20th Century Limited

The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train on the New York Central Railroad (NYC) from 1902 to 1967, advertised as "The Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was known to railroad buffs for 65 years as the world's greatest train". The train traveled between Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago, Illinois, along the railroad's "Water Level Route".

The NYC inaugurated this train as competition to the Pennsylvania Railroad, aimed at upper class and business travelers. It made few station stops along the way and used track pans to take water at speed. Beginning on June 15, 1938, when it got streamlined equipment, it ran the 958 miles in 16 hours, departing New York City at 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time and arriving at Chicago's LaSalle Street Station the following morning at 9:00 A.M. Central Time, averaging 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). For a few years after World War II, the eastward schedule was shortened to 15½ hours.

Its style was described as "spectacularly understated ... suggesting exclusivity and sophistication". Passengers walked to the train on a crimson carpet which was rolled out in New York and Chicago and was designed for the 20th Century Limited. "Getting the red carpet treatment" passed into the language from this memorable practice. "Transportation historians", said the writers of The Art of the Streamliner, "consistently rate the 1938 edition of the Century to be the world's ultimate passenger conveyance—at least on the ground".

Inaugurated on June 17, 1902, by patent medicine salesman turned passenger agent George Henry Daniels, the train offered a barbershop and secretarial services. The train arrived in Chicago three minutes ahead of schedule; the schedule was twenty hours, four hours less than before. The New York Times report laid great stress on the routine nature of the trip, with no special procedures being followed and no extra efforts being made to break records. It stated that there "...was no excitement along the way," and quoted a railroad official's claim "...it is a perfectly practical run and will be continued," and engineer William Gates maintaining "This schedule can be made without any difficulty. I can do it every time, barring accidents."

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