Empire State Express


The Empire State Express was one of the named passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. On September 14, 1891 it covered the 436 miles between New York City and Buffalo in 7 hours and 6 minutes, averaging 61.4 miles-per-hour, with a top speed of 82 mph.

History

The train soon gained worldwide acclaim, and its route would later stretch to 620 miles, to Cleveland, Ohio. The Empire State was the first passenger train with a schedule speed of over 52 mph and the first to make runs of 142.88 miles between stops.
The 1893 Guide shows an 8 hr 40 min schedule for 440 miles New York to Buffalo. As early as the 1930s the train served as a connector train for people making a transfer in Utica, New York for day trains through the Adirondacks and on to Malone, New York and Montreal, Quebec.
On December 7, 1941, the New York Central inaugurated a new stainless-steel streamlined train, powered by a streamlined J-3a Hudson steam locomotive. The streamlined shrouding of the J-3a Hudson was designed by Mr. Chase H. Knowlton and Mr. George M. Davies. Henry Dreyfuss wasn't involved with the project. Later that day Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. Like many long haul passenger trains through the mid-1960s, the "Empire State Express" carried a 60-foot stainless steel East Division Railway Post Office car operated by the Railway Mail Service of the United States Post Office Department which was staffed by USPOD clerks as a "fast mail" on each of its daily runs. Mail handled by the "Empire State's" RPOs was canceled or backstamped by hand applied circular date stamps reading "N.Y. & CHICAGO R.P.O." and the train's number: "TR 50" or "TR 51". The train was distinctively the most limited in stops in the New York City to Albany section. Beyond 125th Street, it only made a stop at Croton-Harmon, the location for switching from electric to diesel power, and made no other stops until Albany.
From the post-war 1940s to the 1960s the train split at Buffalo. One section went along the south shore of Lake Erie to Cleveland. Another section went through Southwestern Ontario, Canada to Detroit, Michigan.From the early 1960s the Buffalo to Detroit section was a separate connecting train. In 1967 the train was extended from being a day train to continuing to Chicago, Illinois as an overnight train. With the December 1967 schedule the Empire State Express name was gone, and #51 was shortened to Buffalo to Chicago, via Cleveland. The eastbound #50 was from Detroit to Buffalo.

Amtrak

When Amtrak took over the nation's passenger service on May 1, 1971 it consolidated trains on the New York—Albany—Buffalo corridor into the "Empire Service". Amtrak revived the name, although not the route to match, on January 6, 1974 when it gave names to Empire Service trains. The Empire State Express returned as a New York—Buffalo train, numbers 71 and 78. On October 31 that year Amtrak extended the train to Detroit via Southwestern Ontario with dining car and baggage service. This was the first instance of restored New York City to Detroit through Ontario service since the Penn Central's successor to the New York Central's Wolverine. On April 25, 1976 Amtrak renamed this train the Niagara Rainbow. Amtrak brought the name back in 1978 as a New York—Buffalo service, which in 1979 was extended to Niagara Falls. A few years later Amtrak dropped train names on the Empire Corridor.

''Empire State Express'' locomotive No. 999

The key to the Empire State's initial fame was a -long American-type 4-4-0 steam locomotive built in West Albany, New York especially to haul the train. The handmade unit had 86" diameter driving wheels and was the first of its kind to have brakes on the front truck. The bands, pipes, and trim were polished; the boiler, smokestack, domes, cab, and tender were given a black satin finish, and "Empire State Express" was applied to the sides of the tender in high gold leaf lettering.
After touring the nation and making appearances at numerous expositions including the Chicago Railroad Fair, the unit was retired from service in May, 1952, at which time it was relegated switching service in western New York shuttling express service milk cars. The New York Central donated the locomotive to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in 1962, where it has been preserved and placed on display. It lacks its original 86" drivers, which were removed sometime after the historic speed run and replaced with smaller driving wheels.

Equipment used

An early heavyweight train car consist:
Note: The Vice President's private car was often attached to the end of the train for excursions.
In 1941 the New York Central ordered new lightweight stainless steel cars for the ESE trains from Budd. Initially a Hudson with matched panels was used. The NYC planned their first day of operation with the new fluted equipment as December 7, 1941, but drew little fanfare as the US was focused on the attack of Pearl Harbor. A set of the 1941 cars is owned by the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.
December 7 1941 Consist:
On 12 October 1896, The Empire State Express, a short documentary film made in the experimental 68mm American Mutoscope Company process, premiered at Hammerstein's Olympia Music Hall Theater in New York City. The film was described by the critics of the day as "the greatest train view ever taken."
In 1965, blues singer and guitarist Eddie James "Son" House, Jr., at the time a New York Central employee, recorded "Empire State Express" at the New York Folk Festival:


No. 999 was the inspiration for the eponymous steam engined-shaped space vehicle in the Galaxy Express 999 series of manga and animated films.
The 2007 Lyle Lovett song "This Traveling Around" includes the verse:
Members of the Chicago band, Empire State Express, drew inspiration in naming their project from both the Son House song and the No. 999's static display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The band's 2009 debut EP was titled "Land Speed Record" in honor of the train's legacy.