The ''Night Owl'' was a

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, ...

operated by

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 ...

on the

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 ...

between

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, via

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It operated from 1972 to 1995 on an overnight schedule with sleeper service; it was the only such train on the Northeast Corridor. In 1995 Amtrak dropped most individual train names from its Northeast Corridor services and the ''Night Owl'' became another '' NortheastDirect'' service, but still on an overnight schedule. Amtrak replaced it with the ''

Twilight Shoreliner The ''Twilight Shoreliner'' was a Train#Passenger trains, passenger train operated by Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor between Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and Newport News, Virginia, via New York City and Washington, D.C. Amtrak introduced it ...

'' in 1997.

History

At first Amtrak did not feature overnight service on the Northeast Corridor. The last such train was the '' Federal'', operated by

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

. Amtrak did not retain the ''Federal'' and it made its last run on April 30, 1971. Amtrak restored overnight service on June 6, 1972. The new train was named the ''Night Owl'' (numbered 168/169) and carried coaches, sleeping cars, and a buffet-lounge-sleeper. The southbound ''Night Owl'' departed Boston's

South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan I ...

at 10 PM and arrived in Washington's

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

at 8:30 AM. The northbound train departed Washington at 10:30 PM and arrived in Boston at 8:25 AM. In early 1977 Amtrak upgraded the ''Night Owl'' with

Amfleet Amfleet is a fleet of single-level intercity railroad passenger car (rail), passenger cars built by the Budd Company for American company Amtrak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Budd based the Amfleet design on its earlier Budd Metroliner, Me ...

coaches and an Amfleet dinette. Beginning on January 8, 1978, the ''Night Owl'' was combined with the '' Hilltopper'', creating through service from Boston to

Catlettsburg, Kentucky Catlettsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The city population was 1,780 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. History Early history Cat ...

. The ''Hilltopper'' was discontinued on September 30, 1979, and the ''Night Owl'' reverted to Boston-Washington service. Between April–October in 1992 Amtrak operated a section of the eastbound ''Night Owl'' via the so-called "Inland Route". At New Haven, cars separated and operated via

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, and

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, into Boston. At the time Amtrak contemplated replacing the overnight Washington–

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

'' Montrealer'' with a Boston–Montreal day train. If this had come to pass the Inland Route section would have connected with this train in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

. Nothing came of the proposed change to the ''Montrealer'' and ridership on the section was low. Amtrak permitted smoking aboard the ''Night Owl'' until 1994. One regular traveler on the ''Night Owl'' was then-senator

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, who recalled falling asleep (on more than one occasion) on the train north out of Washington and waking up 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 ...

30th Street Station 30th Street Station, officially William H. Gray III 30th Street Station, is a major intermodal passenger transport, intermodal transit station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The station opened in 1933 as Pennsylvania Station– ...

, well past his usual stop at

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. Biden jokingly blamed the incidents on fellow senator

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

, who, Biden claimed, "told he conductorsnot to wake me up in Wilmington."

Executive Sleeper

In October 1984 Amtrak revived the concept of the "set-out sleeper", last seen on the Northeast Corridor in 1970. Amtrak parked a sleeping car at

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may refer to: Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * New York Penn Station ** Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963), the predecessor to the present New York City station * Newark Penn Station Trai ...

in New York City. Ticketed southbound passengers were permitted to board beginning at 9:30 PM. The car was attached to the southbound ''Night Owl'', which had a scheduled departure time from New York of 3:50 AM. Conversely, the northbound ''Night Owl'' dropped a sleeping car in New York at a similarly early hour, but passengers could remain aboard until 8:00 AM. This service made the ''Night Owl'' a real option for business travelers between New York and Washington. Amtrak termed this service ''Executive Sleeper'', although ''New York Executive'' and ''Washington Executive'' were also employed. Amtrak ended the service on August 19, 1994, because of equipment shortages.

MBTA crash

On December 12, 1990, the ''Night Owl'' was involved in what was then the most serious accident in the history of the

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

(MBTA). While under the direction of an apprentice engineer, the ''Night Owl'' entered a curve near

Back Bay station Back Bay station (also signed as Back Bay · South End) is an intermodal passenger station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located just south of Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. It serves MBTA Commuter Rail and ...

in Boston at excessive speed. The train derailed and struck an MBTA

Stoughton Line The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Provi ...

commuter train Commuter rail or suburban rail is a passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Commuter rail systems can use locomotive-hauled tr ...

on a different track. 453 people were injured, although no fatalities resulted. The crash wrecked the two

EMD F40PH The EMD F40PH is a four-axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in several variants from 1975 to 1992. Intended for use on Amtrak's short-haul passenger routes, it became the backbone of Amtrak's ...

diesel locomotives A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

which were hauling the train, a material-handling car (carrying express freight), a

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 ...

, and two Amfleet coaches.

Replacement

In 1995 Amtrak applied the ''NortheastDirect'' branding to all intercity services on the Northeast Corridor, save long-distance trains, the New York-Philadelphia '' Clockers'', and the premium '' Metroliners''. The schedule remained the same and timetables still showed the ''Night Owl'' name underneath the "Northeast Direct" brand. The ''Night Owl'' made its last run on July 10, 1997. Losses were high and its equipment was outdated. Amtrak relaunched the service as the ''

''. The train carried

Viewliner The Viewliner is a single-level railroad car type operated by Amtrak on most long-distance routes operating east of Chicago. The first production cars, consisting of an order of 50 sleeping cars, entered service in 1994. From 2015–2016, 70 Vi ...

sleeping cars, replacing

Heritage Fleet Amtrak's Heritage Fleet consisted of the rolling stock provided to it when it assumed passenger service on commercial railroads. The name was applied to a 1977–1983 program that converted the older, mainly streamliner cars (rail), streamlined ...

equipment, and a first class-only lounge called the "Twilight Lounge". The train's southern terminus was extended from Washington to

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

. Dave Nogar, then Amtrak's general manager for ''NortheastDirect'' services, reflected that "Anyone who rode the ''Night Owl'' knows it was a rather unique experience. Now we have a deluxe overnight train."

References

External links