Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #307278 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

From the Inside Flap
Inaugurated in 1923 and 1925, respectively, the Baltimore & Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited became household names in cross-country transportation. Their outstanding service and cuisine offered in Pullman sleepers and the railroad's renowned dining cars quickly established both trains as market leaders.

This authoritative and illustrated history from Joe Welsh, one of the most-respected passenger train experts in the United States, provides railfans with an in-depth study of both trains' motive power rolling stock, services, and facilities through each train's demise. Dozens of archival black-and-white and color photography from collections around the country, depict the Capitol Limited and National Limited all along their respective Baltimore-Washington-Chicago and Baltimore-Washington-St. Louis routes. Complementing the rare and evocative photography are period ads, timetables, and menus, all comprising a stunning visual account of the heyday of passenger train travel aboard two of the nation's finest "name" trains.

Welsh also delves into B&O passenger operations dating as early as the 1880s, describes the roles of major players in the railroad's passenger operations, examines the railroad's 1938 entry into the streamline era, and analyzes the B&O's major competitors. In addition, special tables describe Capitol and National Limited consists, and Welsh even re-creates a typical journey aboard the 1960 National Limited.

From the Back Cover
With 40-plus years of passenger service already to its credit, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1923 inaugurated the Baltimore-Washington-Chicago Capitol Limited. Two years later, it followed with the Baltimore-Washington-St. Louis National Limited. The two trains would become renowned for outstanding services and cuisine.

Noted passenger-train authority Joe Welsh (Travel by Pullman and Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited), takes readers along on a marvelously illustrated account describing the development, motive power, and amenities of both trains from the heavyweight era through their respective demises in 1971 and 1968. Illustrated throughout with rare archival photography in both black-and-white and color, along with period ads, timetables, and menus, this look back at the heyday of the passenger train in America also describes the Capitol's and National's principle competitors, as well as their B&O running mates. The result is a fitting tribute to one of the most celebrated "name" trains in the annals of U.S. railroading.

About the Author
Joe Welsh is currently a transportation planner for the City of Auburn, Washington. Prior to working in public-sector traffic and rail engineering, he served as a senior transportation consultant to nationally recognized transit agencies. A regular contributor to Trains magazine, he is the author of nine books, including the critically acclaimed Pennsy Streamliners (Kalmbach Publishing), By Streamliner New York to Florida (Andover Junction), and The American Railroad and Classic American Streamliners (MBI). His 2004 book Travel by Pullman (MBI), co-authored with William F. Howes, Jr., was nominated for the 2005 Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Nice Book, Needs a Good Editor
Joe Welsh is one of the best passenger train writers in the U.S. and there is lots to admire in his "Baltimore and Ohio's Capital Limited and National Limited". The book condenses the stories about these two Chicago/St. Louis trains (and uses some of the same photos) that appear in separate volumes by Harry Stegmaier originally published 15 years ago, in 1993.

Certainly the five-page photo spread (pp. 52-56) of the Capital Limited pulling out of Chicago after a late February 1935 snowstorm are stunning and there are other great photos I hadn't previously seen, including the evocative depiction of the Capital Limited whizzing past a boat along the C&O Canal.

The photos of the African-American porters and dining car waiters are a haunting (and repugnant) reminder of how racial servitude continued well into the 20th century, partly because because of social attitudes and because African-American men had far fewer career choices. I was also struck by the photo of the two doves being released into the frigid Chicago air during a christening of the Capital Limited in November 1938. I wonder how long those doves survived during the rigorous Chicago winter.

What's lacking in Welsh's book is an attentive editor. Silver Spring, Maryland is twice identified as Silver Springs in photo captions. The latter place is in Florida, far south of the route traversed by the B&O. Curiously, Silver Spring is spelled correctly in the text and in the too-frugal index.

I also wish some of the captions were more specific. The two-page spread on pp. 94-95 depicts the Capital Limited chugging across a bridge at what appears to be Harper's Ferry, WV. Couldn't the photo caption specify the locale? And since the book contains lots of images, why didn't the publisher squeeze a B&O route map into the contents?

I like Welsh's short chapter about the B&O's competition, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which also ran trains between New York/Baltimore/Washington and Chicago and St. Louis.
While I don't think Welsh's book supplants Mr. Stegmaier's earlier, more detailed accounts of these great passenger trains, many railroad fans -- especially B&O partisans -- will welcome Welsh's newer, scaled back account.

Baltimore and Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited
I have owned Baltimore and Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited book since December 4, 2007. The book has excellent black and white and color photos of the Capitol Limited and National Limited. My favorite color photos of the National Limited are in Chapter 1. I like the blue and white colors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Robert Wilhelm
robertleewilhelm@yahoo.com