Cape Codder (NH train)

The Cape Codder was a pair of day and night passenger trains run by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NH) from the latter 1920s to the mid 1960s, with some brief interruptions. Its distinction was the longest tenure of direct summertime New York City to Cape Cod trains. With the improvement of highways in southeastern Massachusetts, passenger rail traffic diminished, and the Cape Codder service ended with the New Haven Railroad's discontinuing of passenger rail service to Cape Cod.

Cape Codder
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleNortheastern United States
First service1927, 1937
Last service1958, 1964
SuccessorCape Codder (train) (Amtrak)
Former operator(s)New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
Route
StartNew York, New York
EndHyannis, Massachusetts, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Distance travelled262.5 miles (422.5 km) (New York - Hyannis)
On-board services
Seating arrangementsCoaches (Day Cape Codder, Night Cape Codder)
Sleeping arrangementsRoomettes, open sections, double bedrooms, drawing rooms and compartments (Night Cape Codder)
Catering facilitiesDining car (Day Cape Codder)
Observation facilitiesParlor car (Day Cape Codder) (1955)

History
View at the main Cape Codder eastern terminus, Hyannis station, ca. 1945–1950.

The earliest iteration of the train was as a named night train, the Cape Codder beginning in 1927, running as a weekend train. It was all-Pullman, meaning that it carried only sleeping cars, no coaches. It ran from New York City's Grand Central Terminal, to Provincetown, the furthest extent of Cape Cod. Additional branches departed from the train, going to Woods Hole and Hyannis. Sleeping car equipment originating in Washington, D.C. would connect at New Haven, Connecticut.[1] At Woods Hole ferries were available for transport to Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard.

In 1937 the NH inaugurated the Day Cape Codder which would travel daily from New York City to the Woods Hole and the Hyannis branches. The New Haven's Night Cape Codder provided the night train service to the same branches on Cape Cod (daily except Sunday eastbound, and daily except Friday and Saturday westbound). Similar to the earlier incarnation, the Night Cape Codder also ran in an express fashion, bypassing Stamford and only stopping at New Haven before stopping again in Wareham. The NH at this time ran additional daytime trains operating only on Fridays, Cape Cod bound, and Sundays, westbound, the Islander and Neptune. The Islander only served the Woods Hole branch. All of the daytime trains offered dining car and grill car service.[2][3][4] By 1938, the NH terminated its passenger service to Provincetown.[5]

During World War II the New Haven suspended the Night Cape Codder,[6][3] and from 1943 to 1945 it also suspended the Islander and Neptune trains. The Day Cape Codder was suspended during 1945 when railroad equipment was needed for transporting returning soldiers. The Day Cape Codder and Neptune returned in 1946 and the nighttime train returned for the summer 1948 season. The Neptune and the Night Cape Codder only operated on Fridays eastbound and Sundays westbound.[7][8][9] The Night Cape Codder for most of its years had the open sections and private bedrooms.[4][9] By summer, 1955 the train included modern roomettes as well.[10]

In 1958 the New Haven Railroad drew down its southeastern Massachusetts operations. This would include its Cape Cod operations too. However, for the 1960 to 1964 summer seasons, the Day Cape Codder and the Neptune would return.[7]

New York - Cape Cod service, provided by Amtrak would return briefly in the 1980s and 1990s as the namesake train.[11]

References
  1. New Haven Railroad timetable, June 22, 1931, Table 46, 50
  2. Lynch, Peter E. (2005). New Haven Railroad passenger trains. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing Company. pp. 119-20, 121. ISBN 978-0-7603-2288-8.
  3. 'The Enterprise,' "New York Trains To Stop" February 2, 1965 https://www.capenews.net/the_enterprise_archives/railroad/new-york-trains-to-stop/article_eb6cea62-0da0-11e7-9f0b-eba88dc8db11.html
  4. New Haven Railroad timetable, June 25, 1939, Table A
  5. Karr, Ronald Dale (2010). Lost Railroads of New England. Branch Line Press. p. 153. ISBN 9780942147117.
  6. New Haven Railroad timetable, May 24, 1942, Table A
  7. Lynch, Peter E. (2005). New Haven Railroad passenger trains. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing Company. pp. 120-21. ISBN 978-0-7603-2288-8.
  8. New Haven Railroad timetable, June 2, 1946, Tables 29, 30
  9. New Haven Railroad timetable, April 25, 1948, Tables 29, 30
  10. New Haven timetable, April 24, 1955, Section E. 'Parlor, Sleeping and Dining Car Service'
  11. "Amtrak cancels NYC-Cape Cod train". The Standard-Times. New Bedford. Associated Press. May 11, 1997. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
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