The latest issue of LINES SOUTH is a winner as usual; thanks to all involved! The Perry Cutoff feature is especially interesting, and has much info on the Southland operation. Just as the Silver Meteor's parent railroad was the Seaboard and the City Of Miami's was the IC, which was the owning railroad of the Southland? It's northern endpoints were reached via Pennsy and Wabash among others, but it seems the main portion of the route was over the L&N. Thanks for all replies.

-- Bob Venditti (bobvend@bellsouth.net), November 24, 2004

Answers

I can't be absolutely certain, but I believe that the "Southland" was, indeed, a Louisville & Nashville RR train.

Bob Hanson

-- Robert H. Hanson (RHanson669@aol.com), December 03, 2004.

my hometown is tampa, fl., the southern terminus of the southland on atl coast line coming down from albany. i don 't think the southland ever rated the prestige and equipment of the south wind or the city of miami, interline trains, and certainly not the champions of the a c l [mainly a c l]. the southland operated on the central of ga. between atlanta and albany, ga. i rode the southland several times while a student at mercer univ. in macon, ga., along its route on the c of ga. on the proper days it waited northbound at albany for the oncoming city of miami, in the middle of the night. my sightings of southland consist never approached that of the south wind, c of miami, and champion. and it died before they did. its route thru perry fla. has been ripped out. it exchanged passengers at thomasville, ga., for trains to montgomery, al., en route new orleans. passengers, not cars. north of atlanta, i am ignorant. ctl of ga trains would have entered terminal sta. at atlanta while l&n departed out of union station a short distance away.

-- theo sommerkamp (crosstie@wowway.com), December 02, 2004.

Bob, I don't have a precise answer. One old Southland advertising brochure that Russell Tedder loaned us for the Perry Cutoff article is labeled for the PRR, L&N, and Wabash. My impression is that in later years the L&N was largely responsible for the train.

-- Larry Goolsby (clgoolsby@att.net), November 28, 2004.