View source for Liberty Limited

{{italic title}}{{Infobox rail service
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| name            = ''Liberty Limited''
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| predecessor     = ''[[Broadway Limited|Washington–Broadway Limited]]''
| first           = {{start date and age|1925|09|27|mf=y}}
| last            = {{end date and age|1957|10|27|mf=y}}
| successor       = ''[[General (train)|General]]''
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| formeroperator  = [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] (1938–1957)
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| trainnumber     =  58 (Chicago to Washington<br/>59 (Washington to Chicago)
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| map             = {{Liberty Limited|inline=y}}
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[[Image:Liberty Limited route map.jpg|thumb|right|''Liberty Limited'' route map]]

The '''''Liberty Limited''''' was a named train on the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]. It ran from [[Washington D.C.]] to [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], through [[Baltimore]], [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] and [[Pittsburgh]].<ref name=rails>{{cite web|title=Liberty Limited|url=https://www.american-rails.com/liberty-limited.html|publisher=American-Rails.com|access-date=2017-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Amtrak in the Heartland|author=Sanders, Craig|pages=36–37|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2006|isbn= 9780253027931}}</ref>  It began running on September 27, 1925, as a replacement for the ''[[Broadway Limited|Washington–Broadway Limited]]'', which had been introduced in 1923.<ref name=prr/> It originally was scheduled to complete its route in 19 hours.

In June 1938 it became one of the original trains making up the Pennsylvania Railroad's "Fleet of Modernism", using modern streamlined lightweight equipment, along with the ''[[General (train)|General]]'', the ''[[Broadway Limited]]'' and the ''[[Spirit of St. Louis (train)|Spirit of St. Louis]]''.<ref name=prr>{{cite book|title=Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited|author=Welsh, Joe|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn= 9781610600101|pages=60–61, 77–79, 121–122, 144}}</ref><ref name=rails/>
Beside streamlining, its travel time was reduced to 16 hours 25 mins;<ref name="streamlinerschedules.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track3/libertyltd193809.html|title = The Liberty Limited - September, 1938 -}}</ref> 30 mins slower than B&O's premier train the Royal Blue. The train consisted of one lounge Car (Drawing-room, three Double Bedrooms, Buffet), a 14 sections heavyweight Pullman sleeper, a 12-5 and a 10-5 lightweight Pullman sleeper, one dining car, one coach with reclining seat which was regularly assigned, an observation car with two master bedrooms, one double bedroom and a buffet lounge.<ref name="streamlinerschedules.com"/> Prime power was [[PRR K4s]], [[PRR S1]] #6100, T1s and diesel engines.<ref name=prr/> Its primary competition were the [[Baltimore & Ohio]]'s ''[[Royal Blue (B&O train)|Royal Blue]]'' and ''[[Capitol Limited (B&O train)|Capitol Limited]]''.<ref name=prr/>

It last ran on October 27, 1957, after which its equipment was moved to the Chicago–New York ''General'', which also picked up a leg connecting from Harrisburg to Washington, D.C.<ref name=rails/><ref name=prr/>

==Consist==
[[Image:Pennsylvania Railroad Class S1 No.6100 hauling the Liberty Limited eastbound in April 1941.jpg|thumb|350px| PRR S1 #6100 was seen hauling the Liberty Limited eastbound at New Freedom, PA in April 1941.]]
*[[PRR S1]] 6100 6-4-4-6 Duplex Steam Engine or PRR K4s 4-6-2 Steam Engine
*Baggage-Lounge Car
*3 Double Bedrooms, 1 Drawing Room lounge Car
*14 Sections Heavyweight Sleeper
*12 Duplex Single room, 5 Double Bedroom Lightweight Sleeper
*10 Roomette, 5 Double Bedroom Lightweight Sleeper
*Dining Car
*Reclining Coach
*2 Master Bedroom,1 Double Bedroom Buffet Lounge Observation Car

==Army-Navy Liberty Limited==
In late 2005, Bennet and Vivian Levin organized a commemorative private train dubbed Liberty Limited to take 88 veterans from the Washington Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Bethesda Naval Hospital to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia on December 3, 2005.  The train was created from Levin's historic private stock and joined with private cars from other supporters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/army-navy-train/|title=Army-Navy Train|last=Mikkelson|first=David|date=4 January 2006|website=Snopes|access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref> The Army-Navy Liberty Limited run was repeated in later years (2006,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://movie-trains.com/libertylimited/|title=Liberty Limited|last=Garner|first=Stan|date=Dec 2010|website=The Train Source, Inc.|access-date=15 Jan 2020}}</ref> 2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwXCjFLw2ts|title=2010 Liberty Limited|last=oaksmodelrr|date=11 Dec 2010|website=YouTube|access-date=15 Jan 2020}}</ref>).

A 2005 Ronnie Polaneczky, Liberty Limited, Philadelphia Daily News<ref>{{Cite news|title=Here's a Yule Story That Ought to Be a Movie|last=Polancezky|first=Ronnie|date=22 December 2005|work=Philadelphia Daily News}}</ref> story was reprinted in 2015 as a photo blog by Michael Froio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://michaelfroio.com/blog/2015/12/7/the-liberty-limited|title=The Liberty Limited|last=Froio|first=Michael|date=12 December 2015|website=Michael Froio {{!}} Photography (blog)|access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref> The Army-Navy commemorative train runs were the subject of a 2017 podcast interview with Bennet Levin on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C49pDi9h3gc YouTube: Honoring Our Veterans: The Story of the Liberty Limited Special].  The 2005 Polaneczky story has been the source of a 'the media never tells' fake news campaign, where the 2005 article is repeated but the game date is changed to a recent year.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{PRR named trains}}

[[Category:Passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad]]
[[Category:Named passenger trains of the United States]]
[[Category:Railway services introduced in 1925]]
[[Category:Railway services discontinued in 1957]]