Binghamton University Public History - The Phoebe Snow: Binghamton's Flagship Train

The Phoebe Snow: Binghamton's Luxury Train

The History of the Luxury Train that Ran from Buffalo to New Jersey Through the Southern Tier Twice a Day

By Nathan Ciulla

The Luxury Train Phoebe Snow pulling into Binghamton Station. The train is an E6A Locomotive numbered 814, painted in grey with a yellow and red stripe down the length of the train. People are seen walking to the passenger cars to board.

The Phoebe Snow pulls into Binghamton, New York headed westbound in November 1966.

Photo Credit: Adam Burns/Americanrails.com

A Lackawanna Railroad Advertisement Poster. A woman in white sits near a waterfall, waiting for a train shown in the background. The text of the ad reads: "Phoebe says, And Phoebe knows, That smoke and cinders, Spoil good Clothes, 'Tis thus a pleasure, And Delight, To take the Road of Anthracite."

A Lackawanna Railroad Advertisement Poster. Advertisement that shows a woman in white talking to a male engineer with an oil can. In the background there is a steam locomotive. The text on the ad reads: "Miss Snow draws near, The cab to cheer, The level-headed Engineer, Whose watchful sight, Makes safe her flight, Upon the Road of Anthracite"

Imagine being able to get to New York City by luxury train? In the mid-20th century, Binghamton University students and Southern Tier residents could do just that. In November 1949, the Lackawanna Railroad launched the Phoebe Snow, a luxury passenger line that ran from New York City to Buffalo, stopping in Hoboken, Scranton, Binghamton and Elmira, as well as many smaller towns. The train offered reclining seats, a club car, and an observation car with stunning views of 300 ft viaducts and the Lackawanna Cutoff.

(Left) Photo Credit: Monroe County Historical Association

The Phoebe Snow took its name from a famous advertising campaign that the Lackawanna Railroad ran in the early days of the 20th century. The railroad was famous for hauling coal from Pennsylvania into New York State, but had only a small passenger fleet. It had to compete with rivals like the New York Central, whose 20th Century Limited service from New York City to Chicago made it one of the most famous trains in the country. Coal also had a bad reputation: it evoked mine accidents, strikes, and child labor. Travelers on trains fueled by soft bituminous coal frequently arrived with their clothes and faces blackened by soot. Still, in 1903, the Lackawanna Railroad's management decided to turn coal--specifically, the hard clean-burning anthracite mined in northern Pennsylvania--into an asset. It launched a campaign designed, in the words of one company executive, to take the "'sin' out of cinders." The campaign featured Phoebe Snow, a woman dressed entirely in white who--thanks to anthracite--could travel on Lackawanna trains allegedly without fear of darkening her clothes.

The train itself could travel the 396 miles from Hoboken, NJ to Buffalo, NY in just 8 hours (1). Comparatively, this was two hours shorter than the existing 10-hour express. The Phoebe Snow was pulled by two EMD E8A-type locomotives, which had top speeds of over 110 mph, but infrastructure limited the train to an average of 48 mph (2).

Riders could enjoy scenic views over vast infrastructure projects like the Nicholson and the Tunkhannock Viaduct, the world's largest railroad bridge at 300 ft. tall. The Phoebe Snow also passed through the Pocono Mountains, with scenes from the train described as breathtaking.

At the dawn of the 1960s, the Lackawanna Railroad began running into financial troubles because of the expansion of the interstate highway system. The railroad merged with the Erie Railway creating the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. Their iconic “E” logo can be seen painted on the front of the locomotive in the picture to the right.

(Right) Photo Credit: Adam Burns/Americanrails.com

The Luxury Train Phoebe Snow pulling into Binghamton Station. The train is an E6A Locomotive numbered 831. The train is slightly rusted, pulling in a sunset.

The ’60s was a troubling time for American passenger rail of all shapes and sizes, and the Phoebe Snow was no exception. Ridership began to decline due to the rise in air travel, and by the mid-1960s trains were on their way out the door.

Video shows vintage 16mm film of the Phoebe Snow Journey taken by the late Robert Sage

Video Credit: Robert Sage SR. & Leonard/Journey Back In Time Productions

It is worth noting that despite the decline in use, the train continued regular twice-daily service through Binghamton as seen in the timetable shown in the drop-down bar below.

Timetable

Timetable, showing the Pheobe Snow

I had the chance to sit down with Marie Fallon-Davis, a longtime Binghamton resident who went to St. Bonaventure College in 1966 and took the Phoebe Snow to and from school. She recalled many things, from traveling through a snowstorm to the sound of the wheels while riding. You can hear that interview below:

Marie_Fallon-Davis_Interview.m4a

As highways became more commonplace and the Snow began losing ridership, the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad made plans to scrap the service. The 1960s represented a sort of a “changing of the guard” in terms of transport. Rail travel became a thing of the past in small towns like Binghamton. Even still, the romantic legacy of relaxing in a parlor car is remembered fondly by former riders in the Southern Tier.

On the last run of the Phoebe Snow in 1966, the conductor of the train told a local reporter “It’s one of those things in your life you hate to see go.”

Eyewittness news video showcasing footage of the last run of the Phoebe Snow.

Video Credit: PAHomepage/Eyewitness NEWS

Endnotes:

(1) Taber, Thomas Townsend; Taber, Thomas Townsend III (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century. Vol. 1. Muncy, PA: Privately printed. ISBN 0-9603398-2-5.

(2) Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-258-2.