The ''Federal Express'' (after April 1939, officially known as just the ''Federal'') was an overnight named passenger train run by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

between

Washington Union Station Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's second-busiest station and North ...

in Washington, D.C., and South Station in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, from 1912 to 1971. At different times, its route has taken it across the

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via a

car float A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of Lighter (barge), lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it i ...

between Port Morris and

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

(the

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

''Maryland''), the Poughkeepsie Bridge, and finally the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad. The final routing was identical to today's high-speed

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

. The train carried sleeping cars and coaches, as well as

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

and

baggage Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, tr ...

. As the train operated well outside of dinner hours after 1917 (10:00 - 11:00 PM departure), food service was limited to beverages and light snacks on departure, and continental breakfast in the morning, generally dispensed from a lounge car which also contained sleeping accommodations.

History

Through trains between

and Washington, D.C., began operation on May 8, 1876, using the steamship ''Maryland'' to transport up to six passenger cars between NYNH&H's Harlem River station and Harsimus Cove (close to the Exchange Place terminal) on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The first services were an overnight train that ran on the combined New York and New England Railroad (Boston-Hartford) and NYNH&H route, and a day train on the shore route. A sample timetable shows that in 1893 there was a Boston-Washington day train called the '' Colonial Express'' but the overnight train (now using the NYNH&H shore route) still had only generic names like Boston and Washington Express (its southbound name on the NYNH&H). By 1903 the overnight train was called the ''Federal Express''. The boat passage allowed passengers to avoid the complicated transfer in New York via city streets and a Hudson River ferry. It was especially convenient for the overnight train where passengers could choose to remain in their Pullman sleepers. The two trains made their last trip by steamer on October 17, 1912. The Pennsylvania Railroad was by that date running all other through trains into its new Pennsylvania Station in New York rather than via Jersey City. The ''Colonial Express'' was changed to involve an omnibus connection between Penn Station and

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

. Because of the overnight run, the ''Federal Express'' was run this way for only one transitional day. On October 19, the ''Federal Express'' began operating over an all-rail route via the Poughkeepsie Bridge. The routing involved a long detour between

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

and Trenton, using the NYNH&H Maybrook Line (via

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, Danbury, and

Brewster, New York Brewster is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the principal settlement within the town (New York), town of Southeast, New York, Southeast in Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, United Sta ...

), the NYNH&H's Central New England Railway across the bridge to Maybrook, New York, the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway to Belvidere, New Jersey, and the PRR's Belvidere-Delaware Railroad branch. Due to freight congestion on the Maybrook Line, the train was discontinued on January 9, 1916. With the opening of the New York Connecting Railroad on April 1, 1917, the ''Federal Express'' and ''Colonial Express'' were restored as through trains via Penn Station and the Hell Gate Bridge. On this final routing the ''Federal Express'' initially made the run in 12 hours 10 minutes, later reduced to 9 hours 45 minutes averaged both ways. The ''Federal'' operated without interruption through

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, also avoiding (barely) the yearlong 1945 Office of Defense Transportation ban on sleeping car routes less than 450 miles, though the train's intermediate sleepers such as Philadelphia-Boston and Washington-Providence were so affected. This ban was in anticipation of Operation Magic Carpet. After the war, the ''Federal'' was gradually re-equipped with railroad-owned lightweight sleepers and coaches from Pullman-Standard, including New Haven coaches of the 8600-8702 series, sleepers of the 14-roomette, 4-double bedroom ''Point''-series of 1948 and the 6-section, 4-double bedroom, 6-roomette ''Beach''-series of 1955. Food service was provided by a buffet-lounge car which also contained 6 double bedrooms, from the prewar and postwar PRR ''Falls''-series until 1960, and a 1955 New Haven ''State''-series car of similar configuration thereafter. Other PRR coaches and sleepers could sometimes be found as well on the postwar ''Federal'', though its consist was mostly New Haven by joint agreement. Penn Central, formed in 1968 from merger of the PRR and the New York Central, became the operator of the entire train in 1969 when PC's court-ordered purchase of the New Haven took effect. The cars with the open sections were soon withdrawn, when PC declined to continue offering the section as a travel option (neither PRR nor NYC ever ordered lightweight sleepers with sections). Buffet-lounge service ended in 1970, replaced by a snack bar coach; only a single roomette-and-bedroom sleeper remained each way between Washington and Boston, as by that time the pick-up/setout intermediate sleepers from

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 ...

