Northern Arrow

Northern Arrow was one of the named passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad[1] starting at Cincinnati, Ohio and ending at Mackinaw City, Michigan. It had merging branches originating from St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois, converging in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and a Columbus, Ohio branch from the east converging at Richmond, Indiana. Carrying the number #519 northbound and #520 southbound, it used the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, a leased subsidiary of the Pennsylvania system.

Northern Arrow

Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Midwestern United States
First service	1935
Last service	1961
Former operator(s)	Pennsylvania Railroad
Route
Start	Cincinnati, Ohio
Stops	21
End	Mackinaw City, Michigan
Distance travelled	533.5 miles (858.6 km) (1950)
Average journey time	Northbound: 15 hrs 5 min Southbound: 14 hrs 40 min (1950)
Service frequency	Daily (1950;1961)
Train number(s)	Northbound: 519 Southbound: 520
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Reserved seat coach
Sleeping arrangements	Sections and double bedrooms, drawing rooms and compartments (1950)
Catering facilities	Dining car
Entertainment facilities	Lounge car
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Cincinnati Winton Place Norwood Hamilton Ohio Indiana Richmond Winchester Portland Decatur Fort Wayne Indiana Michigan Kalamazoo Grand Rapids Reed City Cadillac Kalkaska Mancelona Walloon Lake Petoskey Alanson Pellston Carp Lake Mackinaw City

The train was frequented by northbound travelers to popular Northern Michigan resort destinations north of Grand Rapids, Michigan, such as Petoskey, Bay View (only northbound trains stopped there, was the stop after Petoskey), Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island. One section of the Northern Arrow was a seasonal summer weekly service between Chicago, and Mackinaw City, while another section ran between St. Louis, Fort Wayne, and Mackinaw City.[2] The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway operated the Resort Special that served the Chicago to Petoskey market. For the Grand Rapids to Petoskey route, the Resort Special was a competitor with the Northern Arrow.[3]

During World War II and immediately after, 1942–1946, the Northern Arrow was one of the named trains dropped from service.[4] On May 26, 1950, the Northern Arrow was re-equipped with a lightweight lounge and sleeping cars plus a dining car decorated with Northern Michigan photomurals.[5] It did not operate outside of the summer months, as there were no trains on the route north of Grand Rapids during the colder months.[6]

Service was ended in 1961. In 1976 the Michigan Department of Transportation initiated the Michigan Northern Railway which operated passenger service from Grand Rapids to Mackinaw City until 1986.

References

1. "RRHX - Named Train Menu". michiganrailroads.com.
2. Pennsylvania timetable, August 1950, Tables 22, 23 http://streamlinermemories.info/PRR/PRR50TT.pdf
3. "Chesapeake and Ohio, Tables 46, 49". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 82 (3). August 1949.
4. Pennsylvania Railroad timetable, March 1946, Table 32 http://streamlinermemories.info/PRR/PRR46TT.pdf
5. "www.prrths.com" (PDF).
6. Pennsylvania Railroad timetable, January 18, 1954, Table 30 http://streamlinermemories.info/PRR/PRR54-1TT.pdf