Silver Comet (train)

For other uses, see Silver Comet (disambiguation).

Silver Comet
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Defunct
Locale	Eastern United States
First service	May 18, 1947
Last service	June 1969
Former operator(s)	SAL (1947–1967) SCL (1967–1969)
Route
Start	New York City, New York
End	Birmingham, Alabama
Distance travelled	1,106.3 miles (1,780.4 km)
Train number(s)	7 (northeast bound); 8 (southwest bound)
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Coach
Sleeping arrangements	Pullman
Catering facilities	Dining car
Baggage facilities	Baggage car
Technical
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Track owner(s)	PRR (NY–Wash.) RFP (Wash.–Richm.) SAL (Richm.–Birm.)
Route map Legend Distance Station 0 New York New York–New Jersey border 10.0 mi (16.1 km) Newark 58.1 mi (93.5 km) Trenton New Jersey–Pennsylvania border 85.9 mi (138.2 km) North Philadelphia 91 mi (146 km) Philadelphia Pennsylvania–Delaware border 118.1 mi (190.1 km) Wilmington Delaware–Maryland border 185 mi (298 km) Baltimore Maryland–District of Columbia border 225 mi (362 km) Washington, DC District of Columbia–Virginia border 280.7 mi (451.7 km) Fredericksburg 343.1 mi (552.2 km) Richmond 365.8 mi (588.7 km) Petersburg (to Portsmouth) Virginia–North Carolina border) 456.5 mi (734.7 km) Henderson 500.3 mi (805.2 km) Raleigh 596.9 mi (960.6 km) Hamlet 649.5 mi (1,045.3 km) Monroe North Carolina–South Carolina border 694.5 mi (1,117.7 km) Chester 740.2 mi (1,191.2 km) Clinton 768.0 mi (1,236.0 km) Greenwood 783.1 mi (1,260.3 km) Abbeville South Carolina–Georgia border 814.4 mi (1,310.6 km) Elberton 848.8 mi (1,366.0 km) Athens 911.4 mi (1,466.8 km) Emory 921.7 mi (1,483.3 km) Atlanta Georgia–Alabama border 1,005.7 mi (1,618.5 km) Piedmont 1,024.3 mi (1,648.5 km) Wellington 1,031.1 mi (1,659.4 km) Ohatchee 1,041.0 mi (1,675.3 km) Ragland 1,050.1 mi (1,690.0 km) Wattsville (northbound only) 1,106.3 mi (1,780.4 km) Birmingham

Routes of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1955 including the Silver Comet from New York to Birmingham

The Silver Comet was a streamlined passenger train inaugurated on May 18, 1947, by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (Seaboard Coast Line after merger with the Atlantic Coast Line on July 1, 1967). Before its inaugural run, the new train was christened by actress Jean Parker at Pennsylvania Station in New York City.

Daily service extended from New York via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama. From New York to Washington, the train was handled by the Pennsylvania Railroad; from Washington to Richmond, by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad; and by Seaboard from Richmond to points south.

The consist of the Silver Comet included baggage cars, coaches, Pullman sleepers, and a dining car between New York and Birmingham, along with through coaches and Pullmans to or from Portsmouth, Virginia, connecting at Raleigh.

Owing to declining passenger and mail revenues, the Silver Comet was discontinued in June 1969.

Following abandonment of the Atlanta to Birmingham segment of the Silver Comet right-of-way by SAL-SCL successor CSX in 1989, portions were converted to the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama.

See also

• Crescent - now operated by Amtrak, which runs from New York to New Orleans via Washington, Atlanta, and Birmingham (a route parallel to that of the Silver Comet, but over ex-Southern rails)

External links

• Silver Comet timetable and consist as of May 1947
• Seaboard ad announcing the new Silver Comet, 1947
• Cobb County, Georgia, official site of the Silver Comet Trail
• Links to information and maps about the Silver Comet Trail and Chief Ladiga Trail
• Silver Comet Trail at Georgia's Railroad History and Heritage