Interstate Express
The Interstate Express was a long-distance passenger train operating between Syracuse, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, jointly operated by the Reading Railroad, the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. These rail companies mainly operated short and medium distance commuter operations, unlike the other major Class I railroad companies which ran named, prestigious long-distance streamliner trains such as the Twentieth Century Limited (the New York Central's New York - Chicago line) or the Silver Meteor (the Seaboard Air Line's New York - Miami line). Yet, with the three party operation, the lines offered a long distance overnight line in Train 1301 (north-bound)/ 1306 (south-bound). Connecting service by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad offering continuing service south from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C..[1]
Service truncation
According to a 1954 timetable, there were no coaches between Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and the next stop, Binghamton, New York. Thus, by that time, full-length travel was only by sleeper car. The Binghamton to Syracuse segment was joined by cars from a direct train from Hoboken.[2] However, the operators allowed for passengers to split their trip between part of the trip in sleeping cars or in parlor cars and other parts of the trip in coaches.[3] The train's service ended by approximately 1955.
The scheduled stops
Reading north-south as one reads down
- Syracuse
- Tully
- Homer (stopping north-bound only)
- Cortland
- Marathon
- Whitney Point (stopping north-bound only)
- Binghamton
- Wilkes-Barre
- Mauch Chunk
- Bethlehem (stopping south-bound only)
- Lansdale
- Philadelphia[2]
Connecting spur from Buffalo to Binghamton
Reading west-east as one reads down
- Buffalo
- Corning
- Elmira
- Binghamton[2]
Connecting service to Washington, D.C.
Reading north-south as one reads down
- Wilmington
- Baltimore
- Washington, D.C.[2]
Services
This overnight train offered sleeper car service from Philadelphia to Syracuse. The connecting Washington to Philadelphia service offered a dining car-parlor car.[1]
Notes
- 1 2 "Lackawanna Railroad's full schedule" (PDF). April 25, 1954. p. 2.
- 1 2 3 4 "Lackawanna Railroad's full schedule" (PDF). April 25, 1954. p. 10.
- ↑ "Lackawanna Railroad's full schedule" (PDF). April 25, 1954. p. 13.