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I find it interesting that the 2013 World Series will be between the Boston Red Sox and the St Louis Cardinals - or otherwise a traditional series. Of interest is that Boston and St Louis once represented the extremes of the Major Leagues; also of interest how back in the days of Stan Musial and Ted Williams (or when I sort of followed baseball) and that the sixteen teams were concentrated in five major cities (Boston, NY, Phila, Chicago, St Louis) with two teams each, except for New York that had three. The five other mid-market cities (Wash, Pgh, Cle, Det, Cincy) had to make do with only one.
And even into the 50's, they all traveled about by TRAIN. Of interest, the umpires always traveled in separate cars, and maybe even separate trains.
Today, major league teams only use Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor. These trains are often specials featuring the one of a kind Conference Car, #9800 (please excuse the background noise that some might call 'music'). Conceivably, there are a few other markets, such as Chi, Milw, StL, Det; LA San Diego, in which MLB could use Amtrak, but would the necessary chartered cars be available?
RRRICH Member # 1418
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Gil -- IMO, unless I missed something, the 9800 looks just like any of today's Amcafe cars in operation throughout the system.
Thanks for sharing the video......
Vincent206 Member # 15447
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The Seattle Mariners play in the American League West along with the Oakland A's, the Los Angeles Angels, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Imagine trying to plan a road trip to Oakland, LA, DFW or Houston using Amtrak or Southern Pacific schedules. Even the best-timed connections between Seattle and Houston require over 70 hours of train time.
Trivia question: Which 2 MLB franchises have never been to the World Series?
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Vincent, that would be your Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals, the latter being the biggest disappointment to come out of the nation's capital this year, if you exclude anything to do with our so-called government.
In keeping with the basic thrust of this thread, I vividly recall being at Grand Central one summer afternoon in 1954 when the "boys of summer" Brooklyn Dodgers boarded the Ohio State Limited for a series in Cincinnati after getting thumped by the hated Giants. They did not look like happy campers heading for their sleepers.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Rich, 9800 was built from a Metroliner MU 'shell'; note the Metroliner nose.
It also is the car Amtrak has selected to carry the Metroliner service mark, as one of each service mark must be applied to a locomotive or car in order to keep it active.
palmland Member # 4344
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Mike, interesting about your Dodgers encounter. I have always wondered how a baseball team was handled. How many sleepers (25 man roster and coaches wouldn't fit in one car),did they have their own diner and lounge, and what trains did they use.
If you get to Atlanta Braves Turner field in Atlanta, be sure to visit their excellent hall of fame inside the stadium. I was astounded when a prominent piece of it was a slice, maybe 1/3, of a B&O 16duplex roomettes-4DBR car. You walk through it as audio clips play old timers reminiscing about travel by train.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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palmland, I really don't know the logistics because I couldn't get out on the platform. I assume NYC added cars and probably a diner for them, but it certainly is an interesting question. Also would think they would maybe need their own baggage car for the equipment.
Being a 12-year old Dodger fan at the time, I recognized many of the players going through the gate to the train, either singly or in pairs (no spouses, of course). They were dressed casually but neatly (no jeans in those days to travel), and I think they were carrying their overnight bags with them. Couldn't get any autographs, as they were all pretty much in a rush.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Just noticed that this thread should be titled 2013, vice 2014.
notelvis Member # 3071
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I'm curious whether we'll see a spike in baseball fan ridership on the LSL and Lincoln Service trains.
Personally haven't been to a MLB game since I was in grad school 20 years ago and caught a MARC baseball special from the College Park, MD station (two blocks from my apartment) up to Camden Yards for a battle of the birds...... Blue Jays vs. Orioles.
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