, Penn Station and Providence had also been discontinued. Also with the PC takeover, GG1 electrics operated the train all the way between Washington and New Haven, changing to or from newly assigned ex-PRR E units between New Haven and Boston. The ''Federal'' made its last runs on May 1, 1971, as

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 ...

, which began operations on that day, had declined to include an overnight train on the Northeast Corridor in its initial system. However, after only a year, popular demand caused Amtrak to re-introduce just such a service, the Boston-Washington '' Night Owl'' (now carrying numbers 66-67 since previous numbers 176-177 were reassigned to a day train). The ''Night Owl'' was later extended to Newport News in 1997 and renamed the '' Twilight Shoreliner'', with the addition of a specially branded sleeper and lounge car. When the sleeper was dropped with the discontinuance of the ''Twilight Shoreliner'' in 2003, the ''Federal'' name was revived briefly when trains 66 and 67 became coach and business class-only. In 2004 however, the name was dropped for good in favor of Amtrak's ''

Regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

'' (eventually ''Northeast Regional'') branding. Typical of overnight trains, the ''Federal'' also carried U.S. mail as well as checked baggage. Trains 172 and 173 carried the Washington & Boston Railway Post Office until May 1, 1971, being the next-to-last RPO service in the United States (Amtrak operated the very last, the New York & Washington RPO, until 1977). The ''Federal'' had no need to carry a separate sleeping car between Penn Station and Boston, as the New Haven had its own overnight train between

and South Station, the ''Owl'' (trains #2 and #3).

Wrecks

1911 Bridgeport wreck

There was a wreck on July 11, 1911, in which the Federal Express plunged down an 18-foot embankment, with at least 14 fatalities. The train was also carrying the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

Union Station crash

On the morning of January 15, 1953, at

, the ''Federal'' overran the end of the track and into the concourse. According to official ICC reports, a design flaw on New Haven coach #8665 allowed the handle of an angle cock valve in the air brake system to come into contact with the coupler, causing the valve to close. This disabled the brakes on all of the following cars, rendering them inoperable by the locomotive operator. Approaching automatic block signal #1339, the engineer attempted to apply the brakes to slow the train, with no effect. The unbraked cars pushed the GG1 locomotive and two passenger cars off the end of Track 16 at the station. They crashed through the Stationmaster's office and fell through the floor of Union Station into the baggage room below. The operator at control Tower "K" had contacted station personnel by phone to warn them of the runaway train and the station was evacuated before the crash. The GG1 engine, engine #4876 was later cut into pieces, removed from the baggage room, and reassembled at the Altoona shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad. With a new frame and superstructure, it then re-entered commercial service for another 30 years. This crash inspired the finale for the 1976 film, '' Silver Streak.''

1955 Bridgeport wreck

Two and a half years later, the ''Federal'' was involved in another serious wreck, this time with fatal consequences. On July 14, 1955, New Haven train 172, bound for Boston, derailed in Bridgeport at 3:42 am while going around one of the New Haven electric main line's sharpest curves, the 30 mph Jenkins Curve (named for the factory of

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

manufacturer Jenkins Bros., then located on the inside of the curve). The electric locomotive, EP-4 No. 363, and 15 of the train's 17 cars derailed from track 2 (the eastbound inner track); traveling down the curve's outside embankment, the locomotive struck

Alco S-1 The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were diesel-electric locomotive, diesel-electric switcher locomotives produced by American Locomotive Company, ALCO and their Canadian subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). The two locomotives differed only in bogie, ...

switcher 0949 working freight cars in the railroad's Bridgeport Lower Yard, causing it to derail as well. Two

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary ( , ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or wire rope, cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, ...

poles were knocked down, along with all of the wires, blocking all four main tracks. Fifty-eight crew and passengers were injured, including the switcher's crew; the sole fatality was the ''Federals engineer. The streamlined EP-4, from a class of six units which had much in common with the PRR GG1s, was not repaired and was scrapped. The cause of the wreck was determined in the official ICC accident report to be excessive speed on the curve, which the train took at a speed estimated between 60 and 75 mph, as determined from flange marks on the rails as the train started to leave the rails. The death of the engineer, together with confusing speed estimates and braking testimony from the fireman and other crewmembers (the speedometer was not visible from the fireman's seat), prevented a clear picture as to ''why'' the engineer failed to slow his train down. However, other testimony from the fireman, in describing the engineer's last moments, suggest a possible lack of

situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness, often abbreviated as SA is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. It is also defined as the perception of the elements in the envi ...

while attempting to make up time (the train, already late leaving Penn Station, had gotten up to 26 minutes behind schedule).

References

PRR Chronology

The Crash of Runaway Train #173

External links