Silver Comet (train)

*Silver Comet*
	The Silver Comet arriving at Alexandria VA., 1969
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Defunct
Locale	Eastern United States
First service	May 18, 1947
Last service	October 14, 1969
Former operator(s)	SAL (1947–1967); SCL (1967–1969)
Route
Termini	New York City, New York; Birmingham, Alabama
Distance travelled	1,106.3 miles (1,780.4 km)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	Southbound, 197-33 (PRR-SAL); Northbound, 34-196 (SAL-PRR)
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Coach
Sleeping arrangements	Pullman sections, roomettes, double bedrooms and drawing room (1954)
Catering facilities	Dining car
Observation facilities	Lounge car (1954)
Baggage facilities	Baggage car
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Track owner(s)	PRR (New York–Washington); RFP (Washington–Richmond); SAL (Richmond–Birmingham)

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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.^[1]

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. Under its original schedule, the trip took 23 hours at an average speed of 48 miles per hour.^[2]

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 Hamlet, North Carolina. A 48-seat observation car brought up the rear of the train.

Owing to declining passenger and mail revenues, the Silver Comet was discontinued in stages in 1969: the last trip between Atlanta and Birmingham was made on January 18; between Washington and Richmond, May 7; and between Richmond and Atlanta, October 14. The last through sleeper had run on December 31, 1968.^[3]

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.

References

^ Campbell, Malcolm (June 13, 2006). "SRM Features: Magic Carpets". Southeastern Railway Museum. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
^ Silver Comet timetable and consist as of May 1947 at streamlinerschedules.com, accessed 25 October 2012.
^ Baer, Christopher T. "Named Trains of the PRR Including Through Services," Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 8 September 2009, accessed 25 October 2012.

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
Baer, Christopher T. "Named Trains of the PRR Including Through Services," Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 8 September 2009, accessed 28 May 2012 - includes details of commencement and discontinuance of service

[campbell-1] Campbell, Malcolm (June 13, 2006). "SRM Features: Magic Carpets". Southeastern Railway Museum. Retrieved 2010-12-29.

[2] Silver Comet timetable and consist as of May 1947 at streamlinerschedules.com, accessed 25 October 2012.

[3] Baer, Christopher T. "Named Trains of the PRR Including Through Services," Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 8 September 2009, accessed 25 October 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

See also

References

External links