BLS53 I recall some of the cars on the City of Miami and Seminole, having C of G, ACL, or FEC lettering. They were in IC colors though.
I recall some of the cars on the City of Miami and Seminole, having C of G, ACL, or FEC lettering. They were in IC colors though.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDIt was common practice 'back in the day' for all the participating carriers on a service to have some ownership interests in the cars that supplied the service....all decorated in the theme of the service. The carriers you mention all participated in the City of Miami service and owned some of the equipment. Likewise the California Zephyr had equipment owned by WP, DRGW and CBQ within it's consists.
The IC, under Wayne Johnston, was very particular about the uniformity of the coloring of its mainline passenger trains (it did allow Pullman green cars on the Meridian-Shreveport train). I recall seeing a Lackawanna sleeper on the Pannyma (as the IC men in South Mississippi called the train) that could not be told from an IC car unless you looked carefully. Also, when the IC ran NP domes on the Panama and City of Miiami in the winter, they were painted to blend in with the rest of the train--and repainted, by the IC, to NP colors before being returned home.
I regret that I did not see a particular northbound run of the Panama in 1964--after a hurricane made it impossible for the train to run north one day, and Pullman had to use what equipment it find to substitute for the set that did not make it to Chicago in time to go south. It must have been interesting to see the mixture onthe IC.
It was not just cars that were painted the IC colors, some CG engines were also painted to blend in. I am glad that the IC did not repeat the original paint scheme of the City of Miami.
At least one RF&P sleeper, that was used in New York-Norfolk service, was painted Tuscan red, to blend in with the N&W colors. Other RF&P (and PRR) cars that were in NY-Fla service were painted to blend in with either the ACL or SAL cars.
I could go on and on, describing the Overland trains and others, but this should show that the practice was widespread.
Johnny
CG E8A's 811-812 were painted in full IC colors and also had the green diamond on the nose. They were regular visitors to Chicago on the "City of Miami". I also remember seeing heavyweight coaches on the "Seminole" in full IC colors lettered for Atlantic Coast Line, this was some time in 1969 or 1970.
CSSHEGEWISCH CG E8A's 811-812 were painted in full IC colors and also had the green diamond on the nose. They were regular visitors to Chicago on the "City of Miami". I also remember seeing heavyweight coaches on the "Seminole" in full IC colors lettered for Atlantic Coast Line, this was some time in 1969 or 1970.
The green diamond on the engine front was lettered, of course, "Central of Georgia", and not "Illinois Central."
Also, in 1961, you could see City of Miami cars from all four roads. I stayd up late one night and saw both the northbound and southbound trains.
Further comment on the uniformity of passenger train colors. Way back in my high school days, I used to ride the South Shore from 115th Street to Hegewisch to go home after school. While waiting for my train, the "Campus" (later the "Illini") would pass and usually had 3-4 flatcars with Flexi-Vans for mail on the back end. The Flexi-Vans were also painted in brown and orange with a yellow trim stripe.
[quote user="Los Angeles Rams Guy"]
CSSHEGEWISCH Also consider the Iowa line. IC ran the Land O' Corn, which started out as an ACF Motorailer and grew to a small coach streamliner, between Chicago and Waterloo, IA and the Hawkeye, which was an overnighter with a lot of mail/express, between Chicago and Sioux City, IA.
Oh yeah....I remember the "Hawkeye" well; coming into Manchester, Iowa westbound late at night (around midnight/1 A.M.).
I still have a antimacasscar lettered "SCL" from its service on an IC train in 1968, probably the Seminole, although it might have been the City.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
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