The Metropolitan Special was the workhorse passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) during the 1920s–1960s between St. Louis, Missouri, and New York's Rockfeller Center station. In earlier years only the east-bound #12 carried the name, while the Diplomat (as #11) carried the west-bound direction of the route. The train's eastern terminus was Washington, D.C. Sleeping car passengers were able to ride trains continuously from St. Louis to Jersey City, New Jersey, where at Communipaw Terminal passengers transferred to buses and ferries to Manhattan in New York City. By 1940, the eastern terminus became Baltimore, and the west-bound trip joined in carrying the Metropolitan Special name.