Capitol Limited (B&O train)

Capitol Limited

The Capitol Limited about to depart Union Station, Washington, D. C., for Chicago, Illinois, in 1961.
Overview
First service	May 12, 1923
Last service	April 30, 1971
Former operator(s)	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Route map

Route map

The Capitol Limited was an American passenger train run by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, originally between New York City and Grand Central Station in Chicago, Illinois, via Union Station, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. For almost 48 years, it was the B&O's passenger train, noted for personalized service and innovation. At the time of its discontinuation on May 1, 1971, when Amtrak took over most rail passenger service in the U.S., the Capitol Limited operated between Washington and Chicago.

The Capitol Limited was inaugurated on May 12, 1923, as an all-Pullman sleeping car train running from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to Chicago, via Washington, D.C. Once west of the Pennsy's Newark station in New Jersey, the train used the Lehigh Valley and Reading Railroad as far as Philadelphia, where it reached B&O's own rails to Chicago. It was designed to compete against the luxury trains of the rival Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad. Although the B&O's longer route put it at a competitive disadvantage in New York for time-sensitive travelers, the B&O offered such luxuries in the 1920s as onboard secretaries, barbers, manicures, and valets. The Capitol's "Martha Washington"-series dining cars were particularly noted for their Chesapeake Bay cuisine, served in ornate cars with leaded glass windows, glass chandeliers, and colonial-style furnishings. The Capitol Limited derived much of its passenger traffic from businessmen and government officials traveling between Washington and the midwest.