passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
. It operated from 1941 to 1970.
History
The ''Southerner'' was one of two new streamliners put into operation by the Southern Railway in 1941, the other being the '' Tennessean''. The new train made its first run on March 31, 1941, using new equipment delivered by Pullman-Standard. The
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
handled the train between New York and Washington, D.C.
The ''Southerner'' shared much of the same route as the '' Crescent,'' the Southern's other major New York-New Orleans sleeper, but diverged between
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
and New Orleans. While the ''Crescent'' took a more direct route via Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama, the ''Southerner'' stayed inland to serve
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
. The ''Southerner'' also traveled exclusively on Southern trackage south of Washington, while the ''Crescent'' used
Atlanta and West Point Railroad
The Atlanta and West Point Rail Road was a railroad in the U.S. state of Georgia, forming the east portion of the Atlanta- Selma West Point Route. The company was chartered in 1847 as the Atlanta and LaGrange Rail Road and renamed in 1857; cons ...
,
Western Railway of Alabama
The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Ala ...
and
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.
Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of t ...
trackage south of Atlanta.
In 1970, the Southern Railway combined the ''Crescent'' with the ''Southerner'' to form the ''Southern Crescent''. The merged train moved to the Birmingham route, allowing the train to run solely on Southern's right-of-way between New Orleans and Washington. This train became Amtrak's ''Crescent'' on February 1, 1979.
Equipment
Pullman-Standard built three consists in 1941 for the new ''Southerner'' streamliner. Each consist included the following: baggage-
dormitory-coach
A combine car in North American parlance, most often referred to simply as a combine, is a type of railroad car which combines sections for both passengers and freight.
Most often, it was used on Short-line railroad, short lines to carry passeng ...
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
), 56-seat coach, a
dining car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...
, two more 56-seat coaches, and a tavern-lounge- observation car. The front half of the observation car contained a tavern area with booths and tables. A bar area with a small buffet followed, then a rounded-off observation area. The
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
owned three of the 56-seat coaches. Motive power south of Washington, D.C. was provided by an EMD E6
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whe ...