Early Lehigh Valley Long Distance Trains
By Richard Palmer
The dawn of fast long distance express trains between New York, Buffalo and Chicago is normally associated with the 1890s. Traditionally the focus has always been on the New York Central's "Empire State Express." But long before this train was even thought of, the Lehigh Valley had been operating long distance overnight passenger trains with Pullmans on a variety of routes since the 1870s. These were in association with the Erie, New York Central, Pennsylvania and Reading.
So by the time its famous Black Diamond Express was conceived in 1896, the Lehigh Valley had considerable experience in this burgeoning business.
A Lehigh Valley timetable dated Aug. 1, 1870 shows two daily overnight trains between New York and Chicago in each direction. They ran over the Central Railroad of New Jersey to Easton, Pa.; over Lehigh Valley trackage from there to East Penn Junction between Bethlehem and Allentown; then over the Philadelphia and Reading (North Pennsylvania Railroad) to Reading, and on to Harrisburg. There it was turned over to the Pennsylvania, which took it to Chicago. (The Lehigh Valley finally opened its own line between Easton and Jersey City on June 28, 1875).
The same 1870 timetable advertised a "Fast Express Train" originated at the Berks Street station in Philadelphia. This ran to Easton on the North Pennsylvania Railroad. From there it continued on to Waverly where through passengers detrained and boarded the Erie for the balance of the trip to Buffalo. This route developed when the Lehigh Valley's wholly owned subsidiary, the Pennsylvania & New York Canal Railroad, opened for business between Wilkes Barre, Pa. and Waverly on Sept. 13, 1869. The train included parlor and sleeping cars.
For a brief period passengers had to change trains in Waverly due to the fact the Lehigh Valley was standard gauge and the Erie was six foot gauge. Soon, a third rail was laid between Waverly and Elmira to accommodate standard gauge trains - mostly anthracite coal runs which were turned over to the Northern Central at that point. It was made operational on Nov. 10, 1870.
Laying of the third rail did little to enhance the Lehigh Valley's through passenger service. In June, 1874 it added Pullman sleeping cars to this run. But patrons were inconvenienced by being awakened at 12:30 a.m. to change to an Erie train for Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Finally, the Lehigh advanced funds to the Erie to extend the third rail 170 miles from Elmira to Buffalo which was opened on May 22, 1876 - just in time to take advantage of heavy passenger traffic to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The consists included Pullman Palace cars, chair cars and sleepers.
A train dubbed the "Comet" (Trains 2 and 9) commenced running between New York and Geneva on May 14, 1877. This train ran via Ithaca over the Lehigh-owned Geneva, Ithaca & Sayre to Geneva, where it connected with the New York Central. It was then taken to Rochester on the Auburn branch, and switched to the mainline for the balance of the journey to Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
This routing was changed slightly on Nov. 10, 1878 when the trains were re-routed over the newly-completed Geneva & Lyons (“Fall Brook”) Railroad. At Lyons they connected with New York Central mainline trains. The Lyons connection as well as running rights over the Erie were terminated in 1892 with completion of the new mainline from VanEtten to Buffalo. In 1893, the Lehigh Valley carried a record 6,306,039 passengers that generated $2,606,025.28.
The high volume of business that year was attributed to two factors. One was the heavy rail traffic to the World's Fair in Chicago - more commonly known as the Columbian Exposition. The other was a substantial increase in through passenger business from New York to Buffalo, as well as a connection with improved service to Chicago, via the Grand Trunk. This allowed the railroad to introduce a popular high-grade, hotel-quality parlor and dining car service.
