Train travel to Providence used to be pretty sleek and Zeppelin-based

In 1935, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad introduced its Comet service between Boston and Providence: A streamlined, diesel-powered three-car train to shuttle between the two cities without any need to turn around because it had engines at either end.

The Comet was one of the first such streamlined passenger trains introduced in the US in the mid-1930s - and the first meant to provide service over a relatively short distance. The 160-seat trains made the trip between South Station and Providence in 44 minutes (with just one intermediate stop, at Back Bay) - compared to 55 to 75 minutes for the day's steam-driven trains (bonus fun fact: The Boston and Maine ran its own streamlined trains between Boston and Portland in an hour and 55 minutes, compared to the 2 hours and 33 minutes it takes today's Downeaster).

The New Haven bought the trains from the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corp. of Akron, OH, according to a detailed article in Railway Age on April 27, 1935.

From Railway Age: The Comet:

That company started out as a venture to build and sell Zeppelins in the US market, but it turned out there wasn't much US demand for them even before the Hindenburg disaster (in 1937), so the company decided to try its hand at slippery-looking trains. It tested the train's design in wind tunnels at the Daniel Guggenheim Airship Institute in Akron and at Columbia University.

It also turned out there wasn't that much demand for sleek short-trip passenger trains, either - the Comet turned out to be its only sale, according to Brian Solomon in Streamliners (Amazon link).

The three-car trains proved inadequate for increased demand in the war years and the New Haven switched them to suburban lines, where they ran until 1951, when the railroad scrapped them.

A Comet passing through Sharon (via Sharon Public Library, under this Creative Commons license):

The Railway Age article carries a voluminous list of parts suppliers for the train.

Some of these were local, including the Boston Insulated Wire & Cable Co. of Dorchester, which made electrical cables, the Sterling Fibre Co. of Waltham, which made the seats and the Massachusetts Mohair Plush Co., whose headquarters were on Franklin Street downtown, but which made the seat coverings at its factory in Lowell.