The Bullet was a forerunner of today's
high-speed trains, of which the first were inaugurated later in the 1930s. Among other trains, the Japanese Odakyū 3000 series SE
Romancecar was inspired by the sleek and streamlined Bullets. In 1957, the Romancecar set a
speed record for narrow-gauge trains of 145 km/h (90,1 mph). The Bullets are called "ancestors of the
TGV,
Eurostar,
AVE,
ICE,
Shinkansen, and the
Acela Express" (in English, the first Shinkansens were named Bullet Trains) and they are also strikingly similar to Germany's
Fliegender Hamburger. The Bullets' maximum speed was ,
No grade crossings The P&W was originally conceived to be a Class I railroad which would compete for east-west traffic with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Already in 1907, the P&W had laid trackage with a quality unseen before by an interurban – free from
grade crossings with both railroads and roads, and with a color-light
block signal system, like most Class I railroads of the era. Nearly the entire line was double track to improve safety and capacity. To further utilize the Bullets' potential, more improvements were made to track and signal systems to permit extremely high speeds on the Norristown line.
From New York to Utah FJ&G's bright orange Bullets ran hourly into Schenectady where they terminated in front of the New York Central railroad station. In 1935, the FJ&G's Mohawk River bridge was condemned by New York State as too dangerous for any public transport as a result of river ice damage a decade earlier. Hence interurban service terminated at Scotia across the Mohawk from Schenectady. In 1936, the company abandoned passenger service. The five Bullets went to the
Bamberger Railroad (BR) interurban in
Utah and served the line from
Salt Lake City–Ogden hourly, although operating at lower speeds than on the FJ&G. In 1952 the BR's shops burned, and the company ceased passenger traffic on September 6 that year. After being retired from railroad service, many railcars - including Bullets - were sold to the public as cheap “pre-fab” buildings.
Almost 60 years of service , where the Bullets ran from 1931 to 1990 If the Red Devil cars were the inspiration for the Bullets, in 1939 13 of the 20 Red Devils were sold to
Lehigh Valley Transit Company (LVT), where for a time they shared the tracks from Norristown to 69th St. Terminal with P&W's Bullets. Under the name of Liberty Bell Limited, the Red Devils ran until LVT ended the service in 1951. Other high-speed interurban trains joined the Philadelphia suburban scene also. From the
North Shore Line's
Chicago–
Milwaukee route a pair of high-speed streamliners named
Electroliners were sent eastward in 1963, after 22 years and more than 3.3 million miles (5.3 million km) each – a mileage which probably surpassed any other interurban equipment. They were acquired by the Red Arrow Lines, which renamed them Liberty Liners and operated them in rush hour service on the P&W line until circa 1976. In their tavern-lounge cars commuters enjoyed continental breakfast in the morning and spirits and snacks in the afternoon. Different kinds of MU equipment in use on the Norristown line later resulted in the Bullets' being restricted to less busy times (weekends) when the ten of them could provide 100% of the service. Their lower profile, intended to reduce air resistance at high speed included a lower
anticlimber (bumper) than other cars, and safety rules in the 1980s required the Bullets not to share the route with other cars. The P&W's Bullets had a remarkably long life thanks to their build quality. P&W's excellent maintenance also contributed to reduced wear. Some Bullets survived until August 1990, when a special excursion was led by cars 206 and 209. They spent this time in an active role serving commuters in the Philadelphia area as part of the
SEPTA rail stock. Today, Philadelphia's
light rail system, which encompassed the surviving interurban lines (see
Norristown High Speed Line) is number five in the U.S. by
ridership. ==Preservation==