The ''Daylight Speedliner'' was an American named passenger train of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

(B&O) in the 1950s and early 1960s. Equipped with three or four

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

, self-propelled

Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC), also known as the Budd car or Buddliner, is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars ...

s (RDCs) coupled together, it initially operated between

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

and

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, via

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and

Washington, D. C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, as Trains #21–22. The B&O had been using RDCs in local Baltimore–Washington, D.C., commuter service since 1950. Pleased with their reliability and lower operating costs compared to heavyweight passenger trains drawn by

steam locomotive 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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s, the B&O decided in 1955 to replace its money-losing '' Washingtonian'' steam train with RDCs, ordering four RDC-1s with reclining coach seats and two RDC-2s with baggage compartments. The RDC-equipped ''Daylight Speedliner'' entered service on October 28, 1956, and reduced the railroad's operating expenses by almost half, compared to the ''Washingtonian'' train it replaced.Harry Stegmaier, ''Baltimore & Ohio Passenger Service, Vol. 2 – Route of the Capitol Limited''. Lynchburg, Va.: TLC Publishing, 1997 (). After B&O discontinued passenger service north of Baltimore on April 26, 1958, the ''Daylight Speedliner'' operated between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, covering the route on a seven-hour schedule, until its discontinuation on January 21, 1963.

Stations

Schedule and equipment

In 1961, the westbound ''Daylight Speedliner'', operating as B&O's Train # 21, departed Baltimore at 9:00 a.m. and then Washington, D.C., at 10:00 a.m., arriving in Pittsburgh at 4:20 p.m. on the following schedule (principal stops shown in blue):''Baltimore & Ohio Railroad System Time Tables'', April 30, 1961. Unusual for RDCs, the lead RDC-2 car was configured by B&O as a combination

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...

baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (American English), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (British English and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (Indian English) is a railroad car that is designed to c ...

/coach ''(pictured)'' offering full meal service, with the addition of a kitchen and six tables, listed in B&O's 1961 time table as a "refreshment diner". Two of these unique cars were built for the service; both survive today. One is on display at the

B&O Railroad Museum The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balt ...

in Baltimore, Md; the other is at the

Danbury Railway Museum The Danbury Railway Museum RailincSearch MARKs, accessed September 2009 is a railway museum housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following ...

in Danbury, Conn.

References

{{Infobox B&O Named Trains Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Transportation in Baltimore Transportation in Pittsburgh Railway services introduced in 1956 Railway services discontinued in 1963