No. 10138 Electro-Motive E-8 ABA Diesel Locomotive, heading up the "Capitol Limited" Streamlined Passenger Train

 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

The “Capitol Limited” was a flagship train for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 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 gold chandeliers in colonial decor. The dinner menu was renowned for its broiled lamb chops with potatoes and featured Southern specialities 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 1938 (see No. 10703).

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 this history).
 
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 Nos. 10258 and 10446).
 
B & O was one of the first railroads to replace steam locomotives with diesels, starting in 1935. The new streamlined “Capitol Limited” in 1938 was headed up by Electro-Motive streamlined EA and EB diesel locomotives. Lightweight streamlined stainless steel cars from Pullman-Standard were added to the fleet in the late 1940s. By 1955, the railroad was using powerful new “bulldog nose” 2250 horsepower per unit Electro-Motive E-8 diesels to head up its “name trains” (1955-c1970).
 
The “Capitol Limited” continued to run until Amtrak’s arrival in 1971, even showing first run movies in its streamlined coaches.  Coaches were added to the train in 1958, when the "Capitol Limited" combined with the "Columbian" (see No. 10532).  These films were presented 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 until Amtrak’s takeover in 1971, when it was discontinued for ten years, only to be revived by Amtrak in 1981.
 
No. 10138 represents an accurate model by MTH in “O”gauge of B&O’s E-8 ABA diesel locomotive, pulling the distinctive deluxe 7-car streamlined passenger train, the “Capitol Limited,” Nos. 10139 and 10140, as it would have been seen on its Washington-Chicago run 1955-1970.
 
The “Capitol Limited” was the first all-Pullman train between New York (Jersey City), Washington, and Chicago, born in May, 1923, and in 1938 it became the first train from the East Coast to Chicago under diesel power with Electro-Motive EA and EB 1800 horsepower 6-axle (two 6-wheel power trucks) locomotives.  Stainless steel Sleeper Dome Cars were added in 1951 from the Budd Company (Strata Domes), via the ill-fated streamliner "Chessie" (see No. 10582).  In 1950, the Chesapeake & Ohio sold the "Chessie" dome cars to the B&O. 

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 Café/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).