Although not a CB&Q movement (may have been a ex-Q Budd car in the consist)
this patriotic train last week is a good reminder of the blessings we have as a
nation as Christmas draws closer. CB&Q was one of a number of RR's that
sponsored entire RR operating battalions during WWII with Q Pres. Ralph Budd
chosen by FDR to be the liaison between Washington and the AAR. His name is
emblazoned on a bronze plaque in Washington Union Station for his efforts.
Although many RR'ers qualified for deferments in WWII due to 'essential
peacetime jobs', many enlisted anyway as car loadings, frt & pass, hit record
highs on track & with equipment worn down by the Depression. As a result older
men delayed retirement (my grandfather Loren Lee Edgar @ Grand Crossing Shops
in No. LaCrosse) and worked long hours. Some even came out of retirement and
of course women took some traditional male RR jobs. RR's proudly displayed
signs & blue/gold star emblems showing the men who were serving and who gave
the ultimate sacrifice. Annual Reports and brochures and menus of the era
showed the Q's dedication to winning the War.
Remember our servicemen & women this Holiday serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, So.
Korea, under & on the water and overhead. Tks!!!
Liberty Limited rolls again for soldiers, sailors
Thursday, December 16, 2010
At 1,850 feet?19 private passenger cars and two classic EMD E-8 diesel-electric
locomotives in the Pennsylvania Railroad?s famous Tuscan Red/gold pinstripe
keystone livery?the Liberty Limited was a sight to behold, roaring up the
Northeast Corridor at 90 mph on December 10, on its way from Washington D.C. to
the 2010 Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia.
Inside the gleaming private-varnish consist, with Liberty Limited operator
Bennett Levin?s Pennsylvania 120 open-platform business/observation car
bringing up the markers, were 70 ?Wounded Warriors??U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine
Corps personnel from Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Medical
Center. With them were 25 family members and guests, 24 military support staff,
16 car owners (who donated use of their equipment), 42 food preparation and
wait staff, 30 crew members and police officers??and no politicians or media,?
according to Levin, who with wife Vivian and son Eric (Conrail?s Superintendent
of Motive Power and rebuilder and caretaker of his father?s 1951-vintage E-8s),
has operated this special trip three times at the behest of U.S. military.
During the course of the all-day event, there were 225 breakfasts, 160 lunches,
and 250 dinners served on board private cars that came from Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, Connecticut, Arizona, and New
Jersey. This included ground crews from CSX Transportation and Conrail in
Philadelphia, on site security and police escorts, and SEPTA drivers.
Those who made the 2010 edition of the Liberty Limited possible, or who donated
to its operation, included:
? Financial support: Association of American Railroads, American Short Line and
Regional Railroad Association, Bachmann Trains, TD Bank, U.S. Army Association,
Army War College Foundation, United States Military Academy Graduates
Association, JAmerican Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, Juniata
Terminal Co., Inc.
? Breakfast: Corner Bakery, Washington, D.C.
? Lunch: Jack?s Deli & Catering, Philadelphia
? Transportation: Amtrak, CSX Transportation
? Train servicing: Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Conrail
? In-patient gifts: Jim Daly
? SEPTA buses: Pat Deon
? Books: Simmons-Boardman Books/Railway Age, Kalmbach Publishing
? Hotel rooms: Grand Hyatt, Washington D.C.
? Giclee prints: Silicon Gallery, Philadelphia
? Beverages: Philadelphia Coca Cola, Ellis Coffee, Mueller Distributing
Previous Liberty Limited trains operated in 2005 and 2006. The original Liberty
Limited was the Pennsylvania Railroad?s premier passenger train between
Washington D.C. and Chicago.
Click HERE to see a video of the 2010 Liberty Limited on the Northeast Corridor
at Newark, Del.
Click HERE to see a video of the 2010 Liberty Limited on the Northeast Corridor
at Bowie, Md.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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