West Virginian (Amtrak train)

This article is about the Amtrak train. For the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad train, see West Virginian (B&O train).

The West Virginian, later known as the Potomac Turbo and Potomac Special, was a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak between Washington, D.C., and Parkersburg, West Virginia. This route was previously served by the Baltimore & Ohio's (B&O) train of the same name, and was the first of several services in the state of West Virginia established at the behest of US Representative Harley Orrin Staggers (D-West Virginia), the powerful chair of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. This patronage earned the train the derisive sobriquets "Harley's Hornet" and the "Staggers Special".^[1]

West Virginian

The Potomac Special at Grafton, West Virginia in 1972
Overview
Status	Discontinued
Locale	West Virginia
First service	8 September 1971 (1971-09-08)
Last service	28 April 1973 (1973-04-28)
Successor	Blue Ridge
Former operator(s)	Amtrak
Route
Termini	Washington, D.C. Parkersburg, West Virginia
Technical
Track owner(s)	Baltimore & Ohio
Route map v t e Legend 0 mi Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Maryland 7 mi 11 km Silver Spring 49 mi 79 km Brunswick Maryland West Virginia 55 mi 89 km Harpers Ferry 73 mi 117 km Martinsburg West Virginia Maryland 146 mi 235 km Cumberland Maryland West Virginia 169 mi 272 km Keyser West Virginia Maryland 200 mi 322 km Oakland Maryland West Virginia 247 mi 398 km Grafton 270 mi 435 km Clarksburg 351 mi 565 km Parkersburg

History

West Virginian

On its startup on May 1, 1971, Amtrak did not retain any of the three B&O intercity trains then operating west of Cumberland, Maryland. Commuter services between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, West Virginia continued unaffected. The situation displeased Staggers, through whose district the B&O route ran. Responding to pressure from Staggers, Amtrak introduced the West Virginian on September 8, 1971, between Washington and Parkersburg, West Virginia.^[2] It was Amtrak's first train on the B&O.^[3] The train operated with ex-Chesapeake & Ohio Railway equipment: a 52-seat coach and a snack-bar coach.^[4]

Potomac Turbo

 

The UAC TurboTrain, seen here at Transpo '72, spent three months on the West Virginian route under the Potomac Turbo name.

On February 7, 1972, Amtrak transferred one of its two UAC TurboTrain trainsets, then on the Turboservice between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, to the Parkersburg run. Amtrak characterized this as an experiment to see how well the TurboTrain could run on a mountainous route and whether new equipment could reinvigorate ridership on a poor-performing route. Amtrak dubbed the re-equipped train the Potomac Turbo.^[5]

Critics questioned the wisdom of running the train in a region where mountains and curves limited the train to a top speed of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). Staggers was widely suspected of pressuring Amtrak to introduce the service; he denied that he had brought any pressure on Amtrak, although fellow representative Dan Kuykendall acknowledged suggesting to Amtrak officials that they "fix up West Virginia."^[6] Amtrak withdrew the equipment on May 13 to replace the other TurboTrain on the New York–Boston run. That train had, in turn, been sent to Washington for the Transpo '72 exposition.^[7]

Potomac Special

With the withdrawal of the TurboTrain conventional equipment returned to the Washington–Parkersburg run. Amtrak named this train the Potomac Special. Amtrak discontinued this train on May 5, 1973. In its place Amtrak introduced the Blue Ridge, which terminated at Martinsburg, West Virginia.^[1][8]

A later train, the Shenandoah, operated through Parkersburg to Cincinnati, Ohio. This train was introduced in 1976 and withdrawn in 1981. The Blue Ridge was transferred to MARC and continues presently as the Brunswick Line. Amtrak's Capitol Limited, a Chicago-Washington service begun in 1981, operates over the Washington-Cumberland, Maryland portion of the line.

Notes

1. Schwieterman 2001, pp. 312–315
2. Amtrak Introduces the West Virginian Railway Age September 27, 1971 page 8
3. Sanders 2006, p. 67
4. West Virginia Department of Transportation, State Rail Authority (March 12, 2013). . Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
5. "Turbotrain makes debut". Morning Herald. February 8, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved October 3, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.  
6. Lang, John (March 30, 1972). "Logic of Milk Run By Amtrak Turbo Train Is Questioned". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
7. "Turbo Train Won't Return To W.Va. Run". Daily Mail. May 26, 1972. p. 5. Retrieved October 3, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.  
8. Reynolds & Oroszi 2000, p. 126

References

• Reynolds, Kirk; Oroszi, Dave (2000). Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Osceola, WI: MBI. ISBN 0760307466. OCLC 42764520.
• Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
• Schwieterman, Joseph P. (2001). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment, Eastern United States. Kirksville, Missouri: Truman State University Press. ISBN 978-0-943549-97-2.

External links

• 1972 timetable
• Cover of 1972 Route Guide for the Potomac Turbo