While visiting Montgomery, AL, this summer I heard about the former Amtrak train, the Floridian that ran from Chicago to Florida (through Montgomery). I was wondering if anyone knew any more about it or had a timetable?
I found an Amtrak timetable from 1976. This train left Chicago in the late evening, and took about 30 hours to get to Jacksonville, where its cars were split up to either continue to St. Petersburg or connect to Miami. The train went through Lafayette, Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Waycross before hitting Jacksonville.
The train was a victim of under-maintained trackage over much of the route, and railroads that were apathetic toward it (sound familiar?) This definitely wasn’t the kind of route where getting there contributed to the fun (people wanted to get to Florida more quickly than could be done over this not-so-direct route). It was one of the casualties of Amtrak’s 1979 retrenchment.
I rode the Floridian in June of 1979 from Chicago to Birmingham. What a slow ride! It took all night to get from Chicago to Louisville and then nearly all day to get to Birmingham from there. Had a dome car, which was nice. There’s actually a picture of me sitting (sleeping?) in the dome car in an article about the train in Trains mag (they reprinted a Louisville newspaper article). I guess that used up a few seconds of my 15 minutes of fame!
The problem with the train was that there really was no good route from Chicago to Louisville. Frt traffic doesn’t tend to flow that way. South of Louisville the problem wasn’t the track condition, but track alignment. The RR wasn’t built for speed. Lots of 40-50 mph running. Lots of curves. A better route would have been to Cincinnati and then down the CNO&TP to Chattanooga and Atlanta, but Southern didn’t join Amtrak, so that route was not available.
I was something of a “train killer” that year. I rode the Floridian, Shenandoah and Nat’l Limited that year, all of which died by 1980, so I guess you could blame me!
Thanks guys for that info! It’s sad really that more of an effort wasn’t put into finding solutions to the problems on this route. It’s a familiar story of Amtrak under funding and lack of interest from the freight railroads. I’m glad you had the chance to ride the train though while you still could. I took the Three Rivers this summer and now find out that was a smart move with the results of Amtrak’s ending of express and mail service.
…As reported earlier by others regarding poor track conditions in many areas the Floridian traveled…surely there would be alternative routes that could be strung together to provide a Chicago to Florida route. In the past I’ve read several articles of trying to revive that service but of course it’s not happened.
I’m sure equipment shortage is one important reason why under current situations why it can’t happen…and budgit restraints would be another. Doesn’t it seem a market could be developed for that route…From a major metropolitan center to Florida…?? Auto Train seems to do well, and I understand the difference of mission of that train. I suppose we can’t expect anymore routes that might make sense while Amtrak is in a state of flux and with an adminstration not willing to support even what we have in place now. Mr. Gunn would have to be a magician to create more routes with budget restraints he’s under.
There is a sad Floridian story that a few of you may remember. A certain young African-American man was a very regular rider on that train (I seem to recall he may have been a college student) between Tampa/St. Pete and somewhere up north. After the 1979 cuts, he began taking the Greyhound bus back and forth because he didn’t fly or drive. He was one of the passengers killed on the Greyhound Bus that flew off the Sunshine Skyway bridge after it was hit by a ship and partially collapsed.
I remember the Floridian well as I used to hang around Tampa Union Station in the 70s. It almost always had a Dome Lounge car which gave the train a distinct personality from the New York bound trains (Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Champion).
I had become well acquainted with the station workers back then. They had one common opinion…Reroute it by way of Atlanta! I don’t remember that details of what would have been involved but if Atlanta could have been included in the route, it may have been more viable.
I also remember the constant tirade of jokes regarding the L&N’s track conditions on the Floridian’s route. I imagine now that some jokes could even have been along the lines of
“If a train on the L&N didn’t derail this week, then something’s wrong!” It was also on the L&N’s trackage where the big SDP40fs had a couple of mishaps also.
I asssume that long since then CSX has either repaired or deleted the trackage. It’s sad that this train can’t be reactivated. As much as I respect the President, I doubt his administration is going to do much to help Amtrak bring back any viable trains.
…You’re sure making a safe assumption of this adminstration and funding of Amtrak…! Now, I’m wondering after rereading all of the above posts what the 50 dollar per barrel of crude might get people to thinking…again.
If a way could be found to find equipment and funding for a more direct and suitable route…??? Who knows…Anything can happen. I suppose some of it is up to the public…Get loud and responsive and be heard…! Make noise of what is possible and perhaps desirable. Auto Train sure finds people to load their train route…why not the same possibility from another heavy populated area but with just a good equipped train and sensible route that it can make good running time. There is a market out there but people don’t clamor for any because we all think it’s useless to do so. You younger generations with the energy stand up and demand the service…Use your vote to help it along.