Diplomat (train)
1938 ad for the train in B&O's employee magazine. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Locale | Mid-Atlantic United States; Midwestern United States |
| First service | 1930 1964 (2nd incarnation, new route) |
| Last service | 1961 1968 (2nd incarnation) |
| Former operator(s) | Baltimore & Ohio Railroad |
| Route | |
| Termini | Jersey City, New Jersey 2nd incarnation: Washington, D.C. St. Louis, Missouri 2nd incarnation: Chicago, Illinois |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train number(s) | 3 (westbound) 4 (eastbound) |
| On-board services | |
| Seating arrangements | Coaches |
| Sleeping arrangements | Sleeping cars |
| Catering facilities | Dining car |
| Observation facilities | Lounge car |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Diplomat was a named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1930s–1950s connecting New York City and St. Louis, Missouri, via Washington, D.C. Other B&O trains on the route during that period were the premier National Limited and the workhorse Metropolitan Special. The train was inaugurated in August 1930 after several changes to trains along the St. Louis Route. After World War II, the Diplomat operated as Train No. 3 westbound, and No. 4 eastbound. It was timed to provide connections to several western railroads that terminated in St. Louis, including the Frisco, the Santa Fe, Cotton Belt and Missouri Pacific, among others.
B&O's New York terminal was actually in Jersey City, New Jersey, using the New Jersey Central's Jersey City terminal. Passengers were then transferred to buses that met the train right on the platform. These buses were then ferried across the Hudson River to Manhattan, where they proceeded to various "stations" including the Vanderbilt Hotel, Wanamaker's, Columbus Circle, and Rockefeller Center, as well as Brooklyn.