Baltimore & Ohio’s Ambassador, late 1940s – late 1950s

Fred Klein, 2013

The Baltimore and Ohio railroad operated its premier passenger trains between the eastern cities of Jersey City or Baltimore, and Chicago or St Louis in the Midwest. One of its trains was the Ambassador which ran on Baltimore and Ohio rails between Baltimore and Detroit via Washington D.C. and Pittsburg PA. It often carried automobile executives from their Detroit factories to visit government offices in Washington, especially when factories made military hardware. Westbound train #19 departed Baltimore at 4:45 PM and arrived Detroit at 7:50 AM the next morning. The Ambassador started as a name train in 1930, was sometimes combined with the Columbian in 1954 for running between Washington and Willard, Ohio, was a regular section of the Columbian in 1961, and was discontinued in 1964. After world war II when the B&O ordered lightweight passenger cars for its first class trains like the Capitol Limited and National Limited, and Chicago coach trains like the Columbian, heavyweight cars became available for refurbishment and use on secondary routes. Also, more than buying new cars, most of the older cars of all types were refurbished and repainted after the war from Pullman green or solid blue into the attractive blue and gray scheme with yellow stripes. B&O came under control of the C&O in the mid 1960s, and C&O corrugated cars and C&O paint schemes appeared in B&O trains, but that is after the era represented by these trains.

 

Both steam and diesel can be used on the Ambassador during this period. I show models of both the steam-powered Baltimore-Washington train and the diesel-powered Washington-Detroit train. In the late 1940s, diesels had replaced the 4-6-2 Presidential class Pacifics between Washington and Detroit, but steam was still used between Baltimore and Washington in the early 50s. The Baltimore-Washington train was short, but sleepers, a diner and a lounge car were added in Washington to make a decent size train. This was a mixed train with both heavy and lightweight cars. Many cars are now available in N scale for this train, though several substitutions for un-available cars must be made.

 

Model Railroader magazine ran a series of articles on “pike-size passenger trains” that are short to moderate length trains of more or less readily available cars suitable for small HO layouts. These qualities are good for N-scale too. Currently (2013) available cars are more like the B&O prototype than the previous “generic” cars in N scale: Microtrains now offers its heavyweight cars in the B&O blue/gray paint, and some lightweight sleepers as well as a diner and observation are available from Intermountain/Centralia. The Microtrains paired-window heavyweight coach is based on a B&O prototype. The Ambassador Baltimore-Washington consist is from Andy Sperandeo’s Model Railroader article “pike-size steam passenger trains”, now available for on-line purchase from Kalmbach publishing.

 

The first consist is for the Ambassador between Baltimore and Washington DC. It is reversed from the normal car order (with the baggage cars at the tail end and the Pullman cars at the head end) because it will be turned after leaving the stub-end terminal in Washington. Andy’s consist (and the photo below) do not contain a diner car, but one was added in Washington for the trip west along with many additional sleepers and a couple of lounge cars.

 

The Washington-Detroit train pictured below has additional cars to make a full Ambassador consist for weekends and holiday periods. It has car types added that are listed in the Official Guide of the Railways from 1948 and 1953. I do not have an exact consist or car order for this expanded Washington-Detroit train, but the cars are ones used on the Ambassador. Again, substitutions for cars not available in N scale must be made.

 

I am not a B&O modeler and have only factory painted cars. Some of the available cars are similar to the prototype train, but the B&O did not run standardized, common cars. Many of the heavyweight cars in the late 40s and early 50s were rebuilt and “streamstyled” by the B&O in their Baltimore shops. For example, a smooth roof was added, hiding the clerestory and air conditioning ducts, and coach window corners were rounded. The baggage-coach car is not available in N-scale until someone makes this much-needed car. I substituted a baggage car and a coach car, much as the railroad may have done. I also substitute similar sleeper cars.

 

The Ambassador crossing the Thomas viaduct in Maryland in 1953. James Gallagher photo from Model Railroader article “pike-size steam passenger trains”.

 

Ambassador, Baltimore to Washington DC

 

 

 

Locomotive Power and Sleeper cars

 

The prototype steam locomotive was a blue-painted 4-8-2 Pacific in B&Os Presidential class. You can see from the B&W photo that it has a large diameter boiler. The model locomotive I have is a USRA Pacific in standard black and silver factory paint made by Model Power. It is heavy and is a good puller.

 

The first sleeper car is a common 1920s heavyweight 12 section -1 drawing room car. B&O refurbished many of these after the war and covered the clerestory roof with a smooth arch roof. The Microtrains model is of a car with the original clerestory roof and air conditioning ducts probably added in the 1930s. This is a post-1948 car because the B&O took over ownership of sleeper cars (or leased them) from Pullman, adding their name and used B&O’s attractive blue and grey paint. The next sleeper in the prototype train is a lightweight 10-roomette 6-double bedroom car built by Pullman Standard and delivered in 1950. The closest model car I have in B&O paint is the 10-roomette 5-double bedroom car of 1943, which may have been used before delivery of the 10-6 in 1950. The model is made by Centralia-Intermountain.

