Cleveland Night Express

{{Infobox rail service

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| name = Cleveland Night Express

| logo =

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| type = Inter-city rail

| status = Discontinued

| locale = Mid-West/Mid-Atlantic

| predecessor =

| first = 1915

| last = 1962

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| operator =

| formeroperator = Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

| ridership =

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| start = Baltimore, Maryland

| stops =

| end = Cleveland, Ohio

| distance = {{convert|194.2|mi|km}} (1960)

| journeytime =

| frequency = Daily

| trainnumber = 17 (westbound)
18 (eastbound)

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| seating = Reclining seat coach

| sleeping = Roomettes, double bedrooms (1960)

| autorack =

| catering = Lounge car

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Image:B&O Cleveland Night Express route.png

The Cleveland Night Express was an American named train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Baltimore, Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The B&O inaugurated the Cleveland Night Express in 1915. Its discontinuation in 1962 marked the end of B&O passenger service to Cleveland.

History

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chartered in 1827 and grew to be one of the largest passenger railways in the United States, often by acquiring other, smaller railroads. In Cleveland the B&O purchased two local companies, the Cleveland Lorain & Wheeling Railroad and the Cleveland, Terminal & Valley Railway in 1915.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Vantassel|first=David D.|author2=John J. Grabowski|title=The BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|url=http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=BOR|accessdate=2007-11-19|archive-date=2006-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908010201/http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=BOR|url-status=dead}}

From 1915 until 1962 the B&O provided overnight sleeping car service between Baltimore and Cleveland on the Cleveland Night Express. After June 1934, the Cleveland Night Express used Cleveland's Union Terminal as its passenger station. At times in this period, the train was called the Baltimore-Washington-Cleveland Express westbound and Cleveland-Washington-Baltimore Express.Official Guide of the Railways, May 1946, Baltimore & Ohio section

On February 7, 1956, the train had four passenger cars overturn in a sudden rockslide near McKeesport, Pennsylvania, no deaths occurred with only one injured.{{cite news |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=Feb 7, 1981 |title=It Happened Feb. 7 |first=John |last=Place |page=A-2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lcUdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=51wEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1858%2C2593136}}

Decline and end of the train

In 1962, as railroad passenger traffic was declining nationwide, the B&O discontinued the Cleveland Night Express on December 7, 1962, which ended all B&O passenger service to Ohio's largest city at the time, Cleveland.

Stations

class="wikitable"

! Station

! State

Washington (Union Station)

|District of Columbia

Harpers Ferry (B&O Station)

|rowspan="2"|West Virginia

Martinsburg

Cumberland

|Maryland

Connellsville

|rowspan="3"|Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh (P&L.E. Station)

New Castle

Youngstown (B&O Station)

|rowspan="3"|Ohio

Akron (Union Station)

Cleveland (Cleveland Union Terminal)

Schedule and equipment

In 1961, the westbound Cleveland Night Express departed Union Station (Washington, D.C.) at 9:20 p.m. daily as train No. 17, arriving in Cleveland the following morning at 8:45 a.m., equipped with a Pullman sleeping car, coaches, and a lounge car having a snack bar serving what B&O described in its timetable as a "light breakfast" prior to arrival.Baltimore & Ohio Railroad — Passenger Train Schedules, October 29, 1961.

The westbound Cleveland Night Express train No. 17 made the following principal station stops, with a connecting Budd Rail Diesel Car departing at 8:10 p.m. from Baltimore, Maryland:

class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"

! City

! Departure time

style="background-color:#BFE4FF"

| {{spaces|5}} Washington, D.C. (Union Station)

| {{spaces|6}} 9:20 p.m.

style="background-color:#BFE4FF"

| {{spaces|5}} Silver Spring, Maryland (B&O station)

| {{spaces|6}} 9:35 p.m.

style="background-color:#BFE4FF"

| {{spaces|5}} Harpers Ferry, West Virginia{{spaces|4}}

| {{spaces|4}} 10:29 p.m.