Silver Meteor

Silver Meteor

Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Operating
Locale	East Coast of the United States
First service	February 2, 1939
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Former operator(s)	Seaboard Air Line Railroad(1939–1967) Seaboard Coast Line Railroad(1967–1971) Pennsylvania Railroad(1939–1968) Penn Central(1968–1971)
Ridership	1,023 daily 373,576 total (FY11)[1]
Route
Start	New York City
Stops	33
End	Miami, Florida
Distance travelled	1,389 miles (2,235 km)
Service frequency	daily
Train number(s)	97–98
On-board services
Class(es)	Reserved Coach and First-class Sleeper
Seating arrangements	Airline-style coach seating
Sleeping arrangements	Viewliner Roomette (2 beds) Viewliner Bedroom (2 beds) Viewliner Bedroom Suite (4 beds) Viewliner Accessible Bedroom (2 beds)
Catering facilities	Viewliner Dining car
Baggage facilities	Checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock	Amfleet II coaches Viewliner sleepers
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Track owner(s)	Amtrak, CSX, CFRC
Route map Dist. Station Northeast Corridor to Boston 0 mi 0 km New York NY NJ North River Tunnels under Hudson River 10 mi 16 km Newark, NJ 58 mi 93 km Trenton NJ PA across Delaware River 91 mi 146 km Philadelphia PA DE 116 mi 187 km Wilmington DE MD 185 mi 298 km Baltimore MD DC 225 mi 362 km Washington, D.C. DC VA across Potomac River 234 mi 377 km Alexandria 279 mi 449 km Fredericksburg 334 mi 538 km Richmond Staples Mill Road 362 mi 583 km Petersburg VA NC 460 mi 740 km Rocky Mount 550 mi 885 km Fayetteville NC SC 633 mi 1019 km Florence 672 mi 1081 km Kingstree 728 mi 1172 km Charleston 782 mi 1259 km Yemassee SC GA across Savannah River 829 mi 1334 km Savannah 881 mi 1418 km Jesup GA FL across St. Marys River 977 mi 1572 km Jacksonville 1035 mi 1666 km Palatka 1087 mi 1749 km DeLand 1119 mi 1801 km Winter Park 1124 mi 1809 km Orlando 1142 mi 1838 km Kissimmee 1187 mi 1910 km Winter Haven 1221 mi 1965 km Sebring 1324 mi 2131 km West Palm Beach 1342 mi 2160 km Delray Beach 1353 mi 2177 km Deerfield Beach 1367 mi 2200 km Fort Lauderdale 1375 mi 2213 km Hollywood 1389 mi 2235 km Miami

The Silver Meteor is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and its successor, the Seaboard Coast Line. It was handed to Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971.

The train is part of Amtrak's Silver Service along with the Silver Star, another former SAL streamliner.

History

The SAL inaugurated the Silver Meteor on February 2, 1939. The name was selected via contest, with 30 people among 76,000 entrants proposing the winning name. It was the first diesel-powered streamliner to Florida, and its introduction prompted its competitor, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to introduce its own New York-Florida streamliner, the Champion, in December 1939. The SAL emphasized the train's modernness, referring to it as the "Train of Tomorrow" and having its first trip to Florida begin not from Pennsylvania Station, but from the Long Island Rail Road station at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The train used seven new cars manufactured by the Budd Company. The original schedule took 25 hours.^[2][3] The Pennsylvania Railroad carried the train from New York to Washington under a haulage agreement. Between Washington and Richmond it used the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, jointly owned by the SAL and five other railroads. From Richmond south SAL's own track was used via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida and Ocala, Florida. Until the late 1960s the Silver Meteor split at Wildwood, Florida, with one section continuing to Miami, Florida, and the other to St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Venice on Florida's west coast.

Interior of SAL "Sun Lounge" car. Regular dome cars were too high for the low tunnel clearances on the Northeast Corridor used by SAL trains north of Washington.

The SAL merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967, and in 1968 the new railroad reshuffled the Florida streamliners. The Silver Meteor lost its west coast section and began serving Miami only.^[4] Amtrak retained the train when it took over most intercity passenger trains on May 1, 1971.

Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) glass-roofed "Sun Lounge" Hollywood Beach, a 5-double-bedroom-buffet Pullman car introduced in 1956.

From December 17, 1971 to April 15, 1972 and September 10, 1972 to April 27, 1973, the Silver Meteor bypassed Jacksonville, running over the track between the Georgia state line and Baldwin, Florida. Between June 11 and September 10, 1972 the Silver Meteor was extended to Boston and called the Meteor. Service to St. Petersburg returned with the train splitting at Auburndale.

