Champion (passenger train)

Infobox rail line
name = "Champion"
color =

logo_width =


image_width =
caption =
type = Inter-city rail
system = Atlantic Coast Line (1939–1967)
Seaboard Coast Line (1967–1971)
Amtrak (1971–1979)
status = Discontinued
locale =
start = New York City
end = St. Petersburg, Florida
Miami, Florida
stations =
routes =
ridership =
open = 1939
close = 1979
owner =
operator = Atlantic Coast Line (1939–1967)
Seaboard Coast Line (1967–1971)
Amtrak (1971–1979)
character =
stock =
linelength = convert|1314|mi|km (Amtrak)
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge = RailGauge|ussg
el =
speed =
elevation =


map_state = showThe "Champion" was a passenger train operated on a convert|1314|mi|km|adj=on route by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad between New York City and Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida, beginning in 1939. Inherited by Amtrak as part of its inaugural system in 1971, the train was discontinued in 1979.

History

Atlantic Coast Line

The "Champion" started as a daily service of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1939, competing with the "Silver Star" and "Silver Meteor" of the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) on the lucrative New York–Florida route. Initially just a New York-Miami service, the ACL added a St. Petersburg train in 1941 once enough streamlined equipment was available. The two trains were called the "Tamiami Champion" (West Coast), which ran from New York to St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area, and the "Tamiami Champion" (East Coast), which ran from New York to Miami, Florida. In 1943, the names were simplified to the "East Coast Champion" and "West Coast Champion." [cite web | url=http://www.getcruising.com/rails/_acl.html | title=Atlantic Coast Line Railroad | accessdate=2008-05-03 | work=Florida Rails Online Museum]

Southbound trains originated in New York's Pennsylvania Station, and traveled south over the Pennsylvania Railroad-owned Northeast Corridor through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. There, a radio-equipped lounge car was added to the train. Leaving Washington, trains traveled over the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to Richmond, Virginia, the northern tip of the ACL's main line. From Richmond, trains continued south along the Atlantic coast through Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida. Here, the trains split, with the "West Coast" trains moving south then west through DeLand and Sanford to the Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg area, while "East Coast" trains turned south south-east to run along Florida's east coast to Miami via the Florida East Coast Railway. Northbound trains retraced these routes.

In the pre-civil rights era, black passengers on the "Champion" and other trains in the South were restricted to the "colored" coach, a combination baggage/coach behind the diesel. African-Americans ate behind a curtain at two designated tables next to the kitchen of the dining car, but were barred from the observation-tavern-lounge on the rear of the train. [http://whiteriverproductions.com/PTJ.html "Reflections in Black and White" by Samuel Augustus Jennings, PASSENGER TRAIN JOURNAL (March 1988)] . Segregation on trains serving the South persisted even though the Interstate Commerce Commission, U. S. courts, and President Truman's 1948 mandate banning segregation in railroad dining cars had ordered interstate carriers to integrate. By 1957, the "Champion's" colored coach was retired.

In 1957 the "West Coast Champion" [http://www.getcruising.com/rails/musuem.html] began hauling thru-cars for the "City of Miami" and "South Wind" [http://www.jacksonvilleterminal.com/champion.htm] streamliners to and from Chicago on its Jacksonville-Tampa/Sarasota leg via Orlando and its Jacksonville-St. Petersburg section via Gainesville and Ocala. During its long successful career the "Champion" network reached virtually every major city and resort in the Sunshine State except Florida Panhandle cities like Pensacola and Tallahassee, which were served by Seaboard's Jacksonville-New Orleans overnight "Gulf Wind". The "East Coast Champion" ran up and down the Florida East Coast Railway stopping at popular east coast resorts while Gulf coast branch lines carried "West Coast Champion" thru-cars to Bradenton, Sarasota, Naples, Ft. Myers, and Venice.

From the outset, the "Champions" were pulled by streamlined diesel locomotives and included Pullman sleeping cars. [cite web | url=http://www.getcruising.com/cgi/museum.cgi?
| work=Florida Rails Online Museum | accessdate=2008-05-03 | title=Timetable] [cite web | url=http://www.getcruising.com/cgi/museum.cgi?
| work=Florida Rails Online Museum | accessdate=2008-05-03 | title=Timetable]

Seaboard Coast Line

After the merger of the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line into the Seaboard Coast Line, the "Champion" remained as a New York–St. Petersburg service, numbered #91 southbound and #92 northbound. [cite web | title=Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak | url=http://www.trains.com/ctr/objects/pdf/passenger_trains_operating_on_the_eve_of_amtrak.pdf | accessdate=2008-05-03 | work=Trains.com]

Amtrak

When Amtrak assumed control of most of the passenger rail service in the United States in 1971, the "Champion" was retained as a New York–St. Petersburg service (#85/87) operating over the same line it had for the past thirty-two years. In 1979, budget cuts forced Amtrak to eliminate the "Champion", which was consolidated with its old rival the "Silver Meteor". [cite news | work=New York Times | first=Ernest | last=Holsendolph | date=August 30, 1979 | accessdate=2008-05-03 | page=1 | title= ]

Throughout its 40 years of service (1939-79) the "Champion" [http://www.railroadbookstore.com/rrbooks/Detailed/334.html] was always a big money maker and remained a fast, reliable, full service operation until Amtrak took over in 1971. ACL, SAL and SCL had maintained exceptionally high standards on its popular Florida streamliners while other railroads gave up on passenger service. According to former ACL/SCL/Amtrak train attendant James Longmire (now retired in Jacksonville, Florida), "The Champ was always packed and we didn't stop serving dinner until everyone got fed . . . no matter how long it took. We called the Champ "Big Bertha" because tips were so good we didn't have to cash our paychecks."fact|date=August 2008

See also

*"Silver Meteor"

External links

* [http://www.getcruising.com/cgi/museum.cgi?
]
* [http://www.getcruising.com/cgi/museum.cgi?
]
* [http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=43339 Amtrak "Champion" timetable from 1971]

References

Further reading

*cite book | title=Classic American Railroads | first=Mike | last=Schafer | year=2003 | publisher=MBI Publishing Company | isbn=076031649X | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MCxgsaXmILcC