The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

[ACL1504]

A question for you southeastern boys.

I grew up in Chicago and my dad worked the tariff offices for the Q from 35 to 81. In the early fifties, 53-55-57, we would take the train to Atlanta to visit my mom's older brother and my cousins.  Usually in the summer at the early end of July.

We took a coach out of Chicago and connected up to something going south at Cincinnati.  My recollection was that it was called the Royal Palm.  Who ran that train? Southern or ACL?

We always took coach as my dad didn't have a Pullman pass until he made management in the early 60's. 


Thanx
Bob

Bob, 

In more modern times the Southern ran the Royal Palm from Cincinnati to Jacksonville with one of the stops in Atlanta. From Jax. south, the FEC ran it to Miami.

Tom

[Judge]

Saturday Report - April 4, 2020

The fires are out and the roundhouse is dark today.  While the A&S is not running, the CEO is busy bossing the maintenance department in the matter of refurbishing steam engines.

    Your reporter had a weak story to tell today and, being a perfectionist, decided to take a chance and find a better topic. 

    He reached out and found the March 1940 edition of Railroad Magazine and, lo and behold, the story of the ACL Champion's first-run popped out from the middle of the issue.  The author was a writer for the magazine and managed to ride in the cab of the diesel from Washington, D.C. to some point south of Alexandria, Va.  A first-hand account of the whole trip is too long for this report, but the highlights can be "selectively compressed." 

                                                                                         The Champion's First Run - New York to Miami - 1939

                                                                                   

   The Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company built four practically identical sets of seven-passenger cars, two of which went to the Atlantic Coast Line for use on the Champion, and two of which went to the FEC.  One of the FEC sets was assigned to the Miami to Jacksonville Henry M. Flagler.  The other set, including motive power, went to pool service on the Champion.
    The original train's consist included a combination car, a dinner, four full-size coaches, and a tavarn-observation car.  The latter car was described as "possessing one of the most striking, and at the same time, tastefully arranged interiors as yeat achieved by any coach designer.  Since the entire rear end of the car is devoted to unrestricted lounging space, it is definitely a goodwill proposition as far as seat revenue is concerned." 

                                                             

                                                                                     This must have been a publicity photograph. 
 
    The author described the motive power as a single diesel unit manufactured by GM's Electro-Motive Corporation.  "They are standard 2000 horsepower machines, similar to previous GM engines, but featuring the new Mars headlight.  As is more or less generally known, this device supplements the regular headlight, tracing a repetitious figure eight in advance of the locomotive as an arrestive warning to motorists adn pedestrians.  It may also be controlled by hand, and directed, for instance, to the inside of a curve, where normal headlight visibility is inadequate."  The ACL and the FEC pooled motive power and one of the FEC's red and yellow E-units provided power for the first trip from Washington to Miami. 
    The Champion's name was selected after a nation-wide contest won by Miss Bettsy Creighton, a Pittsburgh secretary.  Miss Creighton received a prize of $300.00 and two tickets on the Champion's first run to Miami. She also christened the train at Washington Union Station.  (This must have been sort of the 1939 version of "five minutes of fame.") 
    The Champ's December 1 "memorable first run" began at New York's Penn Station, pulling away from "a synthetic, but attractive setting of potted palms and drooping Spanish moss."  Passenger managers from the various railroads over which the Champion would travel attended the first-run ceremony, along with Edward G. Budd, himself, who beamed with pride at his company's latest masterpiece.  The departure was somewhat anti-climatical in that a Pennsylvania GG1 Electric hauled the train to Washington, where, for its formal dedication, the "FEC power coupled on for publicity photos."
    The ceremonies at Washington delayed the Champ's departure by six minutes, but ACL's Road Foreman of Engines, John Lewis, accompanied by N. J. Wash, the oldest in-service engineer on the RF&P eased her out of Union Station.  Wash had 48 years of service behind him and he bid on this run to make his first inspection run in a diesel cab. 
    The trip to Florida was somewhat eventful in that south of Alexandria, one of the two diesel prime movers "cut out for a matter of some moments while a slight operating adjustment was made.  (This was not unusual.  There were mechanical problems with the engines until the bugs were worked out.  A retired ACL engineer from Sanford told your reporter years ago that they used to couple up three E-units together, hoping at least two of them would remain operational.)   
    Miss Creighton was called upon to perform another christening on the Champ's first-run out of Miami.  The FEC handled the train on that trip too, but an ACL herald was pasted over the FEC herald on the red and yellow E-3 for the publicity photos.  (See photograph.)  ACL's purple and silver E unit took over at Jacksonville.

                                                                         
                                                             Here is Betty Creighton christening the Champ in Miami.  Notice the FEC striping and the ACL herald.


    As time went by, the Champion added Pullman Standard sleepers and the train was divided at Jacksonville into the East Coast and West Coast sections.   Eventually, the FEC got out of the passenger business and the ACL brought the train from Jacksonville to south of Orlando, where it split into East and West sections at Auburndale.  Your reporter remembers the Champ, powered by three E-6's and 18 to 21 cars, coming through Orlando in the 1950s as numbers 91 and 92.

[BandOGuy]

Our first 7 months of marriage in 1972 were spent in an apartment in Springfield. VA backing onto the Southern Railroad's mainline. Southern didn't joint Amtrak, so each evening we'd get to see the Southern Crescent heading south and shortly before breakfast, the northbound train would pass. You could set timepieces on these schedules. I know this isn't ACL/FEC, but the memories of those trains is still great.

[PRR Modeler]

Great history story Bill. Stay safe butty.

[GPdemayo]

Great history Bill.....I used to take the Champ from Ft. Lauderdale to New Jersey every summer and a few Christmases in the 50's and 60's.....great fun. 

