"To take a plane in the early 1940s was very unusual," Patrick said. "You might take a plane some time in training camp if you were going to play a game in Los Angeles, but that wasn't the rule.

"We always had a private railroad car, nothing sensational, just an ordinary Pullman. There were upper and lower berths, and a private room where the coaches and trainers stayed. The veterans, naturally, had the lower berths and the rookies the uppers. Most of the trips were overnight.

"The railroads tried to put us behind the baggage car, so we had a lot of privacy," Patrick said. "Sometimes people would know we were on board and come back to talk. I remember Kirk Douglas came back and talked to us one time. This was when his son Michael was just a baby. He had heard we were on the train and had seen us play. He was a nice fellow. But normally, things were private."

"I can recall that sometimes another team would be on your train," Ferguson said. "You would never go through their car. You would never talk to them. There was no mingling."

"It helped make everyone closer, no doubt about it," said Tommy Ivan, former vice president of the Chicago Blackhawks. "The players were able to get off their feet and get some rest. There was nothing wrong with traveling by train. I never kicked too much because I enjoyed all of it."

"One thing about the train, you spent more time with your teammates," Patrick said. "Sometimes, I don't know if that's good or bad.

"The train was quite pleasant," Patrick said. "We played every New Year's Eve at the Garden and the next night, New Year's Day, we would play in Boston. That was always an interesting trip. This was when the Garden was located at 49th and 50th Streets and Eighth Avenue. We would walk by Times Square on the way to Grand Central Station, and boy, was that crowded." In those days, trains kept rigorous schedules and one day, that nearly cost Patrick and teammate Neil Colville.

"We were going to play an exhibition game in Atlantic City; there was an Eastern Hockey League team called the Seagulls there. The train was leaving from Penn Station. All of our trips normally left from Grand Central Station.

"I was five minutes late and the train was gone. I looked around and saw this guy walking past and it was Neil. Missing a train in those days, well, you were in big trouble. A $25 fine was a hell of a shock. But we were lucky. We found out there were trains running to Atlantic City and Philadelphia every hour, so we jumped on the next one and made it down in time for the game."

Ferguson also remembers a close call making a game on time. But his wallet wasn't going to be lightened, as he was with the rest of the Canadiens at the time.

"We were late getting into Chicago," Ferguson recalls."We stopped along a siding about 10 miles out of town and they sent police cars to drive us right to Chicago Stadium. That was some experience. The game started about 45 minutes late and we didn't have any warm-up."

While the Canadiens may have arrived late for that occasion, they looked good doing it. Ferguson said the team had a strict dress code for road trips.

"We had our own smoker car and the same porter on every trip. He took care of shining our shoes and the like. Our old boss, Toe Blake, had the stateroom on the car and he ruled the roost. Montreal always had the best-dressed team. We always wore shirts and ties, and that was because of Toe Blake."

Ivan said train travel provided a time for reflection. He did most of his traveling with the Red Wings, having coached Detroit before becoming general manager of the Blackhawks in 1954.

"There was a lot of time to rest and think. You weren't running for the airport or the hotel like you do today. We stayed on the train. There were 12 upper and 12 lower berths," Ivan said. "We didn't carry a big roster at the time, 21 or 22 players. Berths were issued on terms of seniority. If there was a tie, you'd flip a coin, draw straws, or the captain would handle it."

Paice: The next thing I knew, the train was gone and I was stranded with the meal money. I found out the next train left for New York in 30 minutes, but I had the money in my pocket. I don't know how the players got by that time.

Frank Paice, a long-time trainer with the Rangers, had to make sure the team equipment was stowed aboard the train, in addition to the million and one other details a trainer normally handles.

While it could be hectic, Paice recalled train travel also was relaxing.

"You'd get the train at Grand Central Station at 6 p.m. and be in the next city the next morning," Paice said. "The way the schedule is now, you could never do it. Now, you play one night in New York and the next night in Chicago. Also, years ago, players never went on the ice the day of a game. There were no game-day skates."

Paice remembered the railroads were so accustomed to having NHL teams traveling that the clubs' Pullman cars were labeled "NYR 1" for the Rangers, "MTL 1" for the Canadiens, "TOR 1" for the Maple Leafs, and so on.

Paice was a valuable man to have around at dinner time because he handled the club's meal money. On time in Buffalo, there were some who thought he absconded with the funds.

"We were coming back from Chicago to New York," he recalled. "We had a stopover in Buffalo. I wanted to get off to call Frank Eddolls, who was the coach and general manager of Buffalo's American Hockey League team. I asked the man at the gate when the train would be leaving. He said as soon as it was ready. I took a chance and went to the phone booth. The next thing I knew, the train was gone and I was stranded with the meal money. I found out the next train left for New York in 30 minutes, but I had the money in my pocket. I don't know how the players got by that time."

But get by they did. Since expansion, however, the era of NHL teams traveling by train is over. Air travel is simply far more practical these days.

"You just couldn't keep the schedule without airplanes now," Patrick said. "Getting to Vancouver, Los Angeles and Western Canada would be nearly impossible. We had a pretty compact league back then."

A League that rode the rails.