From: M00209@MBVM.Mitre.Org
Subject: Re: Amtrak train from Chicago to Florida planned?
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA 01730
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 18:57:23 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.024247.6210@hubcap.clemson.edu>
trev@hubcap.clemson.edu (Trevor Bauknight) writes, in part:
 
>
>I don't have any details, but I have heard rumblings that the old
>Charleston-Cincinnati(-Chicago?) line might be refurbished and
>restarted.  I have heard this in reference to Asheville, NC getting
>back on line, so the old train probably went through that city.
>Can anyone provide details on the route of the old line I am
>describing?  I imagine the Saluda grade might present a problem
>with running a line northward from Charleston to Cincinnati,
>but above that, the trip would be spectacular scenery-wise.  The
>old Clinchfield line is a beautiful route, and it seems to me
>that that would be a feasible way to run between Spartanburg, SC
>and Elkhorn City, KY.  Connecting the cities of Charleston,
>Columbia and Spartanburg would link SC's three main urban areas
>as well as the two NY-FL Silver Service lines and the NY-NO
>Crescent line.  Of course, the potential Atlanta-Savannah
>connection might well prove more feasible, because of the
>peripheral tourism accompanying the Olympics and because that
>would route the line roughly through middle Tennessee, an area
>which has no passenger service at all.  I'm biased, but I'd like
>to see a Charleston-Columbia-Greenville/Spartanburg-Asheville-
>Knoxville-Lexington-Cincinnati...I'll keep dreaming.
>
The route from Cincinnati through Knoxville and Asheville to Columbia (and in
earlier years Charleston) with a branch from Asheville to Winston-Salem and
Goldsboro was the route of the Southern Railway's "Carolina Special".  I have
heard no rumours of revival of passenger service on either this line or the
Clinchfield.  The latter, while unquestionably scenic, strikes me as being too
far from any population centres to warrant serious consideration.
 
IMHO, the best route for a Chicago-Florida train, which I consider to be the
most glaring "hole" in Amtrak's system, would be essentially the old "Dixie
Flyer" route - Chicago-Evansville-Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta-Jacksonville
and from there to wherever in Florida.  Possibly a route via Louisville (like
the old "South Wind") to Nashville instead of Evansville would be reasonable as
an alternative, though I would think significantly slower.  A Chicago-Florida
train MUST serve Nashville and Atlanta to make any kind of sense.
 
If the "Dixie Flyer" route suggested were used, it ought to be possible to make
cross-platform connections at Nashville (or swap cars) with another route which
never should have been allowed to die - the old "Pan American" route.  I would
run it Detroit-Cincinnati(connecting there from Cleveland and Columbus)-
Nashville-Birmingham-New Orleans.  Put those lines on, and Amtrak really would
have a truly national network!
 
 
Len Bachelder        Archives Committee, Boston and Maine RR Historical Society
MITRE Corp.           Secretary, Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts
Bedford MA 01730      Member, 470 Railroad Club
<M00209@mbvm.mitre.org>
 
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