Talk:Colonial (PRR train)

Bruce Goldberg's Amtrak: The First Decade differs slightly on the chronology here. Amtrak inherits the Colonial as part of the initial system on May 1, 1971. It's Washington-Boston, trains # 170-171. When Amtrak renumbers on November 14 it becomes 173-174 until it's eliminated on April 28, 1973. Fine so far. However, according to the book it's brought back as a Boston-Washington (no return) train on February 15, 1976 (#181). Then, on June 15 it becomes the New York-Newport News (166-167), with an occasional train going on to Boston (not stated directly, but that's probably 181). From February 15, 1977 it's just Boston-Newport News, but the numbers keep shifting. I'm not sure if these changes should be covered here, in the Virginia Service article, or somewhere else, but as it stands both are inaccurate. Mackensen (talk) 12:29, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

This article contains major inaccuracies. The original name of the train was "Colonial Express" which was shortened to "Colonial" on the PRR on April 30, 1939. I believe it was shortened on the New Haven somewhat earlier, but do not have a source. The history of the train from a PRR standpoint is given in "History: Passenger Trains and Through Car Service, Pennsylvania Railroad, 1849-1947" an official PRR document published by D. Wornom of Chicago in 1974, and also in my PRR Chronology on the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society site, prrths.com. Most importantly, the "Maryland" was not an ordinary passenger ferry but a transfer boat or train ferry. Passengers did not detrain. The cars were carried directly from the Harlem River Terminal around Manhattan to Jersey City. There were acutally two succesive ferries named "Maryland," but only the second carried the "Colonial Express." There are descriptions and photos of the "Maryland" in George H. Foster and Peter C. Weiglin's "Splendor Sailed the Sound: The New Haven Railroad and the Fall River Line" (San Mateo, CA: Potentials Group, 1984). I believe "New Rochelle Branch" should be "Harlem River Branch, since New Rochelle is the junction point common to the branch and the main line, but can't give you a source. A New Haven annual report should do.  The connection to the "Titanic" sinking is not apparent.  What happened was that in the wake of the sinking, safety laws were tightened regarding the provisions of lifeboats and life jackets, particularly in winter, when people would be more likely to die of hypothermia before rescue.  These even applied to harbor voyages of a certain length. For its effect on the Sandy Hook Route, see my "Trail of the Blue Comet" West Jersey Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, 1993.  Rather than retrofit the boat, the New Haven simply abandoned the service.  The Hell Gate Bridge was already in the works, so it made little sense to take expensive precautions for only a few years.  As to the later history of the train, after the first few years, Amtrak changed the names and numbers of its Northeast Corridor trains very frequently, and it is not worth keeping track of them. One would have a complete set of timetables to compare each timetable in the series, which is apparently what Goldberg did. Christopher T. Baer, Hagley Museum and Library38.115.62.67 (talk) 15:22, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Titanic comment irrelevant
The Titanic connection to route change is irrelevant. That accident happened mid ocean in 1912. The new PRR station, Pennsylvania Station, opened in 1910, two years before. There is no reference to the claim of Titanic connection.Dogru144 (talk) 22:34, 30 September 2018 (UTC)