The Ohio State Limited was a named passenger train of the New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

, which either started or terminated at Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...

 in the heart of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 to or from the Cincinnati Union Terminal. The Ohio State Limited was the Central's answer to the Pennsylvania Railroad's

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 Cincinnati Limited

Cincinnati Limited

The Cincinnati Limited was a named train of the Pennsylvania Railroad; the train traveled from New York City's Pennsylvania Station to the Cincinnati Union Terminal. It was a rival to New York Central's Ohio State Limited. The Cincinnati Limited carried connecting Sleeping cars to the Louisville...

.

In 1938, Eastbound train No. 16 departed Cincinnati Union Terminal at 3:30PM; scheduled stops included Cleveland at 8:30PM, Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

, New York at 12:05AM and Albany

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

 at 5:30AM, with arrival in New York City at 8:20 AM. Westbound train No. 15 had a 17-hour 30-minute schedule, leaving New York at 3:00PM and terminating in Cincinnati at 8:30AM. Also in 1938, the westbound train offered dining car

Dining car

A dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....

 service between New York and Syracuse (dinner) and Columbus and Cincinnati (breakfast), in addition to coaches, sleeping cars and a lounge car. It also included sleeping car

Sleeping car

The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...

s for Boston-Cincinnati, Buffalo-Cincinnati, New York-St. Louis and Boston-St. Louis passengers.

There was no Ohio State Limited listed on the last passenger timetable published by the Penn Central

Penn Central Transportation

The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American railroad company that operated from 1968 until 1976. It was created by the merger on February 1, 1968, of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad...

 on March 3, 1971: less than two months before newly-created Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 assumed responsibility for a reduced national passenger system.

See also

• 20th Century Limited
  20th Century Limited
  The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, during which time it would become known as a "National Institution" and the "Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was...
  
  
• Empire State Express
  Empire State Express
  The Empire State Express was one of the named passenger trains and onetime flagship of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad...
  
  
• Xplorer