Herbert Harwood 197 pages
Although it was America's first public railroad, chartered in 1827, the
Baltimore & Ohio did not enter the lucrative Philadelphia and New
York City markets until the 1880s, long after its rivals, notably the
Pennsylvania Railroad, had established themselves in the Northeast
corridor. In order to compete, B & O executives realized they would
need to create a railroad like no other, and in 1890 they launched the
Royal Blue Line, offering premier passenger service between Washington,
DC, and New York City. Boasting the company's fastest locomotives
(designed specifically for the line and featuring the country's first
mainline passenger diesel engine), its most luxurious passenger cars
(the first in the nation to be air-conditioned), and dining cars that
served exquisite regional cuisine - as well as a motor coach service
that took passengers from the line's New Jersey terminus into Manhattan,
still fondly remembered by many as the most civilized way to enter the
city - the Royal Blue Line was, as advertised, the Finest Daylight Train
Service in the World.
