Passenger Trains

C&X Timetable 1853

9/8/1924

This timetable lists 6 main trains a day that served Cedarville.
235 - Probably a Cincy-Columbus local.
1219 - Cincinnati Express, ran daily from New York to Cincy.
33 - Panhandle Express, ran from New York to Chicago.

53 - The Cincy Limited, a top level train competing with NYC's Ohio State Limited, the main train between New York and Cincinnati. Tickets were $2.40 to Cincy, an inflation adjusted $45

1227 - Cincinnati Commercial Express - daily New York - Cincy, intended for business travellers.

The trains on the other half of the schedule were simply the same trains, just headed in the reverse direction.

9/25/1927

1929

[11]

11/1/1931

4/25/1937

1933

12/6/1942

2/12/1945

12/1/1946

2/29/1948

By early 1948, Cedarville no longer is listed on public timetables and presumably loses its passenger service entirely.

1952 Timetable

Similar story.

Former Named Passenger Trains

Pennsylvania Years

Spirit of St Louis power at Dayton Union Station. (Roger Puta) [29]

Spirit of St. Louis

Named trains #30/31, ran between New York and St Louis. Ran from June 15th 1927 through Penn Central and Amtrak until replacement by the National Limited in 1971.

The Cincinnati Limited at Altoona (Roger Puta) [33]

Cincinnati Limited

The premiere train that ran from New York to Cincinnati. It was noted for its lightweight, highspeed service, surviving up until the creation of Amtrak.

Penn Texas at Dayton OH (Mike Condren) [32]

Penn Texas

The Penn Texas, via the MoPac, was a train that ran from New York, interchanging at St Louis all the way to Texas.

The Jeffersonian at St Louis. (Jim Hinkhouse) [30]

The Jeffersonian

An all coach passenger train containing a highly unique recreation car that included a movie theatre. Ran between New York, D.C, and St Louis.

The American at St Louis. [31]

The American

Formerly the premier competitor the B&O's Capital Limited, ran from 1925 until 1956 until its importance was diminished by other trains.

Penn Central

Spirit of St Louis at Terre Haute, IN

Spirit of St Louis

The Spirit of St Louis was one of the few that survived the merger, and was moved to the premiere passenger train over the Cincinnati Limited.

Combined Penn Texas and Cincy Limited, Columbus, Ohio, Day before Amtrak, 4/30/71 [34]

Cincinnati Limited

The once proud Cincy Limited was dowgraded to only a few coaches and locomotives, to the point where it would often be combined with other trains headed west. [33]

Penn Texas at Scioto Tower, Columbus, Ohio, 6/20/70 [34]

Penn Texas

Survived the merger, but wouldn't survive the budget cuts. Cut back to St Louis, West Only, on June 30, 1970 and was cut completely that September.

Amtrak Era

National Limited

The last National Limited in Indianapolis.

The last National Limited arrives in Dayton.

[35]

Amtrak's attempt at keeping the service alive took the Spirit of St Louis, the failing Penn Central train, and designated it to run between New York and Kansas City. Newly rechristened the National Limited, an ex-B&O train, entered service July 1971. The content of the route suggested a decently profitable operation, but the deferred maintanence and no help from the federal government towards the ailing roads left ex-PRR trackage in the midwest ranging from bad to worse. The train declined in quality and being on time, accelerated by the budget cuts under the Carter administration, ran its last train on October 1, 1979. Columbus to this day is the second largest American city served by no passenger rail. The National Limited was one of the trains set to be inspected to determine if route restoration is possible in 2022, and proposals exist to reconnect Columbus with a passenger train, but as of 2024, nothing exists solidly.

The National Limited leaves Dayton in 1978. [36]

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