Grand Central Terminal
87 E. 42nd St.
Opened 1913, replacing earlier station at same location built in 1871
Number of station tracks: 42 upper level/25 lower level/stub and some loop
Interlocked switches controlled as follows:
Signal Station A (50th St.): controlled the immediate upper level station area
Signal Station B (50th St.): controlled the immediate lower level station area
Signal Station C (48th St.): controlled upper level storage tracks
Signal Station F (loop tracks): controlled loop tracks both levels
Signal Station U (57th St.): controlled convergence of tracks from both levels
Pennsylvania Station
8th Ave. and 31st St.
Opened 1910, replacing earlier ferry station in Jersey City, remodeled 1964
Number of station tracks: 21 mostly through/some stub
Interlocked switches controlled as follows:
Tower A (9th Ave.): controlled the west end of the station
Tower C (7th Ave.): controlled the east end of the station/33rd St. Tunnels
Tower JO (7th Ave.): controlled the east end of the station/32nd St. Tunnels
Tower KN (8th Ave.): controlled access to yard northwest of the station
Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal were and still are the main two stations actually in Manhattan.
(Grand Central Terminal)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 61 Seneca Utica 12:15 43 South Shore Express Chicago 2:00 12:40 199 Albany 2:40 9 Mail Buffalo 4:45 95 6:35 107 Syracuse Local Syracuse 7:10 7 1:45 5 North Adams 8:43 51 Empire State Express Cleveland 8:50 8:00 71 8:30 55 Central Express Syracuse 9:00 143 Laurentian Montreal 9:15 55 8:05 5 Mohawk Chicago 9:30 93 Albany 10:45 81 10:30 39 North Shore Limited Det.-Chicago 12:25 11:15 73 12:30 41 Knickerbocker St. Louis 2:20 2:30 161 Albany 3:48 83 2:30 15 North Adams 4:05 15 Ohio State Limited Cincinnati 4:10 4:00 37 Adv. Com. Vanderbilt Chicago 4:20 67 Commodore Vanderbilt Chicago 4:30 4:30 75 4:30 367 Upstate Special Utica 4:40 167 3:45 1 Pacemaker Chicago 5:20 3:00 23 Albany Express Albany 5:23 25 20th Century Limited Chicago 6:00 5:00 17 Wolverine Det.-Chicago 6:05 5:15 19 Lake Shore Limited Chicago 6:35 5:45 47 Detroiter Detroit 7:00 7:00 31 Albany 7:40 127 7:30 61 6:30 11 Southwestern Limited St. Louis 8:00 57 7:20 85 8:30 57 Cleveland Limited Chicago 8:05 59 10:05 21 Lake Erie Cleveland 8:15 29 Niagara Buffalo 8:50 35 Fast Mail Detroit 10:40 99 10:35 65 Montreal Limited Montreal 11:15 61 10:25 59 Iroquois Chicago 11:30 35 9:35 63 10:30 63 Genesee Buffalo 11:50 163 Cayuga Rochester 11:59Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 32 Mail Albany 4:45 52 4:30 36 Genesee Syracuse 6:15 30 Iroquois Buffalo 6:22 44 New York Special Det.-Chicago 7:10 7:10 62 Montreal Limited Montreal 7:23 6:40 6 Fifth Avenue Special Chicago 7:30 6:55 64 7:00 48 Detroiter Detroit 7:40 7:15 82 Ontarian Buffalo 7:50 58 7:45 2 Pacemaker Chicago 8:15 8:45 66 Adv. Com. Vanderbilt Albany 8:30 8 Wolverine Det.-Chicago 8:45 9:30 16 Ohio State Limited Cincinnati 8:50 8:20 26 20th Century Limited Chicago 9:00 8:30 68 Commodore Vanderbilt Chicago 9:15 8:00 168 Hudson River Express Albany 10:45 80 12:00 154 Albany 10:48 11:45 62 10:00 10 Water Level Limited Chicago 11:20 138 11:05 14 North Adams 11:50 24 Knickerbocker St. Louis 12:20 12:40 142 Cayuga Buffalo 2:15 22 Lake Shore Limited Chicago 2:40 1:15 54 Mohawk Troy 4:30 40 North Shore Limited Det.-Chicago 5:10 38 5:27 70 2:00 38 Missourian St. Louis 6:25 40 5:35 82 4:00 90 Forest City Chicago 7:35 7:05 72 6:00 22 North Adams 7:45 144 Laurentian Montreal 7:50 7:45 34 Seneca Syracuse 9:17 50 Empire State Express Cleveland 9:40 9:30 74 10:00 134 Albany 9:55 56 10:56 84 8:00 56 DeWitt Clinton Buffalo 11:55 96 8:45Passenger service retained by Amtrak in 1971.
