Night Owl (train)
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| First service | June 6, 1972 |
| Last service | July 10, 1997 |
| Former operator(s) | Amtrak |
The Night Owl was a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts, via New York City. It operated from 1972 to 1995 on an overnight schedule with sleeper service; it was the only such train on the Northeast Corridor. In 1995 Amtrak dropped most individual train names from its Northeast Corridor services and the Night Owl became another NortheastDirect service, but still on an overnight schedule. Amtrak replaced it with the Twilight Shoreliner in 1997.
At first Amtrak did not feature overnight service on the Northeast Corridor. The last such train was the Federal, operated by Penn Central. Amtrak did not retain the Federal and it made its last run on April 30, 1971. Amtrak restored overnight service on June 6, 1972. The new train was named the Night Owl (numbered 168/169) and carried coaches, sleeping cars, and a buffet-lounge-sleeper. The southbound Night Owl departed Boston's South Station at 10 PM and arrived in Washington's Union Station at 8:30 AM. The northbound train departed Washington at 10:30 PM and arrived in Boston at 8:25 AM.
In early 1977 Amtrak upgraded the Night Owl with Amfleet coaches and an Amfleet dinette. Between 1978–1979 the Night Owl operated combined with the Hilltopper between Washington and Boston. South of Washington the Hilltopper continued west to Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
Between April–October in 1992 Amtrak operated a section of the eastbound Night Owl via the so-called "Inland Route". At New Haven, cars separated and operated via Hartford, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, into Boston. At the time Amtrak contemplated replacing the overnight Washington–Montreal Montrealer with a Boston–Montreal day train. If this had come to pass the Inland Route section would have connected with this train in Worcester, Massachusetts. Nothing came of the proposed change to the Montrealer and ridership on the section was low. Amtrak permitted smoking aboard the Night Owl until 1994.
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