The Royal Palm and The Ponce de Leon

[The Commodore]

I traveled several times from Ashburn, Georgia to Jacksonville Florida on The Royal Palm and The Ponce de Leon of Southern RR.  I seem to remember getting on board The Royal Palm in the afternoon and arriving in Jacsonville in the evening.  It seemed to be the middle of the night boarding the Ponce de Leon and arriving in the morning.  Train travel was the preferred method of my family and, certainly of me when I was ten years old in 1948.  Would appreciate if  anyone knows if I am correct in the names and times of the trains.  

[timz]

In May-June 1948 the Ponce de Leon wasn't scheduled to stop at Ashburn--it left Cordele at 1458, Tifton at 1558 and arrived Jacksonville 1955. The Royal Palm left Ashburn 0235 and arrived Jacksonville 0730. The only other train at Ashburn was a mixed from Macon to Valdosta.

[The Commodore]

My cousins and I all boarded the train in the afternoon and arrived in Jacksonville in the eveining.  It must have been a flag stop.  My grandfather put us all aboard the train that afternoon.    I did travel by train quite a bit when I was a child.  Flag stops were quite common then I think.  Several trains came through Ashburn.  Thanks much for the information, I remembered the names of the trains but, I was not sure which was which.  I certainly miss traveling by those trains and others such as The Silver Meteor, The East and West Coast Champions.  My real regret is that I never managed to ride The 20th Century Ltd.

   Thanks again for the information,

Michael

 

[daveklepper]

Possibly your family had special connections with the railroad that permitted them to flag the train.  TRAINS and CLASSIC TRAINS have both occasionally run stories where such stops were included.   I had one experience.

In connection with a Connecticut church project near Stamford, CT, I had a round-trip Boston - NY-GCT Owl trip in roomettes both ways.   At that time the Owl did not stop in Stamford but ran non-stop Bridgeport (or New Haven) - 125th Street.   Going donw form Boston, I would have backtracked from GCT in any case just to get a good night's sleep.   Goving back, I intended to do the same thing.   At that time the Owl spent about 1/3 the night in South Station, boarding at 10PM or later and leaving a 2AM.   Going back, it boarded at GCT at 10PM and left shortly afterward, arriving in Boston about 3:30 AM with passengers allowed ot remain on board until 8AM.   The discussion of the necessary architectural alterations lasted far later than expected, although a great dinner was part of the unexpected stay with the church people.   I got the phone number of the New Haven dispatcher, told him I knew Bill Goodwin personally, explained the entire situation, and asked that the Boston-bound Owl be stopped at Stamford that evening, and they complied, and my roomette was avialable for me.

[The Commodore]

 In retrospect, I'm sure Grandfather must have had the stationmaster flag the train down with the station semaphore signal.  On another note, I remember taking the London-Glasgow Night Express with a room and arriving around 5:ooam and not having to leave until 8:00.  Years later I took my nephew around the country on The Desert Wind, The Coast Starlight, and The Empire Builder.  I am sad to say that while a interesting trip, the service was definitely not up to standards of a drawing room I had traveled in as a young child.  Amstrak just did not come up to the standards of  Southern's Crescent Ltd. and The East Coast Champion.  Still, I do remember that the Dining Car on The Empire Building had fresh rainbow trout on the menu and it was quite good. 

Thanks for your response and all the best,

Michael

 

 

[daveklepper]

In 1962 I also rode the London - Glascow night express!

[The Commodore]

 Great way to travel although their tea or coffee was wretched.  I taught in Glasgow for a year and would head down to London for the theatre.  The natives were complaining about the reduction in trains although they still had 24,000 daily departures in Britain in 1978. 

  

[wanswheel]

http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/general/n032951.jpg

http://photoswest.org/photos/00011626/00011631.jpg

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=46531

[The Commodore]

Thanks for the photographs of the station and the train.  I travedled to and from Union Station quite a few times both as a child and later serving in the Coast Guard.  By the time I was traveling on the Royal Palm (1947-48?) Diesels had replaced the big green pacifics.  The Southern was one of our family's favourite lines to travel on.  Also made several trips on the Champion and The Silver Meteor. 

All the best,

Michael

 

 

    

[wanswheel]

Michael, thanks for clicking the links. Here's 2 more. -- Mike

http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/displayphoto.cfm?IMGURL=http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/reference/rc09649.jpg&IMGTEXT=[Seaboard Air Line Railroad's locomotive 3006 "Silver Meteor" at Jacksonville terminal] [graphic]&IMGTITLE=RC09649

http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/displayphoto.cfm?IMGURL=http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/reference/rc10408.jpg&IMGTEXT=[First trip of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad company locomotive "Champion"] [graphic]&IMGTITLE=RC10408

[The Commodore]

Mike,

   Thanks again, I went to High School In Jacksonville and lived out at the beaches.  Lots of old photographs in the Florida Photographic Archives.  Typing in the name of a railroad brought up a lot of pictures from various eras.

All the best,

Michael