Not listed are commuter trains, which continue to operate.
(Grand Central Terminal)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 56 New York-Boston Exp. Boston 12:00 12:15 2 Owl Boston 12:30 12:30 4 Narragansett Boston 12:45 12:45 64 Hartford 6:00 62 6:10 66 Springfield 7:00 64 7:00 6 Bunker Hill Boston 8:00 7:30 140 Pittsfield 8:15 8:12 8 Mayflower Boston 9:00 8:00 50 New York-Boston Exp. Boston 9:10 70 Springfield 9:30 66 9:30 10 Bay State Boston 10:00 12 10:00 68 Springfield 10:35 14 Bostonian Boston 12:00 12:00 54 New York-Boston Exp. Boston 12:10 12:30 22 Yankee Clipper Boston 1:00 1:00 72 Springfield 1:40 76 1:48 78 Springfield 2:30 20 Puritan Boston 3:00 3:00 144 Berkshire Express Pittsfield 3:40 5:27 24 Shoreliner Boston 4:00 60 Springfield 4:00 58 New York-Boston Exp. Boston 4:10 4:07 26 Merchants Limited Boston 5:00 5:00 80 Connecticut R. Exp. White River J 5:10 5:05 28 Gilt Edge Boston 6:00 6:00 86 Nathan Hale Springfield 6:10 6:05 90 Springfield 8:00 46 Commander Boston 8:00 124 State of Maine Exp. Portland 9:00 10:15Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 97 Springfield 12:40 12:48 389 Pilgrim Boston 2:12 99 Springfield 5:00 5:18 3 Owl Boston 6:10 6:15 5 Narragansett Boston 7:00 11:30 125 State of Maine Exp. Portland 7:20 7:30 55 New York Express Boston 8:14 6:54 67 Bankers Springfield 9:25 9:27 69 Nathan Hale Springfield 10:25 10:27 141 Berkshire Express Pittsfield 11:35 11:46 71 Springfield 11:40 12:20 7 Murray Hill Boston 12:55 9 12:15 75 Springfield 1:55 1:08 11 Park Avenue Boston 2:45 2:30 77 Springfield 3:48 13 42nd Street Express Boston 3:55 4:45 23 Yankee Clipper Boston 5:35 5:15 53 New York Express Boston 5:58 5:59 143 Mahaiwe Pittsfield 6:12 6:16 79 Springfield 6:35 6:52 15 New Yorker Boston 7:00 6:30 83 Hartford 7:45 85 White Mountains Exp. Berlin NH 7:55 83 7:14 27 Merchants Limited Boston 9:20 9:15 85 Springfield 9:27 29 Gilt Edge Boston 9:45 8:50 59 Boston-New York Exp. Boston 10:05 10:55 33 Pershing Square Boston 11:45 45 11:10Intercity passenger service discontinued in 1970.
Not listed are commuter trains, which continue to operate.
Traditionally, New Haven Railroad trains between New York and Boston used Grand Central Terminal. The 1917 opening of the Hell Gate Bridge line, made it possible for New Haven Railroad trains to use Pennsylvania Station in New York as an alternate route. For many years, this alternate route was primarily used by through trains using the Pennsylvania Railroad line serving Philadelphia and Washington. With the 1971 creation of Amtrak, Pennsylvania Station and the Hell Gate Bridge line were adopted for all trains between New York and Boston. While commuter trains continued to use Grand Central Terminal, now operated by Metro North.
