The Connecticut Yankee was a long-distance train in western New England, that in its first two decades was an international night train, established in 1936, that extended from New York City into southeastern Quebec, to Sherbrooke and Quebec City, a 549-mile (884 km) trip.

)[6][7][8] However, the train took a diversion at Wells River along Canadian Pacific tracks to Newport, Vermont, then a northwest-ward path toward Montreal.

Boston & Maine having begun scaling back its longer distance routes, the B&M offered a train, timed to connect, from Springfield to White River Junction.

[10][11][12][13] In 1961 the train continued for its NY-Springfield route, but it bore the name Bankers for the southbound trip.

)[16] The train regained the name for both directions and persisted into the Penn Central and Amtrak periods.