No. 10446 Baldwin Class P-7 "President" Series 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Steam Locomotive & Tender, heading up the "Capitol Limited" Semi-Streamlined Heavyweight Passenger Train

 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had used 4-6-2 "Pacific"-type steam locomotives for its principal passenger trains since 1906. In 1927, the eighth class of "Pacifics" was placed in service by the B&O, 20 Baldwin-built Class P-7s,(Nos. 5300-5319), over 50 percent more powerful than the P-Class locomotives of twenty years earlier. 1927 was also the year in which the B&O celebrated the centenary of the granting of its charter, with an ambitious "Fair of the Iron Horse" at Baltimore. One of the visitors to the Fair was an elegant Olive green and gold 4-6-0 steam locomotive named "King George V," which came from the Great Western Railway in England. The clean, uncluttered design and stunning livery caused a sensation. As a result, the P-7s took names from American presidents and were painted a similar shade of green with gold trim (previous B&O locomotives were all black) (see No. 10706). These striking locomotives were originally built for and exclusively used on B&0's New York (Jersey City) Washington Royal Blue Line. Presidents' names were allocated in historical order beginning with No. 5300 "President Washington."

In 1937, P-7 No. 5304 was streamlined, painted blue, and renamed "The Royal Blue" for working the train of that name (see No. 10258). Then the rest of the class were also painted blue, matching the color of new B&O passenger cars then being put into service. In 1946, a further P-7 batch of four was streamlined for running the "Cincinnatian" (see No. 10325). The P-7s continued in service until about 1955, by which time steam power had been replaced by diesels on the B&O.

The "Capitol Limited" was a flagship train for the Baltimore & Ohio, established in 1923 to offer first class all-Pullman service between Jersey City, New Jersey (gateway to New York City), Washington, D.C., and Chicago. In 1958, the train dropped its service east of Baltimore (see Page 2, No. 10258).

The Baltimore and Ohio emphasis on comfort and service made good business sense.  They could not compete with the shorter routes and faster trains of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads, but they were unsurpassed in creature comforts and maintained a helpful customer service attitude that differentiated them from their haughty rivals.

The "Capitol Limited" was born as an all-Pullman luxury train.  The staff included a barber, manicurist, and valet.  The dining car was outfitted with leaded glass windows and glass chandeliers in colonial decor. The dinner menu was renowned for its broiled lamb chops with potatoes and featured Southern specialties like hush puppies, spoon bread, and corn bread pie.

In the mid-1930s, Baltimore and Ohio hired noted industrial designer Otto Kuhler to style modernized  heavyweight streamlined cars for the remodeled (1937) "Royal Blue" streamlined passenger train (see No. 10258), and he developed the handsome blue and gray color scheme, accented by gold striping and lettering.  These colors were then adopted also for all of Baltimore and Ohio's heavyweight passenger equipment, including diesel locomotives, when they were introduced in 1937.

After air-conditioning the diners in 1930, the "Capitol Limited" became one of the first completely air-conditioned long-distance trains two years later.  And at the end of the decade, it was the first service from Chicago to begin using diesels (1938) (see No. 10703).

The Pullmans remained in service longer.  The Baltimore and Ohio experimented with the lighter aluminum cars, but they couldn't deliver the smooth ride of the heavyweights, especially over their relatively rough roadbed. The aluminum cars were assigned to less prestigious trains, and instead a 1937-38 remodeling added a streamlined look inside and out to the old reliable heavyweights, which remained in use until the 1960s (see No. 10258 and this history).

In the mid-1930s, Otto Kuhler was hired to upgrade existing B&O heavyweight passenger cars in a rebuilding and modernizing effort, as we have seen.  B&O's Mount Clare Shops in Baltimore performed the conversion work on selected heavyweight cars, which received a handsome blue, gray, and gold paint scheme that, over the coming years, would become closely identified with the B&O.  While many other railroads were purchasing new lightweight passenger equpment, frugal B&O was rebuilding its older cars to serve as modern semi-streamlined trains.  Each "Capitol Limited" trainset received a remodeled nine-car consist of baggage/club car, six sleepers, diner, and a sun room sleeper/lounge observation car.  All were restyled with rounded roofs, skirting, and full-width diaphragms. It was not until the late 1940s that the B&O added new lightweight streamlined stainless steel sleeping cars from Pullman-Standard to its fleet. 

The "Capitol Limited" continued to run until Amtrak's arrival in 1971, even showing first run movies in its streamlined stainless steel coaches during the middle 1960s as another effort by the Baltimore and Ohio to offer unique and superior service.  But by then the curtain had already come down on the golden age of passenger rail travel.

The "Capitol Limited" remained a top-of-the-line operation, diesel-powered after 1938 (see No. 10138), until Amtrak's takeover in 1971, when it was discontinued for ten years, only to be revived by Amtrak in 1981.

No. 10446 represents an accurate scale model of B&O's Baldwin-built Class P-7 4-6-2 "Pacific"-type steam locomotive No. 5307, named "President Harrison," painted blue and gray with gold trim. It pulls the semi-streamlined heavyweight 5-car passenger train "Capitol Limited" (see No. 10447) as it would have been seen on its overnight run between Jersey City and Chicago through Washington, D.C., in 1937, just before the advent of diesel power on the B&O. The train is in "0" gauge by Lionel. Amtrak has adopted the "Capitol Limited" name for its currently operating coach and sleeper train between Washington and Chicago. This fine streamliner features a full-service Dining Car and a Cafe'/Lounge Car with sandwiches, snacks, and bar service.

Notable are the bi-level "Superliner" stainless steel coach, sleeping, lounge, and dining cars (see Nos. 10359 and 10600).