"Royal Blue Coach"

By the early 1890s, rail travel had become safer, faster, and far more comfortable. Wooden passenger cars were longer and more spacious than their predecessors. Steam heaters provided warmth to travelers, and bright light radiated from gas lamps. New enclosed vestibules allowed passengers to move safely between cars without being exposed to poor weather conditions or locomotive exhaust. Passenger cars were also more pleasant for train crews, as air brakes and automatic couplers had become standard by the end of the 19th century. 

The No. 445 passenger coach was built c.1890 by the Pullman Company. The car’s design features a wooden body, 58 straight-back reversable seats, and experimental narrow vestibule. After a brief career on the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railroad (DL&W), the No. 445 was acquired by the B&O Railroad and rebuilt to resemble a coach from the Royal Blue, the B&O’s elite flagship passenger train connecting Washington, DC and New York City. The restored coach was then displayed at the 1927 Fair of the Iron Horse, an event hosted in Halethorpe, MD to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American railroad. 

B&O President John Work Garrett began planning the Royal Blue Line in 1872, when the rival Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) entered B&O territory and started offering freight and passenger services between New York and Washington, DC. The line was officially inaugurated in 1890, and its completion was marked by the opening of Mount Royal Station in 1896. The construction of the Royal Blue Line was only made possible by a complicated arrangement between the B&O, the Reading Railroad (RDG), and the Central Railroad of New Jersy (CNJ). Thanks to their unorthodox partnership, the B&O was able to provide the safest and fastest passenger service in the United States.