Silver Meteor
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The Silver Meteor is a 1389-mile (2235 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Silver Service brand, running from New York City south to Miami, Florida via the Northeast Corridor to Washington, DC, then via Richmond, Virginia, Fayetteville, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida and Orlando, Florida.
The Silver Meteor shares much of its track with the Silver Star, which runs further west through North Carolina and South Carolina and detours to serve Tampa, Florida. The Palmetto uses the same tracks as the Silver Meteor for its whole length, terminating in Savannah, Georgia.
History
The Silver Meteor was originally a train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's Silver Service, placed in service on February 2, 1939.[#endnote_1939] The train operated over the Pennsylvania Railroad's lines via trackage rights north of Washington to New York. Between Washington and Richmond, it used the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, jointly owned by the SAL and five other railroads for the use of all. From Richmond south the SAL's own trackage was used, running via Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida and Ocala, Florida. At Coleman, Florida the line split, alternating between Miami, and turning west to St. Petersburg (the exact details varied over the years).The SAL merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967, and on May 28, 1968 the Silver Meteor began serving only Miami (the similarly-routed Silver Star then served only St. Petersburg). Amtrak continued to operate the Silver Meteor when it took over operations on May 1, 1971; on November 14 the numbers 83 (southbound) and 84 (northbound) were assigned.
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. From June 11 to December 15, 1972, a separate section to St. Petersburg was added.
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 branch to St. Petersburg was cut back to Tampa to save time. 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, shifting the Miami section west to Lakeland.
By the end of 1988, the numbers assigned 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.
Station stops
The Silver Meteor, trains 97 southbound and 98 northbound, makes the following station stops:Acela Express - Adirondack - Auto Train - Capitol Limited - Cardinal - Carolinian - Crescent - Downeaster - Empire Service - Ethan Allen Express - Keystone Service - Lake Shore Limited - Maple Leaf - Metroliner - Palmetto - Pennsylvanian - Regional - Silver Meteor - Silver Star - Vermonter |- style="text-align: center;" |South
Auto Train - Carolinian - City of New Orleans - Crescent - Palmetto - Piedmont - Heartland Flyer - Silver Meteor - Silver Star - Sunset Limited - Texas Eagle
External links
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)
- ↑ Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, [Stainless Steel Passenger Car, ex-Seaboard, Silver Meteor #6200]
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