The New York Central's Cleveland Special and The Ohio State Limited

Have you visited the New York Central Lines Historical Society website?

It did stop in Middletown. 

Lots of Budd...and not just RDC.  Usual NYCS E units for power.

My grandfather had a photo of this train with E units pasting the West Chester, Ohio depot. I think it is the only photo of the depot that was in West Chester. (Now this wasn't the one in Maud that people have photos of this was the depot on Station Road.) If you know the area you know where I'm talking about. I would post it; however I think it went with the house when my grandmother sold it.

Both my parents attended the University of Dayton in the early to mid 1960's. My mother was from White Plains and would board the Ohio State Limited at Harmon and ride it to Dayton. My father was from Brooklyn and would go to Penn Station and take the PRR's Spirit of Louis to Dayton. I also attended Univ of Dayton and sadly they were tearing down the station when I was there...1992

IIRC, other than the Riley, no named NYCS named trains survived into 1968, at least with names intact.

I did a little (useful) research. I (accidentally) stumbled across a PDF of a train schedule for the Columbus Union Station, (it is attached.) It included both trains I asked about. BUT. Discrepancy alert! According to the timetable, the Cleveland Special was train #426 while in a 'tube video, (Link attached) the train announces that the Cleveland Special is train #421. The only problem is that train #421 is the Cincinnati Mercury. Any explanation would be helpful. Anyway, here are the attachments.

 

The PDF (link to it.) http://www.columbusrailroads.c...rain%20schedules.pdf

 

The 'tube video (also a link to it.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-JpQ7x4LcA

I'll take a stab at answering your questions.

 

 

First, MTH is a TOY train manufacturer and historical accuracy is not paramount to those who collect and operate toy trains. The locomotive in the video, indentified as a "New York Central P47 Pacific", is loosely based on a CNJ P47 Pacific. The New York Central's 4-6-2 were classed with the letter K, the most modern  version being the K-5 Heavy Pacifics which preceded the J-1 Hudson as the main passenger haulers in the early 1920s.

 

As for train numbers and train names they often changed through the years. Both 421 and 426 may have been associated with the "Cleveland Special" depending on what years we are talking about.

 

The train most certainly operated behind K-5 Pacifics, J-1 and J-3 Hudsons and maybe the Niagara 4-8-4s. A 4-8-2 Mohawk may have pinch hit on occasion as well. When diesels bumped steam off of passenger trains, passenger power was EMD E-7s and GP-9s, Alco PAs and FM CPA-24-5 C-Liners.

Nicks Trains, in addition to posing additional questions, you might say "Thank You" to those forum members supplying information to your initial and subsequent queries.

First off, as Pingman suggested, I thank everyone who answered my questions.

Nick Chillianis, You just about hit the nail on the head! Yes, I understood about the P47 but I can understand that MTH would do that. It is still a handsome train, IMO.

Once again, thank you for answering my stupid questions,

Nickstrains.

 

I did not consider your questions "stupid" and I hope you didn't take that impression from my answers.

 

 

 

 

Nick Chillianis, I did not get that impression from your answer. I just wanted to know about these two trains and what pulled them You answered my questions perfectly. Thank you.

P.S. As one of my final questions, is there any difference between the Cleveland special and the NYC's similarly named train, the Cleveland-Cincinatti special?