The Midnight Special was the name of a passenger train formerly operated by the Chicago and Alton Railroad and its successor, the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The train departed Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri, at 11:30 p.m. nightly and arrived at Union Station in Chicago, Illinois, at 7 a.m. the following day. In the heyday of overnight travel, from 1920 through the end of World War II, the Midnight Specials were all Pullman Co. trains carrying no coaches and as many as 12 sleeping cars.
On December 29/30, 1968, the Midnight Special carried 19 passengers on the last Pullman sleeping car trip between Chicago, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri. Operations of the Pullman Company sleeper cars ceased and all leases were terminated on December 31, 1968. On January 1, 1969, the Pullman Company was dissolved and all assets were liquidated. (The most visible result on many railroads, including Union Pacific, was that the Pullman name was removed from the letterboard of all Pullman-owned cars.) An auction of all Pullman remaining assets was held at the Pullman plant in Chicago in early 1970. The Pullman, Inc., company remained in place until 1981 or 1982 to close out all remaining liabilities and claims, operating from an office in Denver. The Midnight Special made its final run on April 30, 1971, although Amtrak continued several other passenger trains over the same route traversed by the Midnight Special.
This Midnight Special is not the same train as in the famous Lead Belly song "Midnight Special". Although later versions place the locale of the song near Houston, early versions such as "Walk Right In Belmont" (Wilmer Watts; Frank Wilson, 1927) and "North Carolina Blues" (Roy Martin, 1930) — both essentially the same song as "Midnight Special" — place it in North Carolina. Most of the early versions, however, have no particular location. Only one recording, collected by the Lomaxes at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, actually identifies the railroad operating the Midnight Special — the Illinois Central which had a route through Mississippi. More likely the song refers to the Missouri Pacific's Houston to New Orleans train called the Houstonian which departed Houston's Union Station shortly before midnight.
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midnight, special, train, midnight, special, name, passenger, train, formerly, operated, chicago, alton, railroad, successor, gulf, mobile, ohio, railroad, train, departed, union, station, louis, missouri, nightly, arrived, union, station, chicago, illinois, f. The Midnight Special was the name of a passenger train formerly operated by the Chicago and Alton Railroad and its successor the Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad The train departed Union Station in St Louis Missouri at 11 30 p m nightly and arrived at Union Station in Chicago Illinois at 7 a m the following day In the heyday of overnight travel from 1920 through the end of World War II the Midnight Specials were all Pullman Co trains carrying no coaches and as many as 12 sleeping cars Midnight SpecialOverviewService typeInter city railStatusDiscontinuedLocaleIllinoisLast serviceApril 30 1971Former operator s Alton Railroad Gulf Mobile amp Ohio RailroadRouteTerminiSt Louis MissouriChicago IllinoisDistance travelled284 mi 457 km TechnicalTrack gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Midnight Special train news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message On December 29 30 1968 the Midnight Special carried 19 passengers on the last Pullman sleeping car trip between Chicago Illinois and St Louis Missouri Operations of the Pullman Company sleeper cars ceased and all leases were terminated on December 31 1968 On January 1 1969 the Pullman Company was dissolved and all assets were liquidated The most visible result on many railroads including Union Pacific was that the Pullman name was removed from the letterboard of all Pullman owned cars An auction of all Pullman remaining assets was held at the Pullman plant in Chicago in early 1970 The Pullman Inc company remained in place until 1981 or 1982 to close out all remaining liabilities and claims operating from an office in Denver The Midnight Special made its final run on April 30 1971 although Amtrak continued several other passenger trains over the same route traversed by the Midnight Special This Midnight Special is not the same train as in the famous Lead Belly song Midnight Special Although later versions place the locale of the song near Houston early versions such as Walk Right In Belmont Wilmer Watts Frank Wilson 1927 and North Carolina Blues Roy Martin 1930 both essentially the same song as Midnight Special place it in North Carolina Most of the early versions however have no particular location Only one recording collected by the Lomaxes at the Mississippi State Penitentiary actually identifies the railroad operating the Midnight Special the Illinois Central which had a route through Mississippi More likely the song refers to the Missouri Pacific s Houston to New Orleans train called the Houstonian which departed Houston s Union Station shortly before midnight References edit nbsp This United States train or rolling stock related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Midnight Special train amp oldid 1115903879, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
