Chesapeake Ohio Passenger Service 1847-1971

by Thomas W. Dixon

This book by T. W. Dixon. Jr.. details the whole history of passenger train service on the CO. Beginning with the Virginia Central in the 1840s and ending with Amtrak’s takeover in 1971. much of the information has never before been published. Especially during the 1920-1971 period. the era of the heavyweight steel passenger equipment and the lightweight streamlined cars. the heaviest and most powerful steam locomotives. and the iconic E8 diesels – a wealth of detail. Mail. express. dining car. sleeping car. and ancillary service are covered. as well as motive power. cars. schedules. consists. methods of operation. stations. staff/personnel. advertising. and all the elements that went to make the CO’s passenger trains not only highly efficient. greatly successful. widely known. and well respected. Though passengers accounted for only 5% of CO’s revenue in the mid-20th century era. the company lavished a great deal of attention on it. The feeling was that. to truly be a first class railway. CO had to have the very best passenger service. Innovations starting in the 1880s and leading up into the 1950s. put CO at the forefront of passenger service development from an operational and technological viewpoint. In the final decades CO absorbed the passenger losses in the belief that the passenger train was the best advertising that it could have.