Cape Codder (NH train)
{{Short description|Defunct passenger train in the United States}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox rail service
| name = Cape Codder
| image = The New Haven Goes Back To Cape Cod - 1960 advertisement.jpg
| image_width = 300px
| caption = 1960 advertisement for the Day Cape Codder and Neptune
| type = Inter-city rail
| status = Discontinued
| locale = Northeastern United States
| predecessor =
| first = July 3, 1925
| last = September 13, 1964
| successor = Cape Codder (Amtrak)
| formeroperator = New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
| ridership =
| ridership2 =
| start = New York, New York
| stops =
| end = Hyannis, Massachusetts, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
| distance = {{convert|261.5|mi|km}} (New York–Hyannis)
{{convert|255|mi|km}} (New York–Woods Hole)
| journeytime =
| frequency =
| trainnumber =
| class =
| seating = Coaches (Day Cape Codder, Night Cape Codder)
| sleeping = Roomettes, open sections, double bedrooms, drawing rooms and compartments (Night Cape Codder)
| catering = Dining car (Day Cape Codder)
| observation = Parlor car (Day Cape Codder)
| entertainment =
| baggage =
| otherfacilities =
| map = {{NH Cape Codder}}
| map_state = collapsed
}}
The Cape Codder was a pair of day and night passenger trains run by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH) from the latter 1920s to the mid 1960s, with some brief interruptions. Its distinction was the longest tenure of direct summertime New York City to Cape Cod trains. With the improvement of highways in southeastern Massachusetts, passenger rail traffic diminished, and the Cape Codder service ended with the New Haven Railroad's discontinuing of passenger rail service to Cape Cod.
History
File:Depot Square and Railroad Station, Hyannis, Cape Cod, Mass..jpg, ca. 1945–1950.]]
The Cape Codder began operating on July 3, 1925 – the first through train between New York City and Cape Cod – providing overnight sleeper service during the summer season.{{Cite journal |jstor=43504499 |title=Dates of Some of the Principal Events in the History of 100 Years of the Railroad in New England. 1826-1926 |first=Warren |last=Jacobs |date=October 1928 |journal=Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin |publisher=Railway and Locomotive Historical Society |volume=17 |issue=17 |pages=15–28}} The eastbound train ran to Hyannis on Friday nights, with the westbound return to Grand Central Terminal in New York on Sunday nights.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121783653/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/ |title='The Cape Codder' [advertisement] |author=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |newspaper=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=June 25, 1925 |page=31 |via=Newspapers.com}} A section serving Woods Hole, with a New England Steamship Company connection for Martha's Vineyard, was added for the 1926 season. The two sections ran combined between New York and {{stl|NYNH&H|Buzzards Bay}}.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121786904/the-boston-globe/ |title=Improved Service Boston--Cape Cod [advertisement] |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=July 6, 1926 |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}
By 1930, the Woods Hole section operated as a separate train, while the Hyannis section had through sleeping car service to/from Washington, D.C., which connected with the train at New Haven, Connecticut. Both trains operated only with Pullman sleepers and no coaches. The westbound Hyannis section combined at {{stl|NYNH&H|Yarmouth}} with a train from {{stl|NYNH&H|Provincetown}} carrying a sleeper for New York, but the eastbound train only had a bus connection to Provincetown. The Woods Hole section ran combined with the Harpooner, a 1929-introduced New York–Newport/New Bedford train with a Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket steamship connection at New Bedford Wharf.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121818785/daily-news/ |title=Weekend Sleeping Car Train to New Bedford Fall River Newport [advertisement] |author=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |newspaper=Daily News |date=August 6, 1929 |page=111 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121818818/daily-news/ |title=Cape Cod [advertisement] |author=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |newspaper=Daily News |date=July 11, 1930 |page=297 |via=Newspapers.com}}
The Provincetown train was dropped for the 1931 season, but both Provincetown and Chatham bus connections were available. Both branches of the Cape Codder plus the Harpooner operated as a single train, with New Bedford the primary connecting point for steamships.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121818270/daily-news/ |title=Cape Cod [advertisement] |newspaper=Daily News |author=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |date=June 10, 1931 |page=398 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Harpooner was discontinued by 1933, with Woods Hole again the steamship transfer point.