 

Coach section and baggage car

 

The heavyweight paired-window coaches are Microtrains models. The model is based on a B&O prototype, but the B&O refurbished (streamstyled) these after the war. I replaced the clerestory roof of the middle coach with a smooth roof like the prototype. I substituted the baggage-coach car (not available in N scale) with a coach and a long baggage car. B&Os baggage cars were typically about 70’ instead of the 80’ Rivarossi model shown here. I have seen color photos of B&O trains with an old, faded baggage car similar to this model.

Ambassador, Washington DC to Detroit

 

 

The consist listed above contains the Baltimore-Washington cars plus the sleepers, diners and two lounges listed as “idealized” equipment in the Official Guide to the Railways in the postwar decade. The additional cars were added in Washington for the trip west. I do not have a specific consist, though the number of cars certainly dimished during slow periods. Sleepers predominate bcause the Ambassador is a night train with a business clientele. When the Ambassador was combined with the all-coach Columbian in 1954 and both trains were being reduced, the combined train had an RPO,  a lounge-baggage, 5 coaches including a dome-coach, 5 sleepers, 2 diners and an observation.

 

Diesel power and head end cars

 

B&Os favorite diesel passenger locomotive was the EMD E unit, starting with the original EA model sold in 1941. The model E6 diesels as pictured have a sloping nose like the EA, and are appropriate for the 1940s-1950s. They are Life-like models. The two express box cars, heavyweight baggage car and coach substitute for a baggage-coach car which is not made in N scale. The express cars are based on the 1938 “wagon top” box car made by the B&O as a freight car, except for those painted blue and fitted for passenger train use. The wagon top models are made by Fox Valley, the baggage car is an old Rivarossi model of similar type but made from a Santa Fe prototype, and the heavyweight coach is by Microtrains.

 

Coaches and sleepers

 

The heavyweight coaches used by the B&O after the war were “streamstyled”, meaning the window corners were rounded, a smooth roof covered the clerestory channel and the air conditioning ducts, and the modern blue and gray paint scheme with yellow stripes was applied. The window arrangement remained unchanged. The Microtrains heavyweight coach is based on a pre-war B&O prototype, but I substituted a smooth passenger roof on one car to simulate the streamstyling. The factory blue and gray paint is correct for postwar trains.

 

The next sleeper in the prototype train is a PS 10 roomette-6 double bedroom car, probably from 1950. I do not have a model of this car in B&O paint, but use a similar 10-5 model of the PS 1940/1943 car made by Centralia/Intermountain. This is followed by a heavyweight 12 section-1 drawing room car that was probably streamstyled. The photo shows an “unstreamstyled” 12-1 model from Microtrains that is otherwise prototypical.

 

Sleeper, lounge and diner

 

The next sleeper prototype is a lightweight 10 roomette -5 double bedroom car built by Pullman Standard and delivered in 1940 or 1943. The prototypical model is made by Centralia-Intermountain. The Official Guide of the Railways says the Ambassador carried (heavyweight) 8-section lounge cars. I do not have a model of this car, but substitute a 28-1 parlor car based (I believe) on a PRR prototype. The effect is good even if the car is not prototypical for the B&O.

 

I do not know whether the Ambassador carried a rebuilt heavyweight or lightweight diner. The diner model (named Akron) represents a PS prototype lightweight diner bought by B&O in 1949 for the Columbian. This Intermountain “eastern diner” is the only B&O diner model I have. After 1954 the Columbian and the Ambassador trains were combined, so this diner may be just ahead of its time in this late 40s to 50s Ambassador consist.

 

Sleepers and Observation

 

The next car is a heavyweight 10 section-2 compartment-1 drawing room sleeper. Fortunately, Microtrains made this car. The roof air conditioning ducts show the model is of 1930s vintage, the paint scheme is accurate for post WWII, but the prototype car may have been refurbished with a new, smooth roof. Note the two sides of the 10-2-1 have five window pairs corresponding to the 10 curtained sections on both sides of the car. The four widely spaced small windows are the hallway that passes the two compartments.

 

The next car in the train is  (recall that I do not have a specific consist or car order) is an 8 section-2 compartment-1 drawing room sleeper. I substitute another 10-2-1. Next is a 8 section-4 double bedroom heavyweight. I do not have a model of this car so substitute another 12-1. The last prototype car is a 5 double bedroom-lounge-observation. The Microtrains model of a heavyweight observation-lounge-3-2 car is a similar substitute. Again, most of the prototype cars were streamstyled heavyweights, but the models are the older configuration, but they do have correct postwar paint schemes.

 

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Bossler, Craig, B&O Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, Morning Sun, 1996.

Randall, David, From Zephry to Amtrak, Prototype Publications, 1972.

Sperandeo, Andy, “pike-size steam passenger trains”, Model Railroader offprint, now available for on-line purchase from Kalmbach publishing.

Welsh, Joe, Baltimore and Ohio’s Capitol Limited and National Limited, Great Passenger Trains, Voyageur Press, 2007.

 

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