, it rather impressed me. I even jotted it down in my notes.

Topfuel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Slumbercoach Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The middle passenger car is likely one of these
> > combination coach-snack bar dining cars. When
> I
> > rode the train from Richmond to Williamsburg
> just
> > a month prior to these photos (October 5,
> 1968),
> > this was the car that I sat in.
>
> That sure looks like one of the two C&O
> coach-diners that were converted from two of the
> Pullman-Standard 1950 center-divider coaches.
> They both went to Amtrak, and were numbered #8410
> and #8411. The 8410 survives in private ownership
> in the Los Angeles, CA area. That is an extremely
> rare photo of the interior of the dining area,
> looking towards the vestibule end restroom lounge
> which became a kitchen with some hot food
> capability. The interior looks nicer than I would
> have imagined. It looks like it even had carpet
> in the dining area, even though it was really more
> of a snack bar than a diner.


Many thanks for filling in the history on this car. I did not know any of the history. Definitely carpet in the dining area.

Agreed but is the E8 in a B&O inspired paint scheme?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

ClubCar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Once again, thanks Marty for posting and sharing
> Roger's photos. I am surprised that this train
> was still complete with C&O equipment as so many
> times in the later years one could find B&O
> engines and cars on C&O trains and C&O equipment
> on the B&O. This could occur on any given day.
> John in White Marsh, Maryland

I rode it a few times in the spring of 1969 on my month-long C&O/B&O Rail Pass, along with several trips to Chicago on the Capitol Limited, and assorted other trains that were still in their system.

Best money I've ever spent on train travel, with the possible exception of a Vancouver to Toronto trip in an upper berth on Via #2 a few Februaries ago.

Posted from iPhone

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Agreed but is the E8 in a B&O inspired paint
> scheme?
>
> Victor A. Baird
> http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

No.That is the C&O scheme.At some point
the C&O took over the B&O passenger service.
The B&O units had one headlight while the
C&O had two,regardless of paint schemes.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,fl.

Topfuel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Slumbercoach Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The middle passenger car is likely one of these
> > combination coach-snack bar dining cars. When
> I
> > rode the train from Richmond to Williamsburg
> just
> > a month prior to these photos (October 5,
> 1968),
> > this was the car that I sat in.
>
> That sure looks like one of the two C&O
> coach-diners that were converted from two of the
> Pullman-Standard 1950 center-divider coaches.
> They both went to Amtrak, and were numbered #8410
> and #8411. The 8410 survives in private ownership
> in the Los Angeles, CA area. That is an extremely
> rare photo of the interior of the dining area,
> looking towards the vestibule end restroom lounge
> which became a kitchen with some hot food
> capability. The interior looks nicer than I would
> have imagined. It looks like it even had carpet
> in the dining area, even though it was really more
> of a snack bar than a diner.

Just came across these posts from several years ago regarding the C&O dining service. When I rode the George Washington twice in 1970, they were using one of the snack diners out of Cincinnati. They did have regular dining service available. They had paper tablecloths on the tables at dinner, and were using paper plates, but the food was quite good, albeit a limited menu. I recall having roast beef for dinner. And they also had those great baked apples that C&O was famous for. The dinner menu was a glossy black affair, the breakfast menu was printed on a place mat, which had the George Washington name on it, plus the Capitol Limited name Still better than what Amtrak is offering on the Cardinal today.

Posted from iPhone