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121818307/daily-news/ |title=Cape Cod [advertisement] |newspaper=Daily News |author=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |date=June 11, 1933 |page=73 |via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1937, the NH inaugurated the Day Cape Codder which would travel daily from New York City to the Woods Hole and the Hyannis branches. The New Haven's Night Cape Codder provided the night train service to the same branches on Cape Cod (daily except Sunday eastbound, and daily except Friday and Saturday westbound). Similar to the earlier incarnation, the Night Cape Codder also ran in an express fashion, bypassing Stamford and only stopping at New Haven before stopping again in Wareham. The NH at this time ran additional daytime trains operating only on Fridays, Cape Cod bound, and Sundays, westbound, the Islander and Neptune. The Islander only served the Woods Hole branch. All of the daytime trains offered dining car and grill car service.{{cite book |last=Lynch |first=Peter E. |year=2005 |title=New Haven Railroad Passenger Trains |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |pages=119–122 |isbn=978-0-7603-2288-8}}{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723064744/https://www.capenews.net/the_enterprise_archives/railroad/new-york-trains-to-stop/article_eb6cea62-0da0-11e7-9f0b-eba88dc8db11.html |archive-date=July 23, 2020 |newspaper=The Enterprise |title=New York Trains To Stop |date=February 2, 1965 |url=https://www.capenews.net/the_enterprise_archives/railroad/new-york-trains-to-stop/article_eb6cea62-0da0-11e7-9f0b-eba88dc8db11.html}}New Haven Railroad timetable, June 25, 1939, Table A
Several lightly-used stations including {{stl|NYNH&H|Middleborough}}, {{stl|NYNH&H|Onset}}, {{stl|NYNH&H|Gray Gables}}, {{stl|NYNH&H|West Falmouth}}, {{stl|NYNH&H|Sagamore}}, and {{stl|NYNH&H|Barnstable}} were dropped in the 1930s and 1940s, while {{stl|NYNH&H|Attleboro}} was added.{{cite book |title=Time Tables |title-link=:commons:File:Cape Cod pages from 1930 timetable.pdf |date=June 9, 1930 |publisher=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |via=Wikimedia Commons}}{{cite book |title=Cape Cod, Marthas Vineyard, Nantucket, and how to get there |title-link=:commons:File:1937 New York–Cape Cod timetable.pdf |date=June 21, 1937 |publisher=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |via=Wikimedia Commons}}{{cite book |title=Air Conditioned Day and Night Trains to Cape Cod |title-link=:commons:File:1938 New York–Cape Cod timetable.pdf |date=June 1, 1938 |publisher=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |via=Wikimedia Commons}}{{cite book |title=Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard |title-link=:commons:File:1940 New York–Cape Cod timetable.pdf |date=July 21, 1940 |publisher=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |via=Wikimedia Commons}}
During World War II the New Haven suspended the Night Cape Codder,New Haven Railroad timetable, May 24, 1942, Table A and from 1943 to 1945 it also suspended the Islander and Neptune trains. The Day Cape Codder was suspended during 1945 when railroad equipment was needed for transporting returning soldiers.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} The Day Cape Codder and Neptune returned in 1946, while the Night Cape Codder and its sleeper cars returned for the summer 1948 season.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121822018/the-boston-globe/ |title=Cape Codders Geared for Season |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=May 16, 1948 |page=76 |via=Newspapers.com}}
The Neptune and the Night Cape Codder only operated on Fridays eastbound and Sundays westbound.New Haven Railroad timetable, June 2, 1946, Tables 29, 30New Haven Railroad timetable, April 25, 1948, Tables 29, 30 The Night Cape Codder for most of its years had the open sections and private bedrooms. By summer, 1955 the train included modern roomettes as well.{{cite book |title=THE SCENIC SHORELINE ROUTE SERVING NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND |date=April 24, 1955 |title-link=:commons:File:New Haven Railroad 1955 timetable.pdf |publisher=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |pages=6, 36, 37 |chapter=Table 29: New York to Cape Cod-Martha's Vineyard-Nantucket |via=Wikimedia Commons}}
The New Haven ended all Old Colony Division passenger service on July 1, 1959, when the state of Massachusetts did not resume a temporary subsidy. New York–Cape Cod service did not operate that summer.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121956183/the-boston-globe/ |title=N.H. Issues Warning: Subsidy End May Affect N.Y. to Cape Cod Trains |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=April 17, 1959 |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121956206/the-journal/ |title='NH' Will Not Resume Summer Trains To Cape |newspaper=The Journal |location=Meriden, Connecticut |date=June 11, 1959 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} However, for the 1960 to 1964 summer seasons, the Day Cape Codder and the Neptune would return. Amtrak operated the New York–Cape Cod Cape Codder, similar to the New Haven's service, from 1986 to 1996.{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419013859/http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970511/NEWS/305119962&cid=sitesearch/ |archive-date=April 19, 2014 |title=Amtrak cancels NYC-Cape Cod train |url=http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970511/NEWS/305119962&cid=sitesearch/ |newspaper=The Standard-Times |location=New Bedford |agency=Associated Press |date=May 11, 1997}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{NH named trains}}
Category:Named passenger trains of the United States
Category:Passenger trains of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
Category:Passenger rail transportation in Rhode Island
Category:Passenger rail transportation in Massachusetts
Category:Passenger rail transportation in Connecticut
Category:Passenger rail transportation in New York (state)