Comet (train)

The Comet was a one-off three-car, double-ended diesel-electric streamliner built in 1935 for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Company, the airship-building joint venture of Goodyear and Luftschiffbau Zeppelin that later became Goodyear Aircraft and then Goodyear Aerospace. Its articulated aluminum body was built with airship-style light structure. It was smaller than the other American streamliners of its day, and because it could run in either direction it did not have to be turned at the cramped South Station terminus in Boston. It entered service between Boston and Providence on an advertised schedule of 44 miles in 44 minutes, running five daily round trips on weekdays and often being used for weekend excursions. After the start of World War II rising traffic overwhelmed its capacity and it was moved to local commuter work around Boston. The trainset was withdrawn in 1951 and scrapped, and the Comet remained the only railroad train the Goodyear firm ever sold.