[Judge]

Saturday, April 10, 2020

The Board of Directors of the Atlantic & Southern Railroad did not meet today due to the pestilence among us. Besides, after being confined to my residence for two weeks like a criminal on community control, I need a break from storytelling. 

I see from today's missive by Mad Harry that Pussy Galore has passed away at age 94.  She was the gorgeous blond adversary to Sean Connery's James Bond in the 1960's movie Goldfinger.  We should all mourn her passing.  I wonder if she ever got over that name?

Some of my followers (not from this forum) continue to send me humorous cartoons and videos, many of which I dare not share on this platform.  HOWEVER, humor can be found in even the direst adversity and I hope you will enjoy these examples in lieu of a story this week.

Stay safe - And stay home! 


                                                            Bribe?


                                                            4 hoursemen


                                                                   

[PRR Modeler]

Stay safe Bill.

[GPdemayo]

Great humor Bill.....wonder if Tom was ever tempted to give a miscreant a pass for some TP? 

[ReadingBob]

Thanks for the laugh Bill!  Eileen and I both enjoyed them.  Our favorite was the four horsemen.      

[ACL1504]

Reruns of Goldfinger have been on for the past week.

Honor Blackman was a beauty to the end.

[deemery]

We saw her on a British mystery TV show (Midsomer Murders?), very striking.  I don't remember if she was the bad guy.  :-)


dave

[Judge]

Saturday, April 18, 2020.

There is no Saturday Report today due to the persistence of the pestilence.  That has not stopped progress on the Atlantic & Southern Railroad as can be seen by the photographs posted showing major maintenance on brass steam locomotives by President Langford.  If art is to be judged by both talent and experience, Tom ranks at the top when it comes to our hobby.

There is a story this week.  I have recently received a Kendle addition of a book written by a retired engineer who served 45 years on the SP.  The book has a wealth of tales about that railroad, many of which are not useful due to the lack of mountains, avalanches, and snow sheds on the A&S.  However, a few of the stories in the book gave me ideas to adapt to this platform.  Here is one of them.

                                                                                                               COLD STORAGE

    The City of Tahope has a two-man police department and a city jail composed of three cells, with an office for the jailer on the ground floor, and a residence on the second floor for the use of the jailer and his wife, who also doubles as the cook for the few prisoners who are ever guests of the management.
    The locks on the cell doors in the city jail are not functional and, like many small southern towns where everybody knows everybody, prisoners are on their honor to remain confined.  The prisoners are usually quite satisfied with this arrangement because they get "three hots and a cot," and the food is better than the Mulligan Stew served in The Bottoms.
    Newt Fisher (Luke and Tullula's boy)and his cousin Shortstack, were arrested for pilfering the A&S supply room of material they wanted to use to improve their lean-to located next to the Tahope River.  They found themselves spending the weekend in the city jail. 
    Newt had recently become unemployed after being fired from the job of baggage car watchman with the REA due to the unfortunate decomposition of a corpse after the ice was removed from the casket (Page 33- REA Iceman).  Shortstack, who is a "shiftless skonk,"was relieved from his duties as a brakeman after a "toilet situation" caused engineer "Uncle Henry" O'Leary to demand his termination from employment (Page 32 - First Day on the Job.)
    These two characters decided that another appearance before Judge Elvin Thomas would not be beneficial, so they planned their escape.  Both of these hardened misdemeanants had basic knowledge of railroad operations, so they decided to return to The Bottoms to collect their bindles and "nail a drag" to Jacksonville. 
    Long about dusk, they heard the sounds of a steam engine and, sure enough, a train of empty reefers crept towards the yard throat.  The train stopped so the brakeman could throw the king switch and our heroes took the opportunity to climb atop one of the reefers.
    In 1950, there were still a lot of reefers in service that did not have mechanical refrigeration.  These reefers had ice compartments located at each end of the car.  The ice kept the interior of the car cold so perishable freight, such as vegetables and citrus, could be shipped to points "up Nawth."  The doors on thee cars were always locked, but the ice hatches on the roof were propped open when the cars were empty to allow air circulation. 
    Newt and Shortstack crawled into the open hatches on their selected reefer and prepared for a ride to Jacksonville.  They stuck their heads out of the hatch openings and enjoyed the spring air while the train climbed the Ovalix to the yard at Summit.  Once in the yard, they ducked down to avoid detection. 
    The train stopped in the yard and our two vagabonds heard disturbing noises and accompanying activity.  The train had stopped next to the icing platform and workers began to shove 50 lb. blocks of ice into the reefer hatches.
    Luke and Shortstack made a quick exit from their hiding place right into the arms of the A&S Police, who escorted them back to the city jail. 
    The next day, Judge Thomas took the bench and bit off a chaw of terbacky before addressing the two defendants.  "Waal," said the judge, "boys, my patience with you two is a-growin' mighty short.  You best not come back to my court again.  Sixty days."
    Luke said, "Thank you, your honor. we'uns won't be back, ah kin guarantee."
    Shortstack, who didn't know any better, said, "Hey, Judge, how about a suspended sentence?"
    The judge, who could make a spittoon ring almost 100% of the time, told the bailiff, "Take these two to the Pokey before I change my mind."

                                                                                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLk50mPWfbU&feature=youtu.be

                                                                                                        835 at speed with reefers
               

[ReadingBob]

Great to hear from you your Honor!  Great story too.   

Stay safe while we wait out this pestilence.

[S&S RR]

Great story Judge!  I could use a good book to read - can you pass along the title and author of the book you referred too?

[PRR Modeler]

Great story.