View images of passenger service on the Water Level Route and beyond
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited at Grand Central Terminal, circa 1960.
Don Wood
Chicago–Detroit Motor City Special at Kensington (Chicago), 1940s.
A. C. Kalmbach
NYC St. Lawrence Division train 59
Utica–Ogdensburg, N.Y., with cars from New York off train 35 at Utica, arriving Watertown, N.Y., July 1955.
John C. Illman
NYC’s Water Level Limited
New York–Chicago Water Level Limited at Englewood (Chicago), January 1947.
Milton B. Nafus
New York–Chicago Chicagoan at Toledo Central Union Terminal, 1952.
Wallace W. Abbey
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited on Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, 1902.
Classic Trains collection
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited, 1938 version, observation car interior.
New York Central
NYC’s North Shore Limited
New York–Chicago North Shore Limited at Harmon, N.Y., March 1946.
Frank Quin
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited, 1938 version, publicity photo between Spuyten Duyvil and Harmon, N.Y.
New York Central
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
Chicago–New York 20th Century Limited, just out of La Salle Street Station (Chicago), 1947 or ’48.
Ed Kriss
NYC’s Commodore Vanderbilt
New York–Chicago Commodore Vanderbilt at Englewood (Chicago) in April 1948.
Bob Borcherding
Chicago–Boston New England States departing La Salle Street Station (Chicago), October 1950.
Bob Borcherding
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited, 1948 version, publicity booklet.
Classic Trains collection
NYC’s Grand Central Terminal
Information booth and gold clock at center of Grand Central’s upper-level concourse, late 1940s or early 1950s.
New York Central
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
Chicago–New York 20th Century Limited, ready to depart La Salle Street Station (Chicago), 1946.
New York Central
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited, 1948 version, dining-room car interior.
New York Central
NYC’s New England States
Chicago–Boston New England States departing La Salle Street Station (Chicago), late 1940s or early 1950s.
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited, heavyweight (pre-1938) version, between New York and Harmon.
Classic Trains collection
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
New York–Chicago 20th Century Limited, 1938 version, passing Marble Hill station (Bronx, N.Y.).
New York Central
NYC’s 20th Century Limited
Chicago–New York 20th Century Limited, departing Englewood Union Station (Chicago).
Edmund M. Spieker
NYC’s Buffalo Central Terminal
Platforms, head building, and office tower of Buffalo Central Terminal, just before its June 22, 1929, opening.
New York Central
26-room Slumbercoach-style car, rebuilt by NYC from Budd-built 22-roomette car.
New York Central
NYC’s Commodore Vanderbilt
Chicago–New York Commodore Vanderbilt at Clark Street interlocking (Chicago), 1949.
Donald Sims
New York Central is the Railroad of the Month all through January 2021. This week, Classic Trains editors celebrate the Central’s great passenger trains.
Only from Classic Trains!
A version of this photo gallery first appeared online in October 2018.
It would be better if the arrows were NOT on the pics, but below them!
It would help if the button to advance the slide show remained in the same place and one didn’t have to move the mouse up and down to click on the arrow. Poor planning and programming
Pix # 12 is not the New England States (The States was an all Budd silver train in 1950). Pix # 19 is not the 1938 version of the Century (nor the 1940 version either) but rather the 46/47 version. Its all in the striping. There would also be some differences in the consist but not discernible in this pix.
The shot of the smooth sided train is not the New England States, most likely it is the Comordore Vanderbilt.
the slumbercoach depicted here is not a rebuilt nyc 22 roomette car but an original (one of four) budd slumbercoach, leased to the new york central in 1958. it was returned to budd at the end of the lease (1962?)
and eventually wound up on the northern pacific with other identical models. by late ’62, the budd kit-bashed
cars — the 22 roomette rebuilds — had begun arriving on new york central property. they were assigned
to the 20th century limited and the new england states and then, as all ten were delivered, to other nyc trains.