The Royal Blue
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ISSN 1053-4415 A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY $8.00 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 3 THIRD QUARTER 2014 The Royal Blue The B&O Fights for New York Passengers ‘That Lady Engineer’ Olive Dennis Set Precedents and Styles Letter from the President The official publication of First Step; What is Next? THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO Before we get into the meat of this in mind this year’s Eastern Mini-Con RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY P. O. Box 24225 letter let us reflect on the last three is in Martinsburg, West Virginia, this Baltimore, Maryland 21227-0725 months. August. If you never attended either of E-mail: [email protected] I have been at both the Prototype the Mini-Cons, even for a half day, they Website: borhs.org Meet at Malvern, Pennsylvania, and the are worth it. Missing Sentinel: [email protected] The Baltimore and Ohio Historical Society is a non-profit Western Mini-Con at Columbus, Ohio. Finally the annual convention will be corporation dedicated to preserving and disseminating Many thanks to John Howard for orga- in Cumberland, Maryland, this Septem- historical information about The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. nizing an outstanding day of learning. ber. Henry Freeman and Andy White Copyright ©2014 ISSN 1053-4415 At both locations the society had a good have an exciting program for the long SOCIETY OFFICERS representation and the company store weekend with at least a rail trip on the Greg Smith - President [email protected] did well. Tank you for your support of South Branch Valley Railroad; see the Henry Freeman - VP Operations the store, for the profts keep the archive fyers or check the Society’s on-line site. [email protected] collection going. Now to the heart of the letter. In the George Stant - VP Finance [email protected] Henry Freeman and Chris Tilley last issue of the Sentinel we announced Allen Young - Secretary headed to Spencer, North Carolina, for our building fund project. A donation [email protected] the Streamliner Days the last weekend form is listed on the Society’s website Chris Winslow - Treasurer [email protected] in May to show the fag. Bruce Elliott, with six levels of contributions. If every BOARD OF DIRECTORS Henry Freeman, and I will be manning a member donated $350 to the fund we Bruce Elliott (2014) Mike Shylanski (2015) booth at the National Model Train Show would exceed our current goal. Te best Nick Fry (2014) Chris Tilley (2016) in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18-20, so if you thing about meeting this contribution Wade Rice, Jr. (2016) Bob Witt (2015) are in the area stop by and say hi. of $350 is you can pay over time. I know Bob Hubler (Past President) Officers’ terms expire annually. Directors’ terms We have upgraded our computer for some of you are having a tough time expire in October of the indicated year. the archives and company store and economically but any amount will help All officers may be reached at [email protected]. purchased a new 11 by 17 scanner to scan to expand and preserve our collection. EDITORIAL STAFF large-format negatives and pictures. Te With all my heart thank you in advance Editor [email protected] weekend of May 17-18 saw all the com- for your support. Harry Meem, Managing Editor puter stations in the archives in use and Te next step in securing a new build- [email protected] much work completed. Soon we will be ing comes in three forms: foundation Al McEvoy, Archives John Teichmoeller using a commercial data base storage grants, corporate grants, and political Roberta Poling, Graphic Design and search system to catalog our col- grants. Tere are some private individu- roberta@thundergrafix.com lections. It may take a year or more, but als who support non-proft historical Contributors welcome: Articles, manuscripts, photographs, reviews, and other we are hoping to have the data on line organizations. If you know of someone, historical data are solicited for publication. Original material somewhere within that time frame. Chris reach out, talk with them, share your love will be returned upon publication. Send all material to: Winslow has upgraded the system and is for the railroad and ask for their fnancial Harry Meem, 2409 Birchwood Road, Richmond, VA 23294. working with our new system provider. support. Te worst they can say is no; COMPANY STORE Wade Rice has made contact with thank them for their time and move on. Orders: Company Store link at borhs.org the Reading Railroad Technical and As mentioned last issue corporations [email protected] Historical Society and we will be doing ofer matching funds, so check with your MEMBERSHIP a joint Mini-Con in the Philadelphia employer and also