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Go back to KV Takes Over M&CC Passenger Service
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This was a special matinee movie train for Belleville High-school students sponsored by Dr. Getter. This is a good view of the varnished interior of the ex-B&LE coach. (Robert G. Lewis collection)
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The Saturday Night Special is ready to leave the Lewistown Junction for its short trip down-town. There is no hurry; the train will have to wait at Dorcas Street for three hours for its passengers to return from the movies. (Robert G. Lewis collection) |
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First Run Of The Saturday Night Special
Prosperity for the KV
ended soon after 1930. Receipts for the next two years took a
dramatic nose-dive as area businesses became paralyzed by the depression, and the
cheap, convenient automobile began to siphon off what little business the
KV had.
Management tried several tactics to lure the public to travel by train. After reducing
passenger fares in 1932, the railroad began experimenting running a special passenger
train from Belleville into Lewistown on Saturday evenings, soon to be called "The
Saturday Night Special." This run became a great success, and in 1934 two old passenger
coaches were bought from the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad to be used specifically
on this train. These became
coach No.6 and
coach No.7 on the
KV roster. They were painted
green with red window trim, had a polished varnish interior with red plush seats, huge
mirrors which covered the ends, old coal oil lamps hanging from the ceiling, and other
ornate decorations. Although modernized to the extent of having vestibules and electric
lights, they retained the glory of the crack blue ribbon trains in the pre-steel car
days of the 1890's.
The movie train left Belleville at 6 p.m., and an hour down the tracks arrived in
Lewistown, letting off people who wanted to catch Roy Rogers on the silver screen
or go shopping. Those who returned to the cars early, before the assigned 10 o'clock
departure time, would sing, dance, and munch on candy and peanuts. It was said that
many wanted to skip the movies altogether and just stay in the cars to "cut up."
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