The NYC, PRR and B&O dominated New York <=> Chicago passenger service, but other roads too offered fine service, albeit on relaxed schedules. One such train was the Chicago Limited, a pairing of the DL&W and MC that allowed a carding of 24 Hours between the two great cities and spectacular daytime views of the Pocono mountains.
What was the route of the this train? MC only went so far and not into DL&W territory. Just curious how this worked.
I just wiki'd it and found... The Chicago Limited was a train running from Hoboken, New Jersey to Chicago, Illinois run by the Lackawanna Railroad and west of Buffalo connecting with the Michigan Central Railroad's Wolverine, taking a route through Southwestern Ontario. The train left New York at 2 pm and would arrive in Chicago at 2 pm the next day.[1][2][3] The Wabash Railroad's #1-11 hitched with the train for coach and sleeper service that veered from the Michigan Central route from Detroit westward. It took the Wabash's most southernly route through Montpelier, Ohio.[4] Eastbound, the train carried the name, Lackawanna Limited. Full service to Chicago ended in 1941. The DLW portion continued between Buffalo, New York and Hoboken was continued to 1949 and in that year was given a renaming as the DLW's Phoebe Snow.[5][6]
Just one more article of note from NorthJersey.com... A Look Back: The Chicago Limited https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...017/03/20/look-back-chicago-limited/99406568/
Yes, I knew that being a Cleveland resident, but I forgot about MC, which would eventually become NYC and Penn Central (CASO). Thanks!
For many years, the NKP and DL&W had a close and mutually beneficial relationship, providing excellent freight service between the NY/NJ metro area and Chicago via interchange at Buffalo. In the late 40's, the DL&W began to amass NKP stock with an eye toward merger, but as the '50s passed, the prosperous NKP wanted less and less to do with a weakening DL&W. When Hurricane Diane smashed through eastern PA in 1955, it destroyed the DL&W to such an extent that it had to sell a large portion of its NKP shares to pay for repairs. Afterward, the DL&W still retained hope that the NKP might see a future in uniting with the DL&W, but it was not to be.