You take it then... I feel like my recent ones are cinder blocks with respect to keeping it going.
Since I was forbidden to answer the last question until three days had elapsed, I sent a private message to rcdrye, listing the roads, ten days ago.
So, I will pose a question which should be answered fairly quickly.
In 1943, it was possible to take a day trip between Columbus, Miss., and Mobile Ala., without changing trains.What was the routing and the name of the train?
Johnny
Sorry, this was a through train, traveling by day only.
Must have been joint Frisco/AT&N or AT&N on Frisco trackage rights NW of Aliceville AL. I know Frisco and AT&N had joint freight operations via Aliceville. AT&N had lots of interesting self-propelled equipment, but I'm guessing more like a normal Gas-Electric for the through service. Columbus would have been a more attractive destination than AT&N's own north end at Reform AL.
rcdrye Must have been joint Frisco/AT&N or AT&N on Frisco trackage rights NW of Aliceville AL. I know Frisco and AT&N had joint freight operations via Aliceville. AT&N had lots of interesting self-propelled equipment, but I'm guessing more like a normal Gas-Electric for the through service. Columbus would have been a more attractive destination than AT&N's own north end at Reform AL.
However, this was not an interline train--and it was diesel-powered!
For many years, there was a through freight train that came through Columbus on the Frisco, and the AT&N took it on down to Mobile.
After the AT&N's bridge across the Tombigbee fell into the river (I talked with the conductor who watched it fall just after his train passed over the river), the arrangement was Frisco to from Aliceville to Boligee, trackage rights over the AGS to York, and then AT&N down to Mobile. At first the Frisco crews argued that they should take the train to Boligee and York, but the unions said that it was AT&N's work. Now, sad to say there is practically nothing of the AT&N left, just outside of Mobile.
Did the GM&O operate a train from Columbus to Mobile on the old Mobile and Ohio? The M&O main line didn't go through Columbus, but a branch did, apparently abandoned in favor of the former GM&N line through Columbus sometime in the 1940s.
No, so far as I know, there was no train that went west from Columbus and then south by southeast (roughly) to Mobile. This train certainly did not follow, overall, an airline route between the two cities.
The engines were named for a Roman god. I saw one of them in (guess where) in the mid-fifties; then, the train still ran, but not the full length of its route in 1943.
The GM&N did not run through Columbus, but the M&O did (Artesia-Montgomery).
Was this the Southern's FM-powered "Vulcan" diesel railcar? I looked at a possible Southern Ry route but it seemed too indirect, since it would have to go via Birmingham.
If that's not it I'm out of railroads that served Columbus, except for the C&G which went nowhere near Mobile...
You have part of the answer, but what was the name of the train? "Vulcan" was the name on the two powers cars that pulled the train (one each way).
Deggesty You have part of the answer, but what was the name of the train? "Vulcan" was the name on the two powers cars that pulled the train (one each way).
I think my resources have run out on that question. I did find out that both "Vulcan" railcars actually belonged to the Alabama Great Southern, no surprise given the route. I'm assuming based on the railcar names and the train's route via Birmingham that the train name had something to do with iron.
No, it had nothing to do with iron; it was named for a plant which is unpleasant to some people though it is pleasant to look at.
The "Goldenrod"?
YES! It is much blamed for causing hay fever.
Oh, yes; the Goldenrod ran on the AGS for a very short distance: between Birmingham and Burstall (just below Bessemer). It ran on the former Georgia Pacific between Birmngham and Columbus; I do not know what road built between Burstall and Wilton; I have forgotten the name of the road that built from Rome, Georgia, towards Meridian; I do not know what road built from Marion Junction to Mobile, but by 1893, from Rome southwest, and down to Mobile, was a part of the East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia.
Mike, thanks for the picture and the 1946 timetable. When the railroad was completed between Rome and Meridian, it had its own track into Meridian from York. After the ETV&G and AGS were brought into the Southern system, the duplicate track between York and Meridian was abandoned.
Look carefully at the timetable--and note that there was, in 1946 (and from about twenty years earlier, as I remember), no train service between Demopolis and McDowell. In the sixties, a elderly resident of Benevola told me why (and settled my mind, for I had been aware of this note since the early fifties). Does any of you know, or can you determine why? This is not a question in the quiz.
DeggestyLook carefully at the timetable--and note that there was, in 1946 (and from about twenty years earlier, as I remember), no train service between Demopolis and McDowell. In the sixties, a elderly resident of Benevola told me why (and settled my mind, for I had been aware of this note since the early fifties). Does any of you know, or can you determine why?
Looking at a 1960 SR map and a current map of Demopolis, I would guess that the path across the Black Warrior River got disrupted either by a flood or by Army Corps work. Or maybe the bridge just fell into the river?
On to a new question: Passengers to this railroad owned resort arrived at the resort by train, but most returning passengers went to another station by Limo to go home. Railroad and resort.
The bridge fell into the river after a steamboat hit it. Since the Southern had another, roundabout route, the bridge was never replaced. The July 1943 Guide makes no mention of the alternate route; it was probably expected that anybody who wanted to go from Demopolis to York was able to figure the alternate out.
Rob:
Are you looking for the C&O and White Sulphur Springs?
Ed Burns
C&O owned more than one resort...
The "Greenbrier"?
Rob, I have sent you another PM.
Ed: You're in the right neighborhood. This resort isn't quite on the C&O main line.
"Hot Springs"?
The "Homestead" at Hot Springs was reached by a C&O branch. The mixed train from Clifton Forge carried a car or two off the westbound "F.F.V. (Fast Flying Virginian)" up the branch, arriving at 8AM. Around 9AM the mixed returned, along with the sleepers. Passengers returning to Washington or New York were provided with "Limousine Service direct from the Homestead Hotel, Hot Springs, Va., connecting with sleeping car C-63 at Clifton Forge." The eastbound F.F.V. departed Clifton Forge at 8:57PM.
Passengers on other trains were handled by limousine service to and from Covington.
The service by mixed train was the result of reduced passenger patronage; I do not know just when it came to that, but in 1943 there was still an evening train down to Clifton Forge, which carried the New York sleeper(s) that the F.F.V. forwarded to Washington. Limousine service was also available for patrons who wished to travel from or to the west.
I have been through Hot Springs once, and took a picture which did not turn out (so I am unable to give you one).
Rob and All:
This railroad had a business car and a train named after a local American Indian chief. Name the railroad and the name of the Chief.
This question has been open for seven days. Two clues: the name is listed in both Wayner's books on passenger trains and I transported the conductor of the last train in a crew van. Keep digging!!!
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