Crusader (train)
The 1937-built Crusader trainset
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued (partially replaced by the West Trenton Line) |
| First service | 13 December 1937 |
| Last service | 3 December 1982 |
| Route | |
| Start | Reading Terminal |
| End | Communipaw Terminal |
| Service frequency | 2 daily round trips (6 days per week) |
The Crusader was a streamlined express train that ran on a 90.3-mile (145.3 km) route from Philadelphia's Reading Terminal to Jersey City's Communipaw Terminal, with a ferry connection to Lower Manhattan. The Reading Railroad provided this service in partnership with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), in which it was the majority owner of capital stock. Trains operated over CNJ tracks for the 30 miles (48 km) from Jersey City to Bound Brook and over the Reading System for the 60 miles (97 km) from Bound Brook to Philadelphia.
Introduced in 1937, the service declined during the 1960s. The southern part of the route was cut in 1981, followed by the northern part in 1982.
By the 1930s, the Reading Company offered hourly expresses from Reading Terminal to Communipaw Terminal via the New York Branch. In 1937, the railroad introduced a new premier service. Built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, the dedicated trainset was a five-car stainless-steel streamliner. The train consisted of two stainless-steel coaches, two observation cars and a tavern-dining car. By placing the two round-end observation cars at each end of the passenger cars, the railroad eliminated the need to turn the train around at the terminals; only the locomotive had to be turned around at the completion of each trip. Two full coaches bracketed the tavern-dining car which operated in the middle of the train. Also, matching the stainless-steel cars were two streamlined Pacific Steam locomotives. Each locomotive had a specially-built tender (coal car) that wrapped around the observation car directly behind it.
A contest was held to find a name for the new train, offering a $250 cash prize to the winner. The Crusader, the entry of Mr. P. W. Silzer of Plainfield, New Jersey, won the prize, selected by a committee of 29 railroad officials from among 6,086 suggestions. The Crusader's first regular run was on December 13, 1937. The train was scheduled to make two round trips six days a week; Sundays were reserved for maintenance work.
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