The Black Diamond, also known as the Black Diamond Express, was the flagship

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

of the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...

(LV). It ran from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

from 1896 until May 11, 1959, when the Lehigh Valley's passenger service was reduced to four mainline trains.

History

Service between

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

and

began on 18 May 1896, It originally used the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

's Exchange Place Station, where passengers could board ferries to station to New York. In 1913, the train was forced by the PRR to vacate the station so the eastern terminus was changed to the

Central Railroad of New Jersey Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Communipaw Terminal The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, also known as Communipaw Terminal and Jersey City Terminal, was the Central Railroad of New Jersey's waterfront passenger terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey. The terminal was built in 1889, replaci ...

. That lasted only five years, as the

United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...

decided in 1918 to re-route all Lehigh Valley trains into

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

to centralize traffic. For most of its existence the ''Black Diamond'' used the Lehigh Valley Terminal in Buffalo. The ''Black Diamond'' competed with services offered by the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of . The railroad was ...

and the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

; although slower than either of these, its level of service won it the nicknames "the Handsomest Train in the World" and "the Honeymoon Express." In 1940, the train was provided with the line's first set of lightweight streamlined coaches, designed by

Otto Kuhler Otto August Kuhler (July 31, 1894 – August 5, 1977) was an American designer, one of the best known industrial designers of the American railroads. According to ''Trains'' magazine he streamstyled more locomotives and railroad cars than Cr ...

, who also designed streamlined shroudings for the existing

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 locomotives that hauled the train. Later, the Pacific engine was replaced by

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 ...

's PA-1 diesels, which were painted Cornell red with black playing a secondary role. The black was used in a role similar to the "cat whiskers" that appeared on the PRR's

GG-1 The Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1 is a class of streamlined electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), in the northeastern United States. The class was known for its striking art deco shell, its ability to pull trains at up ...

's. Prior to the cutback of the ''Black Diamond'' the Lehigh operated a counterpart night train from New York City to Buffalo, ''The Star.'' Between

Sayre, Pennsylvania Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the principal city in the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. It lies southeast of Elmira, New York, and southwest of Bin ...

and

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

both the ''Black Diamond'' and the ''Star'' followed a secondary line, serving Ithaca and other Central New York cities, as opposed to following the LV's double-tracked main line slightly to the west. The train had a branch originating in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in conjunction with the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called the Reading Railr ...

at the company's

Reading Terminal The Reading Terminal ( ) is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main railroad station, station located in the Market East, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Market East section of Center City, Philadelphia, Center City in ...

. The branch would link up with the main part of the ''Black Diamond'' in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

. The train's last run was on May 11, 1959, due to widespread cuts to all

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

passenger service. All LV passenger service ended on February 4, 1961.

Origin of name

The train was named for the railroad's major cargo,

anthracite coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the highe ...

, which was known as "the black diamond" because of its exceptional hardness and high value. As a result, the railroad used "The Route of the Black Diamond" as its slogan.

Miscellaneous

The Lehigh Valley Railroad also operated trains #28 and #29 (the ''John Wilkes'') which also boasted

-designed streamlining shrouds very similar in design to the ''Black Diamond''.

In popular culture

* On April 23, 1927,

Reverend A. W. Nix Reverend A. W. Nix (November 30, 1880 – January 10, 1949) was an American preacher who recorded 54 sermons and gospel songs in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He is best remembered for his commercially successful sermon, "Black Diamond Express to ...

recorded a two-part singing sermon called "The Black Diamond Express to Hell," accompanied by his congregation. According to the lyrics, "Sin is the engineer, Pleasure is the headlight, and the Devil is the conductor." When the Black Diamond leaves the station "the bell is ringing, 'Hell-bound, Hell-bound' and the Devil cries out, 'All aboard for Hell.'" * The Black Diamond is the name of an eight-piece alternative rock band from

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

that plays an amalgamation of

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

and American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

music. Their name was inspired by the Rev. A.W. Nix record, which had been reissued in the UK by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

in 1951. The band's debut album was titled "Brimstone for Hell."

Gallery

File:Black Diamond Express, no. 1 (1896).webm, thumbtime=18, The ''Black Diamond Express'' in 1896 File:1900 - Lehigh Valley Railroad - Black Diamond - Postcard - Allentown PA.jpg, Black Diamond in 1900 File:1921 - Lehigh Valley Railroad Black Diamond Ad - Allentown PA.jpg, Black Diamond ad, 1921 File:Dining car corner Black Diamond Express.jpg, Dining car

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Timetable and consist of the ''Black Diamond'', December 1940
{{Authority control Named passenger trains of the United States Lehigh Valley Railroad Passenger rail transportation in Pennsylvania Passenger rail transportation in New York (state) Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey Railway services introduced in 1896 Railway services discontinued in 1959