But during the few years prior to the 1971 creation of Amtrak, the merged Penn Central Railroad operated the trains. And there was not always a clear distinction between intercity and commuter trains serving Grand Central Terminal. The final Penn Central timetables show trains from both New York stations, but generally as combined between New Haven and Boston. The timetables did not make it clear whether a change of trains was required at New Haven. If Grand Central Terminal passengers were required to change, they could have easily been commuter trains between Grand Central Terminal and New Haven.
(Pennsylvania Station)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 11 Harrisburg 12:01 61 Pittsburgher Pittsburgh 12:05 11:00 101 New York-Washington Washington 12:30 11:25 103 Edison Washington 12:50 107 Washington 1:15 12:30 13 St. Louis 3:20 2:45 173 Federal Washington 4:05 2:50 177 3:23 253 Philadelphia 5:20 4:05 131 Morn. Congressional Washington 5:30 6:30 187 Quaker Philadelphia 6:00 5:00 255 Philadelphia 6:50 5:50 201 Philadelphia 6:00 7:00 203 Philadelphia 7:00 7:00 109 Speaker Washington 7:30 7:35 101 7:30 25 Metropolitan Pittsburgh 8:00 7:05 7:35 257 Philadelphia 8:05 6:45 111 Legislator Washington 8:30 6:30 103 8:30 169 Washingtonian Washington 8:35 7:30 205 Philadelphia 8:00 207 Philadelphia 9:00 9:00 8:33 115 President Washington 9:30 8:30 133 8:00 209 Philadelphia 10:00 211 11:00 211 11:45 121 Sun Queen Tampa 10:30 9:30 135 9:30 75 Duquesne Pittsburgh 11:00 259 1:10 123 Potomac Washington 11:30 10:30 137 10:45 213 Philadelphia 12:00 12:00 2:00 125 Representative Washington 12:30 11:30 105 11:30 127 West Coast Champion Tampa 12:50 195 3:40 145 3:10 pm 215 Philadelphia 1:00 129 Executive Washington 1:30 1:15 107 1:00 33 St. Louisan St. Louis 1:45 11:10 am 261 Philadelphia 1:55 2:15 215 4:30 217 Philadelphia 2:00 113 Silver Meteor Miami 2:05 2:50 143 2:10 175 Colonial Washington 2:30 12:45 171 12:45 pm 149 Crescent New Orleans 2:35 2:00 5 Pennsylvania Limited Chicago 2:50 55 11:30 55 9:25 pm 219 Philadelphia 3:00 3:00 4:00 pm 263 Philadelphia 3:20 4:05 5:06 155 Embassy Washington 3:30 4:30 109 4:15 105 East Coast Champion Miami 3:55 2:25 221 Philadelphia 4:00 4:00 5:00 71 Admiral Chicago 4:05 153 Aft. Congressional Washington 4:30 3:30 111 5:00 157 Southerner New Orleans 4:35 4:25 49 General Chicago 4:40 4:10 69 Red Arrow Detroit 4:45 41 Cincinnati Limited Cincinnati 4:55 5:25 223 Philadelphia 5:00 5:00 5:30 271 Philadelphia 5:08 77 Trail Blazer Chicago 5:25 1 5:10 177 Senator Washington 5:30 2:45 173 3:00 29 Broadway Limited Chicago 6:00 5:00 49 4:55 225 Philadelphia 6:00 6:00 6:00 31 Spirit Of St. Louis St. Louis 6:05 5:45 4:05 65 Jeffersonian St. Louis 6:15 137 Arlington Washington 6:30 5:30 155 7:30 23 Manhattan Limited Chicago 6:45 1:05 pm 1:30 pm 139 Peach Queen Atlanta 6:55 227 Philadelphia 7:00 7:00 143 Mount Vernon Washington 7:30 7:30 139 6:30 275 Philadelphia 7:45 265 7:25 9 Akronite Akron 7:50 171 Patriot Washington 7:55 6:50 175 5:45 229 Philadelphia 8:00 8:00 39 Clevelander Cleveland 8:05 7:15 147 Constitution Washington 8:30 67 American St. Louis 8:35 3 7:50 449 Cavalier Cape Charles 9:00 