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New Jersey Railroad Information
New Jersey Railroad Information
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The Phoebe Snow (DL&W) The Phoebe Snow was more then just the marquee train for the DL&W, she was the image of the railroad. Even during the time that the train wasn't running, the name and face still appeared in advertising and on box cars.
Click on promo to see full sized image (126K) The Phoebe snow first began
as an advertising campaign. In the early 1900s, the Lackawanna
wanted to draw attention to the fact that they burned only clean
anthracite coal on the passenger runs. So, they invented clever
jingles and promoted a model dressed all in white to advertise
this:
During WWII, the image was used again. This time, new rolling stock carried the new slogan "The Route of Phoebe Snow". In the Post WWII slip in passenger traffic, the DL&W was looking for a way to attract passengers. Someone came up with the clever idea of using Phoebe Snow. And, on 11/15/1949, the Phoebe Snow made her first run from Hoboken, NJ to Buffalo, NY, replacing the Lackawanna Limited. A substantial investment was made on this original train. The original power was 5 A-B-A FP-7s. This was later replaced by A-A E-8s (The Lackawanna never owned an E-8 B Unit). The cars were ordered just for this train. The order include 15 coaches, 10 Pullman coaches, 9 sleepers, 2 dinners and 2 observation cars. The 10 Pullman cars were numbered 316-325 and were named:
The real Phoebe Snow ended in the merger between the DL&W and the Erie in 1961. The name was later revived briefly during the E-L days, but it was not the same train. I'm sorry to say, that I don't know what happened to any of the cars in this set. The Lackawanna Limited: 1883-1949 The Phoebe Snow: 1949-1961 |