ask if they have grant [email protected] One year regular membership is $35.00. For other classes or area during the summer of 2015. Keep (Continued on page 26) inquiries, write to the Society’s P.O. Box, or email [email protected]. For an address change, write to the P.O. Box or email [email protected] Memberships, once accepted, cannot be returned. In This Issue On the Covers The Royal Blue Line, B&O Battles the PRR for Passengers, by Frank A. Wrabel . .3 FRONT COVER: Quick quiz—which of these “That Lady Engineer” never ran in revenue service on the B&O? Answer 17 B&O’s Olive Dennis Set a Standard, by Sharon Beischer Harwood ................................... on page 35. (Henry Freeman photograph) Keeping B&O Trains Moving A 100-Day Ohio Infantry Regiment Had Its Hands Full, by David G. Davis .......................... 27 BACK COVER: Never shy about promotion, the B&O took advantage of printing developments B&O Builds a New Yard, by Keith Rader ...................................................... 30 to make Royal Blue literature more eye-catching. Running Light, Landslides and Lake Boats and a Caboose; Oh My!. .............................. 33 (Frank A. Wrabel collection) 2 Third Quarter 2014 B&O P-3 Number 5100, a Pacifc virtually fresh from its builder, Baldwin, hustles its train through Holmes, Pennsylvania, just southwest of Philadelphia on the Royal Blue Line. The locomotive was built in July 1913; this photo was taken December 6 of that year. Number 5100 was scrapped in 1948. The Royal Blue Line B&O Battles the PRR for Passengers By Frank A. Wrabel Illustrations From the Author’s Collection o many, the Royal Blue name rep- in travelers’ loyalties and the enormous west and this new drive east. Garrett and Tresented the epitome of frst-class changes that have shaped today’s rail pas- the B&O, however, experienced a succes- rail travel. To some the Royal Blue rep- senger network, the advances in service sion of false starts pursuing this eastern resented a misguided business adventure and technology that the B&O introduced initiative before a plan came together. that cost the B&O dearly. By all accounts, by way of the Royal Blue Line remain Unfortunately that plan was shaped from however, the Royal Blue Line theme milestones in railroad passenger service. a defensive rather than ofensive posture. achieved high-profle brand recognition Te Royal Blue Line legacy is also last- Historic record also suggests that the for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad gen- ing testimony to the resourcefulness and resourcefulness and the milestones later erations before the advertising profession determination of B&O management and achieved were products of desperation as promoted the phrase. its dedicated workforce. the Garretts and the B&O tried to recover Today, more than 50 years since the Tat strong sense of determination was lost ground late in the game afer losing last elegant blue and gray consist polished evident shortly afer the Civil War when control of a well-established rail route B&O rails between Washington and New it became clear that New York would between Baltimore and Philadelphia to York, the Royal Blue legend remains so be the leading East coast port and B&O the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1881. Worse intense that it is passionately recalled President John W. Garrett felt compelled yet, they had underestimated the business by a generation that was never able to to somehow change course and send the acumen and ample treasury of their power- experience the amenities of this service B&O east. In a very real sense, Garrett ful competitor and later entered a costly and and can barely recall the best years of was now fghting a war on two fronts: largely one-sided race for trafc with the the B&O itself. Despite the fckle shifs the expansion and perfection of the B&O PRR between Washington and New York. Third Quarter 2014 3 Before there were second-generation diesels, there were tunnel motors, put in service to move B&O steam-powered trains through Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel without sufocating passengers and crew. These two were photographed at HU Tower in 1938, near the end of their service. Forced to build a new and expensive 1.4-mile Howard Street Tunnel (1890- strengthening by 1907. B&O had no line on its own, the B&O quickly grasped 1895), and then find suitable motive choice but to keep the bridge open for every new construction method and power to operate through this long bore. trafc while the construction work pro- form of technology that appeared to Te solution came in the form of the frst gressed, but the work compromised the complete and operate this new line and mainline railroad electrifcation in the structure and the bridge collapsed under then advanced to capture the attention U.S.