Chris,
Thanks for the wonderful tour! You took some really great photos.
I suppose that Amtrak passengers will have a better experience now that the new Moynihan Train Hall is open. The last time I took a train from Penn Station to Washington was in the 1990s.
I remember taking the train from the old Penn Station to Washington DC in about 1955 when I was 10 years old. I remember the high glass ceiling and that the station was very, very hot. That glass amplified the heat of a New York summer just like a green house. Of course, it didn't help that I had a little coat and tie on. Everyone including kids dressed to travel in those days. Those steps down to the train were really steep. I doubt that they would be acceptable for a passenger station today.
My grandparents put me on the train. My parents bought me a ticket in a parlor car since I was traveling alone. My grandparents turned me over to the parlor car attendant. I suppose that they tipped him to look after me but I don't know. I know that I had small suitcase but I don't remember every handling it. My grandfather probably gave it to the car attendant and he probably gave it to my father in Washington.
The parlor car was a modern streamlined car with air conditioning. I had a big single swivel chair that swung around 360 degrees. Each chair had a big ash tray on a pedestal next to it. My legs weren't long enough to reach the floor of the car when I sat in the chair. All the other passengers that I remember were men in business suits. The car attendant kept them supplied with drinks and most of them were smoking cigars or cigaretts. I think that I got a coke. Of course, the train was pulled by a mighty GG-1.
When I got a couple of years older I took the same trip between my grandparents house and Washington except it was in coach. Young kids got a lot of responsibility early in those days.
Thank you for your photos and bringing back memories of a time long gone. NH Joe
