Pennsylvania Railroad's 'Congressional' and 'Senator' trains circa 1950s

Isaacg

New member
Hello all,

Note to moderators: if this is in the wrong section, feel free to reroute it to the more appropriate subforum.

I am seeking information on the PRR's Congressional and Senator trains. The era I am looking for is the post-war 1950s, when PRR purchased new stainless steel cars from Budd. They were the PRR's mainline 'corridor' trains in the northeast from Washington D.C. to New York City (and Boston). The Congressional had both morning and afternoon runs between Washington D.C. and New York City; the Senator traveled the same path but continued on to Boston on the New Haven Railroad.

Google has been my best friend, but unfortunately I cannot find good information on the consists for the Congressional and Senator. There is a TrainWeb site for modeling various named trains in N scale and the Congressional is on the list complete with very basic consist information but it still doesn't solve the question regarding which *specific* cars were used - i.e. their names and numbers. I feel a bit silly because I might be looking in the wrong places or missing out on something. The information for the Congressional is quite sparse, and even moreso for the Senator.

Right now I am primarily looking for consist information. But if anyone else has any other information they have about these three trains including both morning and afternoon Congressionals, and the Senator by all means do share, I'd greatly appreciate it. Can be anything from history to photos. Especially photos of various car interiors especially. Information about the trains prior to the 1950s is alright, but I am currently not working in that era. Information about special cars like the parlor, conference, and observation cars is also welcome. They were unique and interesting train services, and PRR's stainless steel Budds behind two GG-1's must have been a great vision to behold.

I don't really need any need technical or line drawings, as I already have some and a generous member of the forums here has provided me with better ones also. Consist lists, and maybe schedules or articles would be great. I'm also not averse to buying a book if need be - I have a whole bookshelf of materials surrounding trains and railroading.
 
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Thanks whitepass! I checked out the website, it will definitely come in handy for this and in the future as well. It took me a while to find the book(s).
 
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