when i was a child, my mother would take my sister and me from portland, oregon to miami, florida by train. we would travel UP City of Portland from portland to chicago and then, according to her memory, take either the FEC (city of miami, south wind) from chicago to miami. she also thinks we sometimes took seaboard from chicago to miami. this was in the 50's. was there seaboard passenger service from chicago to miami? if so, what was the name of the train and general route? thanks

-- forrest jerome (fjerome@mindspring.com), November 05, 2002

Answers

By the 1950's, there was no longer any through service between Chicago and Florida that used Seaboard trackage. During the early 1950's, the three premier trains between Chicago and Florida were the City of Miami, South Wind and Dixie Flagler-later to become the new Dixieland. All of these trains used the Atlantic Coast Line to enter Florida. Those travelers destined for east coast cities continued their traips via the Florida East Coast, while those destined for west coast cities stayed on ACL rails. You may want to visit the Society web site and check out the various books available that detail the history of the railroads, including the Seaboard and ACL. Of particular interest would be Larry Goolsby's Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service book. Good Luck!

-- Michael W. Savchak (savchak@mnr.org), November 06, 2002.