On September 30, 1979 the Silver Meteor was rerouted between Savannah and Jacksonville over the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad route, due to the abandonment of the old SAL route. On January 31, 1984 the Silver Meteor's Florida west coast terminus was cut back from St. Petersburg to Tampa, ending almost 100 years of rail passenger service to St. Petersburg. By October 26, 1986 the Silver Meteor had shifted to the old ACL route north of Savannah, as the abandonment of the SAL route north of Raleigh affected only the Silver Star. On June 11, 1988 the tracks between Coleman and Auburndale, Florida were abandoned, then removed to create the General James A. Van Fleet State Trail, shifting the Miami section west to Lakeland.

By the end of 1988 train numbers were 87 and 88 (to Tampa) and 97 and 98 (to Miami). The Tampa trips were later dropped and 97 and 98 are still used.

The best timing for Amtrak's Silver Meteor between Miami and New York City was 27 hours in 2008; SAL's first edition took 25 hours in 1939. Late trains often add more hours to today's schedules, most often caused by freight delays.

In the January 2011 issue of Trains Magazine this route was listed as one of five routes to be looked at by Amtrak in FY 2011 as the previous five routes (Sunset, Eagle, Zephyr, Capitol, and Cardinal) were examined in FY 2010.^[5]

Route details

Amtrak Silver Service (interactive map)

The Silver Meteor's route covers 1,389 miles (2,235 km) between New York City and Miami, Florida. The train originates at New York's Pennsylvania Station and travels south to Washington, D.C. via Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. From there the train operates entirely over CSX track via Richmond, Virginia, Fayetteville, North Carolina, North Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jesup, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. After transferring to the Central Florida Rail Corridor from DeLand to Poinciana, it returns to CSX track between Orlando and West Palm Beach before using the South Florida Rail Corridor from West Palm Beach to Miami^[6]

The Silver Meteor shares much of its route with the Silver Star. However, the two trains diverge between their stops at Rocky Mount and Savannah. At Selma, North Carolina, the Silver Star turns inland to serve the Carolinas' two state capitals, Raleigh, North Carolina and Columbia, South Carolina. It also detours to serve Tampa, Florida. The daytime Palmetto uses the same route as the Silver Meteor but terminates in Savannah.^[6]

In its present form, the southbound Silver Meteor leaves New York in mid-afternoon, arriving in Washington at dinner time and traveling overnight through Virginia and the Carolinas for arrival at breakfast time the following morning in Savannah, rush hour in Jacksonville, lunchtime in Orlando, and early evening in Miami. Northbound trains leave Miami just before rush hour, arriving in central Florida at lunchtime and Jacksonville in late afternoon and dinner time in Savannah, then passing through the Carolinas and Virginia overnight for arrival at breakfast time in Washington, mid-morning in Philadelphia and lunchtime in New York.

Equipment

The original Silver Meteor used lightweight cars built by the Budd Company. Three consists were needed for a daily train between New York and Miami; each had a baggage-dormitory-coach (22 seats), three 60-seat coaches, a tavern-lounge-coach (30 seats), a dining car, and a coach-observation-lounge (48 seats). Some of the coaches were owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Budd delivered more cars in November–December 1940, allowing daily service to St. Petersburg: three baggage-dormitory-coaches (18 seats), seven 56-seat coaches, two dining cars, and three coach-buffet-observation cars (30 seats).^[8]

The Silver Meteor now uses Amtrak's standard long-distance single-level equipment: Viewliner baggage cars, Viewliner sleeping cars, Viewliner dining cars, Amfleet cafe-lounges and Amfleet coaches. An ACS-64 is used between New York City and Washington, D.C, while two GE P42DC diesel electric locomotives are used for power south of Washington, D.C.

A typical Silver Meteor includes:^[7]

• 2 GE P42DC Diesel Locomotives (or 1 ACS-64 Electric Locomotive on the Northeast Corridor)
• 4 Amfleet II Coaches (A fifth coach operates May-September and Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday weeks)
• 1 Amfleet II Cafe/Lounge
• 1 Viewliner Dining Car
• 3 Viewliner Sleeping cars (A fourth sleeping car operates Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday weeks)
• 1 Viewliner baggage car

See also

• Champion

References

• Mike Schafer, Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991
• PRR Chronology
• Amtrak's First Trains and Routes
• Amtrak timetable, November 14, 1971
• Amtrak timetable, late 1988 (Northeast Corridor only)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Silver Meteor.

• Amtrak - Silver Service / Palmetto