The Blue Train

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Royal Blue service launched on July 31, 1890, even before the Baltimore Belt Line project was finished. Powered by 4-6-0 steam locomotives with exceptionally large 78-inch diameter driving wheels for speed, the trains occasionally reached 90 mph. After the Baltimore Belt Line project was completed, travel time between New York and Washington was reduced to five hours, compared to nine hours in the late 1860s. The trains were noted for their elegance and luxury: parlor cars' ceilings and upholstery were covered in royal blue, and the dining cars Queen and Waldorf, panelled in mahogany, featured elaborate cuisine such as terrapin and canvasback prepared by French-trained chefs. A Railway Age magazine article of the time called the Royal Blue 'the climax in railway car building.'

Reader's Guide

The Royal Blue's route was born from necessity: in 1884, the Pennsylvania Railroad denied the B&O further use of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, so the B&O built a new line from Baltimore to connect to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in Philadelphia, completed in 1886. Passenger trains then used the Reading's New York Branch to Bound Brook, New Jersey, where Jersey Central rails reached Communipaw Terminal in Jersey City, with ferries crossing the Hudson to Manhattan. The Baltimore Belt Line included a 1.4-mile tunnel under Howard Street in downtown Baltimore, completed on May 1, 1895. To avoid smoke problems from steam engines in the tunnel, the B&O pioneered the first mainline electrification of a U.S. railroad, installing an overhead third rail system. An electric locomotive first pulled a Royal Blue train through the Howard Street tunnel on June 27, 1895. The project also included construction of Mount Royal Station in Baltimore, which opened on September 1, 1896. Railroad historian Lucius Beebe proclaimed Mount Royal 'one of the celebrated railroad stations of the world.'

Did You Know?

• The Royal Blue service launched on July 31, 1890, even before the Baltimore Belt Line tunnel was finished.
• The B&O pioneered the first mainline electrification of a U.S. railroad in 1895, using an electric locomotive to pull a Royal Blue train through the Howard Street tunnel on June 27, 1895.
• The Royal Blue trains occasionally reached 90 mph, powered by 4-6-0 steam locomotives with 78-inch diameter driving wheels.
• Mount Royal Station in Baltimore, which opened on September 1, 1896, was proclaimed by railroad historian Lucius Beebe as 'one of the celebrated railroad stations of the world.'
• The B&O's dining car specialties included oysters and Chesapeake Bay fish served with cornmeal muffins, and B&O president Daniel Willard personally sampled the cuisine while traveling.

Common Misconceptions (Editorial)

Some people mistakenly believe the Royal Blue name was used continuously from 1890 to 1958, but the source shows that beginning in 1917, the B&O discreetly omitted the sobriquet Royal Blue Line from its New York passenger service and the Royal Blue disappeared from B&O timetables. Former Royal Blue Line trains were renamed: the Royal Limited, inaugurated on May 15, 1898, became the National Limited, continuing west from Washington to St. Louis via Cincinnati. The B&O later revived the name, launching a re-christened Royal Blue train between New York and Washington in 1935. Others may assume the service always had direct access to Manhattan, but the B&O lacked direct access to Manhattan Island for most of its history; it gained access to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan only from April 28, 1918, through September 1, 1926, after which trains reverted to the Jersey Central's Jersey City terminal with bus connections.

Why It Matters (Editorial)

The Royal Blue endures as a symbol of the B&O's regal route because it represented a fusion of luxury, technological innovation, and fierce competition with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Railroad historian Herbert Harwood said, 'First conceived in late Victorian times to promote a new railroad line ... it was indeed one of the most memorable images in the transportation business, an inspired blend of majesty and mystique.' The B&O's use of electrification in a Baltimore tunnel beginning in 1895 marked the first use of electric locomotives by an American railroad. In its mid-1930s reincarnation, the Royal Blue was noted for streamlining and the first non-articulated diesel locomotive on a passenger train in the U.S., a harbinger of the steam locomotive's eventual demise. The B&O finally discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, including the Royal Blue.