Left at the Station - Railroad Alphabet Soup Quiz

Answer: Nickel Plate Road

The NPR began in 1881, and operated primarily in Missouri and the northern portions of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, until its 1964 merger with Norfolk & Western.

Several ideas abound regarding the origin of the "Nickel Plate Road" sobriquet. The most likely source was an 1881 article in the Norwalk OH "Chronicle." The editor praised the anticipated quality of the new rail line, calling it the "...New York and St. Louis double track, nickel plated railroad."

The NYC&St.L lives on in locomotive 765 - a Lima-built 2-8-4 Berkshire, lovingly restored and maintained by the Ft. Wayne Railway Historical Society. And at least two other locomotives are in various stages of restoration. And the Norfolk Southern Railway - the figurative grandchild of the NPR - has painted one of its 20 "Heritage Diesel" locomotives in the traditional colors of the Nickel Plate Road.

The three distractor choices are pure fiction, but reading questions and/or the II carefully will help you answer the final question.

Answer: Illinois Central Railway

The Illinois Central was chartered in 1851 and grew over the next 150 years via the absorption of over 100 other lines.

The IC is rich in fact and legend. A young lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln was on retainer as an attorney for the line during the 1850s, and represented the company in several court cases. In 1900, a train wreck in Vaughn Mississippi killed a locomotive engineer and gave rise to the "Ballad of Casey Jones." More prominent in the modern music world is "The City of New Orleans". Written by Steve Goodman (who received a posthumous Grammy Award for this work in 1985), the song has also been covered by Willie Nelson and others.

A 1972 merger with the Gulf Mobile & Ohio RR resulted in a brief parent company name change to the ICG. The original IC was purchased by the Canadian National Railway in 1998.

Indigo Charter and Individual Car Transit are fillers; Ida Falls & Sues is a bad pun, reflecting our litigious society.

Answer: Pennsylvania Railroad

Perhaps more famous as a Monopoly property these days, the Pennsylvania Railroad was one of the major rail lines in the US and one of the longest lived, operating from 1846 until 1968.

During its lifetime, PRR acquired, bought, or absorbed over 800 other rail lines. At one time the "Pennsy" had over 250,000 employees, and was the largest publicly traded stock in the WORLD. In 1916 the PRR modestly billed itself as "the Standard Railroad of the World." The line owned about 40% of the total electrified rail in the USA. Amtrak still uses portions of that electric system on its Northeast Corridor routes.

In 1968 the PRR merged with its one time "arch-enemy" New York Central, and formed the Penn Central Line. By 1976 Conrail took pieces; and by 1999, the remains were divided between Norfolk Southern and Amtrak.

Before steam power disappeared in 1957, PRR built most of its own locomotives. Freight engines had a round number plate on the smoke box front; passenger engines sported the distinctive keystone plates. The K-4 "Pacific" with its 4-6-2 wheel arrangement was a fast passenger engine, renowned for hauling the all-Pullman Broadway Limited in a 20 hour dash between New York and Chicago. The GG-1 electric locomotive was used in both passenger and freight service in the Northeast electrified track regions. The K-4 and GG-1 are arguably two of the most renowned locomotives of the PRR; The state of Pennsylvania has designated them as the official State Steam and Electric Locomotives, respectively.

Answer: Atchison, Topeka & Sante Fe

Often called simply the "Santa Fe", the AT&SF was chartered in 1859 and operated until the 1996 merger with Burlington Northern, thus forming the BNSF.

In 1945 the ATSF held 13,000+ miles of track. In addition to rail service, the AT&SF also operated tugboats, ferry lines, and briefly - an airline (Santa Fe Skyway). Ironically, the line never did connect to its namesake, Santa Fe.

The AT&SF was noted for premier passenger service. The "Chief" was a premium, all Pullman (meaning no coach seats) train running between Los Angeles and Chicago; one description referred to the train as "Extra Fast-Extra Fine-Extra Fare." A more racy nickname was the "rolling boudoir," because of the activities of the Hollywood stars and theater executives who rode the train. The successor "Super Chief" was even more renowned. Because it carried such celebrities as Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart, Martin & Lewis, and Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Super Chief became known as the "train of the stars.". The famous Harvey House Company operated the dining cars on both these trains and others, as well as numerous restaurants along the AT&SF right-of-way.

A planned merger in the mid 1980s between the Southern Pacific (SP) and the ATSF would result in a new company - the SPSF. In anticipation, the Santa Fe began painting its locomotives and rolling stock in new combined colors. The merger was denied. Of course, clever railroad "wits" began referring to the stillborn SPSF as "Shouldn't Paint So Fast."

Answer: Boston & Maine Railroad

The Boston & Maine was originally chartered in 1835, and was rearranged into a "new" B&M in 1842. Like all railroads of the day, the B&M evolved over the years, with numerous acquisitions and mergers; at one time, the road had over 2000 miles of track. Textile mills were a huge part of the business, but by the 1930s, highway truck competition was eroding freight profits; automobiles and airplanes started the decay of passenger service.

In 1983, B&M was acquired by Guilford Transportation Industries. In an ironic twist, Guilford was later renamed Pan Am Railways. In all this fiscal twisting, the B&M still lingers on in some odd business paperwork arrangement, though not on the high iron.

Perhaps the most famous B&M passenger train was the streamlined diesel-electric "Flying Yankee." This train covered a 254 mile route between Boston and Bangor Maine, from 1935 until 1957. Amtrak still runs the abridged (145 miles) "Downeaster" on the same line from Boston to Brunswick Maine. Restoration efforts on the original "Yankee" trainset continued through 2016. More information on the Boston & Maine can be found by exploring the B&M Railroad Historical Society site.

