How would you name Amtrak's route differently?

[railiner]

This talk of the old train names makes me remember one of my early railfan favorites....I believe it was called The Edison, it ran from Washington to New York at around 2:00 AM. The Solari board at NYP listed it as "From Washington and South". It indeed was from "The South", as it seemed to carry through coaches and sleepers from every possible secondary train from all points south...ACL, SAL, RF&P, SR, N&W, C&O, etc., or at least a good portion of them. It arrived NYP around 6:00 AM.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

This talk of the old train names makes me remember one of my early railfan favorites....I believe it was called The Edison, it ran from Washington to New York at around 2:00 AM. The Solari board at NYP listed it as "From Washington and South". It indeed was from "The South", as it seemed to carry through coaches and sleepers from every possible secondary train from all points south...ACL, SAL, RF&P, SR, N&W, C&O, etc., or at least a good portion of them. It arrived NYP around 6:00 AM.

yes, the NEC was famous for things like this. think of all the color schemes.

 

[railiner]

It was a railfan delight...worth getting up early to view. Stainless; Pullman green; tuscan red; grey, blue, and yellow; etc.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Do not forget the name Tennessean. tO review, it went NYC WAS Lynchburg Roanoke Bristol Knoxville C hattanoga Huntsville Memphis. In Chattanooga it had a sleeper which was transferred to a train to Nashville. So it covered all the major cities in Tennessean.

And, unlike the Pelican, it was a streamliner for most of its life though it did decline a lot in later years.

It is kind of odd that the Pelican in a rump form lived on till after 1969, while the more illustrious trains just folded earlier. In 1969, New York - Chattanooga service was provided by the Birmingham Special, which incidentally was the fastest way to get from New York to Lynchburg. It took about the same time as today's Lynchburg Regional, though with many fewer stops, and a shorter stop at Washington.

I rode the Tennessean. the Birmingham Special and Pelican on a regular baais from Chattanooga to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. This was in the 1962 1965 range. One thing I remember is that the cabbies seemed unaware of the BIrmingham Special it got so few riders. THey met the other trains on a regular basis and knew plenty of students needed them. But many a time when my BHm Specil arrived at 11 pm on a Sunday we had to call a cab.. The never learned.

 

[railiner]

The railroad employees had a more derogatory name for it..."the chicken-bone express". No offence meant to anyone, but that's what some of 'em called it....

 

[Anderson]

This talk of the old train names makes me remember one of my early railfan favorites....I believe it was called The Edison, it ran from Washington to New York at around 2:00 AM. The Solari board at NYP listed it as "From Washington and South". It indeed was from "The South", as it seemed to carry through coaches and sleepers from every possible secondary train from all points south...ACL, SAL, RF&P, SR, N&W, C&O, etc., or at least a good portion of them. It arrived NYP around 6:00 AM.

yes, the NEC was famous for things like this. think of all the color schemes.

Ah, for the days when you could get a train heading up north with virtually any schedule from somewhere south of WAS. What I wouldn't give for the ability to jump on a train at 11 or 12 at night out of Richmond heading north...