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What is the meaning of the term "Limited" in the Sunset Limited title? I also noted that other trains that were operated by the PRR and NYC were named "Broadway Limited" and "20th Century Limited". Thanks.
Posts: 57 | From: Huntersville, NC USA | Registered: Nov 2001
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Thanks, Reggie. I've been wondering that, too. I've alsways thought it a little odd that Amtrak's longest train run was called the "limited." Seemed a little incongruous. Then I thought it might refer to it's "try-weakly" frequency. Now we know the truth.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Yes, and typically these were the railroad's premier trains and would run on the tightest schedules. Of course, the Sunset Limited rarely lives up to its prestigious name anymore.
Posts: 246 | From: Anaheim, CA | Registered: Apr 2002
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my favorite train when i was a kid was the milwaukee roads copper country limited. it ran daily from calumet mi. to chicago il. it stopped every 15 miles and i always wondered how it got the name limited. the t run was march 8th 1968.
Posts: 175 | From: FENCE WI USA | Registered: Oct 2000
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Curiously..the other term which you often hear in relation to trains or transit is "EXPRESS". It's largely accepted to mean that the train runs from origin to terminus without intermediate stops. However, if you consider that the Acela 'Express' makes a handfull of stops as it traverses the NEC, it's a strange moniker. It seems that Amtrak attempted to get around the use of the word 'limited' by using the name "Regional". I think the name that worked best on that run was "Metroliner". No, 'express'; no 'limited'; no 'regional'. Just Metroliner. It's a 'liner' that travels through metro areas. Posts: 1 | From: Mesquite, TX USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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Certainly the term "express" in Europe has never meant no intermediate stops, rather limited stops instead. A "local" or "stopper" is one that stops frequently, a "regional" may make fewer stops, an express fewer stops still. At the end of the day, it's what the operator decides it will be, eye of the beholder and all that.
What about the subways in New York? They have expresses and locals, don't they? Again, limited stops. I'd be curious to hear where "express means no stops" comes from.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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petert1981 wrote: "However, if you consider that the Acela 'Express' makes a handful of stops as it traverses the NEC, it's a strange moniker. It seems that Amtrak attempted to get around the use of the word 'limited' by using the name "Regional". I think the name that worked best on that run was "Metroliner". No, 'express'; no 'limited'; no 'regional'. Just Metroliner. It's a 'liner' that travels through metro areas." ---------------------------------------- I agree that Metroliner was a fine name for the trains. According to Amtrak CEO David Gunn, the "Acela" name (which means 'armpit' in one language) might get dumped in favor of the Metroliner name. But think of all the money spent on all that Acela stuff... Wow. Whatever he chooses, I'm sure it'll work. If Gunn was in office two years ago, we would still have Metroliners, the Pointless Arrow logo, and no debt on Penn Station, among other things. Posts: 553 | From: Flagstaff, AZ USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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I always thought the word "Limited" (in years gone by, at least) meant that the train was "limited" to all-Pullman sleeper cars ("limited" to first class only)
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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In Canada, going back a very long time, Limited was indeed used for all first-class trains. The long departed Trans Canada Limited may have been one of the last to use that term. Of course in the U.S. trains such as the 20th Century Limited or the Broadway Limited were at one time all first class trains.
Posts: 524 | From: Toronto Ont. Canada | Registered: Mar 2001
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