The three distractors are fabrications using a US political party from the early 1900s, a Swiss roller coaster design firm, and a hamburger fast food chain in the Philippine Islands.

Answer: Seaboard Air Line Railroad

Incorporated from a number of smaller lines in 1900, the SAL covered Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. The term "air line" was used in pre-aviation days to describe routes that were straight as an arrow (thus shorter and faster). Seaboard seized on this gimmick to draw passenger traffic. Through passenger service (meaning a single train all the way-no changes needed) was offered between Southern resort cities and New York.

This rail line met with varied success over its lifetime. Seaboard merged with the competing Atlantic Coast Line in 1967 and became the SCL. After several other mergers, SCL was ultimately absorbed into the CSX system. A bit of the SAL lives on to this day. Two of Seaboard's named passenger trains - "Silver Star" and "Silver Meteor" - still operate between NYC-Tampa-Miami, although certainly not in the luxurious fashion of old.

If you remembered that all the railways in this quiz are/were US lines, you easily eliminated most of the bogus answers.

Answer: Baltimore & Ohio Railway

The B&O is the second of two Monopoly lines mentioned in this quiz. B&O was the first common carrier line, having been incorporated in 1827. It was also the first chartered RR in the country to earn revenue from passenger service. Throughout its history, the B&O was noted for customer satisfaction and quality service. This was particularly true regarding passenger service - B&O set the highest standard until its passenger trains ceased in 1971.

Like most other railways, B&O fortunes waxed and waned through the years. In 1973, B&O, Western Maryland, and Chesapeake & Ohio all combined to form the "Chessie System." The last vestiges of these lines disappeared in 1987 with the advent of modern rail giant CSX. The B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore preserves much of the heritage of this historic line. The 25+ locomotives displayed are a "must see" for any railfan!

The distractor answers were quite apparent. Back in the day, we 3rd grade wits referred to the B&O as the "BO" Railroad! My! weren't we clever? A bad order track is where defective rail cars are sidelined awaiting repair. The Obama Line was slated for closure in 2017.

Answer: Union Pacific

The Union Pacific Railroad (UP or UPRR) was formed when Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862. With a mandate to build a transcontinental rail link, the company served as a "gateway line," building westward from Iowa, while the Central Pacific built east from California. The two lines met in 1869 in Promontory Point UT, linking both coasts of the country and opening up the vast interior to rapid growth and immigration.

In its modern form, the UP lays claim to being the premier railroad franchise of North America (*it has been a Class 1 railroad for most of its existence*); the RR serves 23 states - including EVERY state west of the Mississippi River EXCEPT (strangely) North and South Dakota. Corporate HQ was in New York City until a mid 1980s move to Omaha (perhaps early CEOs had a fear of "Plains" travel?).

Unique among Class 1 lines, UP alone maintains an active steam program: UP's No. 844, a 4-8-4 "Northern" type - built in 1944 - is the only steam locomotive never retired from a US railroad, and was in active service in 2016. No. 3985 4-6-6-4 Challenger was returned to excursion (and even occasional freight) service in 1981. Placed in storage as of 2010, UP announced she would return to excursion service after the restoration of the "Big Boy," UP's No. 4014. This locomotive - the largest and heaviest steam motive power in the WORLD - is expected to return to active steaming by 2017-2019. The Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs IA was established in the city's former Carnegie Library, and offers tours and displays on the historical, current, and future significance of the railroad.

*In 2016, UP was listed as one of seven Class 1 railroads in North America*

Answer: Norfolk & Western Railway

I grew up about 3 blocks from their mainline, so I'm allowed to wax poetic about my favorite railroad. The Norfolk & Western operated from 1838 until 1997, and had over 200 mergers during its operating life. Some of the absorbed lines were well known in their own right: Virginian Railway, Southern Railway, and Nickel Plate Road. By 1997 mergers resulted in the name change to Norfolk Southern.

N&W retained coal-fired steam power till about 1960, long after all other Class 1 lines had switched to diesel power. Why? Coal was the raison d'etre for the line, and N&W was determined to use and promote the fuel power that was its very lifeblood. N&W built nearly all its own locomotives, and was renowned for some of most advanced, efficient steam locomotives ever built. The Y6a Class series 2-8-8-2 coal drag hauler, the Class A 2-6-6-4 high speed mixed freight/passenger power, and Class J 4-8-4 were some of the superb designs born in the Roanoke shops. I can still recall the steam whistles echoing back from the hills of South Portsmouth, Kentucky. Sixty years later, I still feel a shiver.

There is no Northern Washington Railway; NetWeaver is some sort of computer thing; the Nock Wurst...well...if you picked that one, you may already be a weiner!

Answer: Union Pacific

UP is the ONLY one of the four still in business! It is also the biggest Class 1 line in the US, with over 32000 miles of track and 43500 employees.

Just in case you're wondering, the other six Class 1 railroads operating in the US (listed by their reporting marks) are: BNSF, CN, CP, CSXT, KCS, and NS. In a convoluted international ownership arrangement, several sources also list the Grand Trunk Western, Soo Line, FerroMex, and AMTRAK as Class 1.

But by now you MUST be asking "what the heck is a 'Class 1' railroad, anyway?" The basic criterion is to produce a certain amount of annual revenue. That revenue threshold varies from year to year; the 2016 number was 453M USD.