{{italic title}}{{Infobox rail service | box_width = | name = ''Metropolitan Special'' | logo = | logo_width = | image = B&O's Metropolitan in snow at Germantown, March 1969 (27638287046).jpg | image_width = 300px | caption = The ''Metropolitan'' in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 1969 | type = Inter-city rail | status = Discontinued | locale = Mid-Atlantic United States; Midwestern United States | predecessor = | first = 1919 | last = April 30, 1971 | successor = | operator = | formeroperator = Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | ridership = | ridership2 = | website = | start = Jersey City, New Jersey | stops = | end = St. Louis, Missouri | distance = | journeytime = | frequency = Daily | trainnumber = 11 (westbound)<br />12 (eastbound) | line_used = | class = | access = | seating = Reclining seat coaches [1958] | sleeping = Roomettes and double bedrooms | autorack = | catering = Parlor-Dining car (Washington - Cincinnati), lunch counter and lounge rooms (Cincinnati - St. Louis) | observation = | entertainment = | baggage = | otherfacilities = | stock = | gauge = {{RailGauge|ussg}} | el = | speed = | owners = | routenumber = | map = {{Metropolitan Special|inline=y}} | map_state = }}
The '''''Metropolitan Special''''' was a passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) that operated until 1971. For most of its career, it ran between St. Louis, Missouri, and Jersey City, New Jersey.
==History== [[File:Combined Metropolitan and Shenandoah at Cumberland, August 1970 (27649142551).jpg|thumb|left|The combined ''Metropolitan''/''Shenandoah'' at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1970]] In earlier years only the east-bound #12 carried the name, while the ''Diplomat'' (as #11) carried the west-bound direction of the route. The train's eastern terminus was Washington, D.C.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways,'' August 1938, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Through Car Service'</ref> Sleeping car passengers were able to ride trains continuously from St. Louis to Jersey City, New Jersey, where at Communipaw Terminal passengers transferred to buses and ferries to Manhattan in New York City. By 1940, the eastern terminus became Baltimore, and the west-bound trip joined in carrying the ''Metropolitan Special'' name.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways,'' March 1940, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Through Car Service'</ref>
Major intermediate station stops included Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. The ''Metropolitan Special'' carried vast amounts of mail and express packages in many (often 10+) baggage cars and express cars Added revenue for the train came from Railway Post Office cars, which sorted and canceled mail en route, between terminals. Even with declining passenger revenue through the 1950s and 1960s, the B&O passenger department relied heavily on trains such as the ''Metropolitan Special'' because of the revenue generated by moving mail and express packages.
thumb|left In 1964 it was listed as primarily a mail train, and the train served various smaller towns and villages that were bypassed by the more prestigious trains along the route, the ''National Limited'' and the ''Diplomat.''<ref>{{cite book |title=C&O/B&O timetable |date=April 26, 1964 |chapter=Table 2 |url=https://streamlinermemories.info/?p=7482 |publisher=Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad}}</ref> ''Special'' was dropped from its name.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways,'' December 1964, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Passenger Train Equipment'</ref> The next year the B&O dropped the sleeping car from the train.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways,'' July 1965, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Passenger Train Equipment'</ref> However, by the end of 1967, the United States Postal Service dealt a heavy blow to the B&O, canceling most of its lucrative post office contracts. With such a drop in revenue, the fate of the ''Metropolitan Special'' was sealed. By 1969, its route was shortened to Washington to Cincinnati.<ref>''Official Guide of the Railways,'' August 1969, Baltimore and Ohio section, 'Passenger Train Equipment'</ref> The train was discontinued on the first day of Amtrak service, May 1, 1971.<ref name=Edmonson>{{cite book |last1=Edmonson |first1=Harold A. |title=Journey to Amtrak |date=1972 |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |isbn=978-0890240236 |pages=102–104}} as mentioned in {{cite magazine |magazine=Trains|title=Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak |url=https://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224220507/https://ctr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/f/7/7/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-24 }}</ref>
==Stations== {| class="wikitable" ! Station ! State |- |New York (Rockefeller Center) (bus) |rowspan="4"|New York |- |New York (42nd Street Station) (bus) |- |Brooklyn (bus) |- |New York (Columbus Circle Station) (bus) |- |Jersey City (Communipaw Terminal) (train) |rowspan="2"|New Jersey |- |Elizabeth (CNJ's Elizabeth Station) |- |Wayne Junction station |rowspan="2"|Pennsylvania |- |Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station (Philadelphia) |- |Wilmington |Delaware |- |Baltimore (Mt. Royal Station) |rowspan="2"|Maryland |- |Baltimore (Camden Station) |- |Washington (Union Station) |District of Columbia |- |Cincinnati (Union Terminal) |Ohio |- |Louisville (Central Station) |Kentucky |- |St. Louis (Union Station) |Missouri |}
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{cite book| title=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|author1=Renolds, Kirk |author2=Oroszi, Dave |name-list-style=amp | publisher=MBI Publishing| location=Osceola, Wi| year=2000| isbn=0-7603-0746-6}}
==External links== {{commons category inline}}
{{Infobox B&O Named Trains}}
Category:Passenger trains of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Category:Named passenger trains of the United States Category:Passenger rail transportation in Maryland Category:Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Category:Passenger rail transportation in Indiana Category:Passenger rail transportation in Missouri Category:Passenger rail transportation in West Virginia Category:Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey Category:Passenger rail transportation in Pennsylvania Category:Passenger rail transportation in Delaware Category:Railway services discontinued in 1971