Army-Navy Game Trains 1955-1965

A look at the Pennsylvania Railroad special excursion trains that ran to Philadelphia for the annual Army-Navy football game.

[@williamhetrick1550]

The beauty of it all. PRR at its finest.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

If they hadn't allowed Conrail to rip out the electrification and 2nd track to that yard, SEPTA could have run Regional Rail into the Sports Complex!

[@adighton2]

I rode the Midshipman train from Baltimore to Philly yard in 57,58, In 59 or 60 we took buses directly to Philly. Offloaded in the rail yard to wait until we marched to the stadium and onto the field. The cars we rode on were really old. Cane bench seats. After liberty, the train had to wait until all Mids returned and loaded for the trip to Baltimore and the busses to Annapolis. A long trip and easier when we took the buses directly to the stadium grounds.

[@teddawg327]

Massive undertaking

[@harryhenninglll117]

Excellent video thank you for sharing this history with us.

[@ronaldstokes4841]

Jus' to see the old Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in the background gives me the chillz. I saw many a 'Thrill Show' there and some college and high school football games. Living in Philly you are familiar with the train horns; steamers, GG-1s, Diesels... but at the old Army-Navy games, it was a like a symphony as each engineer had his own way of signaling.

[@williamhetrick1550]

Go Navy, beat Army

[@00Zy99]

Was it really that hard to show a complete Silverliner train just once? But its really hard to fathom that they were the first commuter equipment in the area bought with public funds, together with the beginning of subsidized commuter service. And in 1965, the public transit support was solidified into today's SEPTA, which was responsible for coordinating service with the PRR. It really gives me goosebumps to see all the classic equipment, with heavyweights and steaming GG1s and know that at the same time, a modern public transit organization was already in existence. And those Silverliners lasted until 2012! That's long enough for most people old enough to understand this post at the time of writing to have had a chance to ride them. I know I certainly did! Right up until the end, one of them still had PENNSYLVANIA spelled out on the letterboard. 2012! That's modern times! The iPhone was in existence when they were running! So was the iPad! Tesla Model S! All of these seem so removed from the slightly grainy images of a bygone era, but they were really so close and so far at the same time.

[@coalcracker1655]

So unbelievably cool that these films were preserved and now presented here for us to watch. I was always curious how the PRR managed to get all of those Passenger trains in and out for the Army Navy Game. Watching the President's train, with JFK on board, coming into view, always brings a tear to my eye. This was like stepping back in time. Thankyou ********* GO ARMY !!!!! ***** BEAT NAVY !!!!! *********