231 9:00 183 Pilgrim Philadelphia 9:30 159 Palmland Miami 10:00 151 Washington 10:05 135 9:30 113 8:30 141 Havana Special Miami 10:15 8:45 147 9:00 37 Iron City Express Pittsburgh 10:35 233 Philadelphia 11:00 231 11:00 189 William Penn Philadelphia 11:25 10:40 235 12:05 79 Golden Arrow Chicago 11:40Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 160 Constitution Washington 12:15 10:55 112 11:29 274 Philadelphia 12:20 178 Speaker Washington 1:10 150 12:50 46 New Englander Pittsburgh 2:10 12:45 172 Federal Washington 2:58 1:55 176 2:49 252 Philadelphia 3:03 254 7:34 162 Washington 5:45 4:35 102 Washington-New York Washington 5:50 5:00 52 New Yorker Chicago 6:35 18 4:10 110 Havana Special Miami 6:40 6:20 140 7:00 108 Piedmont Limited New Orleans 6:55 6:25 22 Manhattan Limited Chicago 7:20 6:30 7:45 254 Philadelphia 8:30 66 American St. Louis 7:25 4 7:25 4 9:20 200 Philadelphia 7:48 8:47 76 Trail Blazer Chicago 7:30 2 8:45 38 Clevelander Cleveland 8:05 7:55 60 Pittsburgher Pittsburgh 8:20 7:00 70 Admiral Chicago 8:30 50 1:40 2:00 pm 40 Cincinnati Limited Cincinnati 8:30 8:05 256 Philadelphia 8:32 8:55 9:55 202 Philadelphia 8:47 8:30 9:35 68 Red Arrow Detroit 8:50 112 Palmland Miami 8:55 9:15 30 Spirit Of St. Louis St. Louis 9:00 9:40 118 Crescent New Orleans 9:15 9:00 48 General Chicago 9:30 8:15 28 Broadway Limited Chicago 9:30 8:30 48 9:50 182 Bay State Philadelphia 9:34 204 9:30 204 10:47 260 Philadelphia 9:44 206 10:41 206 12:00 64 Jeffersonian St. Louis 9:50 104 East Coast Champion Miami 10:00 10:15 114 Silver Meteor Miami 10:35 10:25 142 10:15 am 188 Pilgrim Philadelphia 10:40 9:50 120 Potomac Washington 10:55 9:55 100 10:29 78 Pennsylvanian Chicago 11:30 122 Palmetto Limited Washington 11:30 208 Philadelphia 11:35 11:41 258 Philadelphia 11:45 11:00 124 President Washington 12:00 10:55 102 11:29 210 Philadelphia 12:35 126 Legislator Washington 12:55 12:20 12:38 212 Philadelphia 1:39 1:36 2:45 174 West Coast Champion Tampa 1:50 194 11:45 144 11:20 174 Southerner New Orleans 1:50 148 1:20 174 Colonial Washington 1:50 12:45 170 10:55 214 Philadelphia 2:37 266 Philadelphia 2:45 264 4:20 130 Judiciary Washington 3:00 2:10 3:45 216 Philadelphia 3:40 3:36 2 Pennsylvania Limited Chicago 3:45 54 5:10 54 6:15 132 Representative Washington 4:00 4:25 6:50 218 Philadelphia 4:38 4:36 4:40 176 Cotton States Spec. Washington 4:45 176 Sun Queen Tampa 4:45 130 2:10 104 2:59 176 Birmingham Special Washington 4:45 176 Senator Washington 4:45 2:45 172 1:50 54 Gotham Limited Chicago 5:15 32 3:30 272 Philadelphia 5:20 266 6:20 220 Philadelphia 5:39 5:36 6:38 142 Embassy Washington 6:00 4:45 106 3:59 72 Juniata Pittsburgh 6:10 24 10:10 16 9:25 222 Philadelphia 6:40 170 Patriot Washington 6:50 5:45 174 5:40 268 Philadelphia 7:05 7:20 152 Aft. Congressional Washington 7:35 6:35 7:55 224 Philadelphia 7:49 270 Philadelphia 8:25 2:40 am 226 Philadelphia 8:40 168 Montrealer Washington 8:50 6:50 134 Washington 8:50 108 7:29 154 Executive Washington 9:00 7:55 8:55 228 Philadelphia 9:50 156 Mount Vernon Washington 10:00 9:00 110 8:59 230 Philadelphia 11:00 158 Arlington Washington 11:25 10:15 11:35Passenger service retained by Amtrak in 1971.
