The ''Alton Limited'' (later known as simply the ''Limited'') was the Chicago & Alton Railway's (C&A) flagship service between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. It was introduced in 1899 and re-equipped in 1905 and 1924. The name and service were discontinued in late 1971.

History

Starting in 1903, its motive power was a series of

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

(Pacific)

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

. By 1905, it provided regular, daily service with six new cars strikingly decorated in three shades of maroon with gold stenciling, which led to the nickname, "The Red Train." The six-car consist included a RPO car, a combine car, a coach, a diner, and two Pullman parlor cars, one of which was the

observation car An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad Passenger car (rail), passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the rearmost carriage, with windows or a plat ...

. The cars were richly appointed, and the Alton Limited was advertised as "The Only Way" and as "The Most Beautiful Train In America!" The last ten Brooks/

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

class P-5 Pacific engines were delivered to the C&A in 1913. Two six-car train sets were re-equipped in 1924 at a cost of $1 million. The 90-foot "Chicago" observation parlor car included a Japanese tea room and a library. With its blended red color scheme, it was billed, "The Handsomest Train In The World."

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio

The Pacific-pulled heavyweight consists were still in operation as late as 1947, though C&A was acquired that year by the

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois. From its two pa ...

(GM&O). The GM&O replaced the Pacific engines with diesel-electric engines, and replaced the heavyweight consist with lightweight, streamlined cars from

American Car and Foundry ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

. GM&O adopted a variation of the ''Alton Limiteds maroon and red livery for its own streamliners. The GM&O dropped "Alton" from the train's name in 1958 and it was known as the ''Limited'' thereafter.

Amtrak

When

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

(the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) assumed railroad passenger operations in May 1971, it initially retained the service and the name (''The Limited''), with its ''

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

'' (which it also carried over from the GM&O) running along the same route. However, by November of that year Amtrak extended the ''Limited'' (as well as the ''Abraham Lincoln'') north to

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and renamed it the '' Prairie State''. Eventually, the service was truncated back to Chicago and (after several name variations) became the ''

Lincoln Service The ''Lincoln Service'' is a higher-speed rail service operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The train is a part of the '' Illinois Service'' and is partially funded by the Illinois Department of Tra ...

''.

Scale models

O-scale models of the ''Alton Limiteds Pacifics or passenger cars have been produced at different times by Lionel, MTH, and

K-Line K-Line Electric Trains is a brand name of O gauge and S gauge model railway locomotives, rolling stock, and buildings. Formerly the brand name under which Chapel Hill, North Carolina–based MDK Inc. sold its products, K-Line was then acquired b ...

. K-Line's 6-car heavyweight set (K-44081) is modeled on the 1924 equipment, and includes the "Armstrong" RPO, No. 707 baggage car, "Webster Groves" coach, "Springfield" diner, "Wilson" parlor, and "Chicago" observation, all 18 inches long, or 72' scale.

Rivarossi Rivarossi is an Italian manufacturer of model railways. In 2004 it was acquired by Hornby Railways. History Rivarossi was founded in 1945 by Antonio Riva and Alessandro Rossi. In the 1990s Rivarossi acquired Lima (1992), Jouef and Arnold (19 ...

, of Italy, also produced an HO version of the Alton Limited with both steam (4-6-2 Pacific) and/or diesel (E8/9) power. AHM, and others, distributed Rivarossi products in the U.S. Passenger cars included baggage, coach-Webster Cove, duplex sleeper, Diner-Bloomington and observation-Chicago, all heavyweight cars.

References

External links

{{Former Amtrak routes Railway services introduced in 1899 Railway services discontinued in 1971 Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Missouri Passenger trains of the Alton Railroad Passenger trains of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Named passenger trains of the United States Rail in St. Louis Transportation in Chicago Former Amtrak routes