Reading Railroad Crusader 1937 Poster

A New Stainless Steel Streamlined Passenger Train Between New York and Philadelphia. Comfort With Economy. It ran on a 90.3-mile route from Philadelphia's Reading Terminal to Jersey City's Communipaw Terminal, with a ferry connection to Lower Manhattan. Trains operated over CNJ tracks for the 30 miles from Jersey City to Bound Brook and over the Reading Railroad System for the 60 miles from Bound Brook to Philadelphia. The Reading Railroad debuted the Crusader in December of 1937 featuring a five car consist in all-stainless steel Passenger Train built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia Pennsylvania. The train included a tavern-diner, reclining-seat coaches, and two lounge-observation cars. The Reading Crusader was pulled by a 4-6-2 Pacific Type steam locomotive which was also streamlined in stainless steel, with dark blue trim to match the rest of the consist. The Reading Railroad placed an observation on each end of the train thereby negated the need to turn the equipment prior to another run saving the railroad time. Instead,the power could simply run-around the cars. The Pacifics were replaced in 1950 by EMD FP7 diesels, which were adorned in the Reading’s livery of black and green with yellow trim. While modest the train was very classy and well received by commuters as a secondary option to the services provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad. For instance, the Reading offered long-distance passenger train services aboard the Crusader, such as a full breakfast and tavern service both of which were not normally available on commuter runs. This service continued under SEPTA from 1976 until 1981, when SEPTA eliminated diesel-powered trains with the completion of the Center City Commuter Connection. New Jersey Transit, which had taken over former CNJ commuter service, operated one round trip each weekday between Newark and West Trenton. At West Trenton connections were made with SEPTA electric MU trains to Philadelphia. This service ended on December 3, 1982 when the NJ Transit shuttle made its final trip.