It’s my understanding that the ACL reached Columbia by way of a split somewhere near Florence, but did the SAL serve Columbia at all, and if so, where from? None of the SAL maps that I have are of high enough resolution to tell.
Also, what passenger trains served this city?
Thanks!
ACL did reach Columbia on a branch from Florence and Sumter. It is still in place between Sumter and Columbia. ACL also owned the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens, which acted as an extension of the branch.
SAL had two mainlines between Hamlet, NC, and Savannah. One went through Charleston, and is gone south of Charleston. The other went through Columbia, and is still used by CSX and Amtrak, for the Silver Star.
In the days when the SAL and the ACL were separate railroads, the ACL name Florida trains, East and West Coast Champions, Florida Special, Havana (later Gulf Coast) Special, Everglades, etc. all ran through a West Charleston station that avoided a back-up into the downtown stubend Charleston Station. But the SAL name trains, particularly the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Tidewater (Norfolk - Jacksonville) went through Columbia. I used these trains to both destinations at times.
But my memory isn’t perfect and someone can help me. The secondary trains, The Palmland and the Sunland were ACL, and the Palmetto was SAL? Or the reverse?
Some of these trains were discontinued shortly after the merger into the SCL because there was duplication.
The Palmetto was a ACL run ( New York-Savannah-Augusta-Wilmington.)
SCL continued the Palmland until May 1, 1971 as a Richmond (RF&P) to Columbia train.
Thanks for clearing up a memory confusion. But at least during WWII and shortly there after, the Palmetto also ran to Jacksonville and possibly also to Tampa. I did ride it. As you pointed out, it was switched in several directions at Florence. It had heavyweight equipment quite late
The Southern served Columbia with at least one train the Carolina Special and possibly others as well. The Carolina Special carried a through sleeper from Chicago via the Big Four to Cincy and ran over the Saluda grade with northbound trains helped by a 2-10-2 pushing on the rear of the Pullman.
Mark
The Southern was a great railroad.