Not listed are commuter trains, which continue to operate.
(Pennsylvania Station)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 178 Hell Gate Express Boston 1:30 180 7:30 am 186 New Englander Boston 2:30 2:25 182 9:30 am 172 Federal Boston 3:10 3:10 176 3:15 am 182 Penn-Bay State New Haven 9:45 184 1:00 pm 188 Pilgrim Boston 11:00 11:00 186 5:00 pm 174 Colonial Boston 2:00 2:00 170 11:25 am 176 Senator Boston 5:00 4:00 172 2:10 3002 Turbo Service Boston 4:15 170 Patriot Boston 7:00 7:00 174 6:00 168 Montrealer Montreal 9:15 8:25Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 179 Hell Gate Express Boston 2:55 187 10:50 pm 173 Federal Boston 3:53 3:35 177 2:58 am 187 Quaker Boston 5:40 5:30 181 12:00 pm 169 Washingtonian Montreal 8:15 8:00 3001 Turbo Service Boston 11:13 175 Colonial Boston 2:12 1:30 171 12:25 177 Senator Boston 5:12 3:30 173 2:40 171 Patriot Boston 7:45 7:30 175 5:25 183 Pilgrim Boston 9:15 8:13 189 William Penn Boston 11:10 11:10 185 9:30Passenger service retained by Amtrak in 1971.
(Pennsylvania Station)
Departures
No. Name 1942 Dest. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 25 Asa Packer Coxton 7:55 6:50 9 Black Diamond Buffalo 11:05 9:55 23 Lehighton 4:10 3:10 29 John Wilkes Coxton 5:31 4:31 7 Maple Leaf Buffalo 6:52 7:10 11 Star Buffalo 11:45 10:50Arrivals
No. Name 1942 Orig. 1942 Time 1956 Time 1971 Time 4 Major Buffalo 8:10 6:55 8 Maple Leaf Buffalo 9:05 8:00 24 Lehighton 9:55 8:50 28 John Wilkes Coxton 12:20 11:15 26 Asa Packer Coxton 6:35 5:40 10 Black Diamond Buffalo 8:45 7:30Passenger service discontinued in 1961.
Grand Central Terminal.
Grand Central Terminal, main hall.
Madison Square Garden was constructed over the remains of Pennsylvania Station.
Grand Central Terminal
Link to official Web site of Grand Central Terminal.
Forgotten New York
Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station (Wikipedia)
Links to Web sites containing further historical information on New York stations.
Link to a Web site containing further historical information on New York's West Side Line, which had been the original "Hudson Line" access into Manhattan.
Jersey City Exchange Place (Wikipedia)
Link to a Web site containing further historical information on the Exchange Place station and ferry terminal in Jersey City, which had been the original Pennsylvania Railroad terminal, prior to construction of Pennsylvania Station.
Railroad Terminals Serving New York City (Wikipedia)
Link to a Web site containing further information on the different historic stations in the New York City area.
Zoomable Google Maps show present and past railroads and major stations in the area. As well as at junctions, interlockings have existed on 3 and 4 track commuter lines, where trains could switch between local and express tracks.