Pere Marquette (C&O train)

Pere Marquette

A postcard depicts the Pere Marquette departing Detroit in the late 1940s.
Overview
Status	Discontinued
First service	August 10, 1946
Last service	April 30, 1971
Successor	Pere Marquette
Former operator(s)	Pere Marquette Railway (1946-1947) Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (1947-1971)

The Pere Marquette was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Pere Marquette Railway and its successor the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Later it operated between Grand Rapids and Chicago, Illinois. It operated from 1946 to 1971. It was the first new streamliner to enter service after World War II. Although discontinued in 1971 on the formation of Amtrak, in 1984 Amtrak revived the name for a new train between Chicago and Grand Rapids.

The Pere Marquette Railway introduced the Pere Marquette between Detroit and Grand Rapids on August 10, 1946.Pullman-Standard delivered two lightweight seven-car consists enabling three daily round trips. Each set consisted of a baggage/mail car, baggage car, two chair-observation cars, two chair-lounge cars, and a dining car. The train seated 220 in the four chair cars, and had space for 44 in the dining car. The innovative railroad executive Robert R. Young had a hand in the establishment of the Pere Marquette and introduced several operational changes, including phoning ahead for reservations and paying for tickets aboard the trains, as opposed to at the station. The Pere Marquette Railway experienced a surge in ridership after the trains began operation. New EMD E7 diesel locomotives pulled the trains. The trains covered the 152 miles (245 km) between Grand Rapids and Fort Street Union Depot in Detroit in under three hours. Connecting service to Chicago was available in Grand Rapids. Other streamlined trains had debuted since 1945, but the Pere Marquette was the first using equipment built after World War II.