I wanted to pose the question about The Champion and The Silver Meteor. I rode the Silver Meteor to Washington from Jacksonville when I was about 12. The Champion when I was about 14 from Jacksonville to Miami traveling alone. Later when I was in the Coast Guard I came home on leave from New York to Jacksonville. It was great traveling in uniform near Christmas as the civilians in the club car were quite generous in buying a seaman apprentice a drink. The steward was kind enough to warn us about the dry state of North Carolina. My memories of the Champion was that it was a first class train and the dining car was terrific. My idea of the perfect breakfast was their french toast and rashers of bacon washing down with hot coffee. The service was outstanding. I’m hard pressed to choose one over the other but, I think the Champion certainly one of the best.
Probably the two trains were about as equal as two competing trains could be. The one advantage of the Silver Meteor if one was traveling in the sleepers was the lounge cars with the glass in the roofs. They both carried the same sleeping acoomodation dining cars and menus were very close and coaches were almost identical as well. Both carried Observation cars with lounge facilities for coach passengers and both were excellent trains on similar schedules. The SAL and ACL remind me of the rivalry in the Northwest between the Empire Builder of the GN and North Coast Limited of the NP. Like there east coast counterparts they eventually merged as well.
Very good summation of the two trains. As I was a lowly s.a. could not afford the sleepers. However, on the return during my Christmas leave there was a sort of never ending party replete with some folks playing their own instruments. That was a good comparison on those northern pacific trains. Alas, I did not get to ride either the Empire Builder or the Hiawatha until Amtrak took them over. I did ride the Champion many times and always enjoyed the trip and the service.