The Silver Meteor, Seaboard Air Line's Plush Train To Sunny Florida

During the heyday of streamliners there were many colorful and attractive trains to ride if you were heading south to sunny Florida and the Seaboard Air Line’s Silver Meteor was one of those. While the Seaboard kicked off the streamliner craze to serve southern destinations other railroads soon followed suit, like rival Atlantic Coast Line which inaugurated its New York-Miami Champion during late 1939, a few months after the Silver Meteor.

The ACL and SAL were perhaps the only two railroads in the country to serve markets so highly demanded by passengers. Ever since the late 1800s when Florida became more accessible to the public (by means of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway, which was chartered in 1895 to link the entire eastern shoreline of Florida), vacationers and travelers, particularly from the northern states, were enamored with its tropical weather, warm breezes, and beautiful beaches.

This tropical climate gave both railroads an unprecedented marketing advantage not found on most other systems. Even as passenger rail traffic took serious hits beginning in the 1950s, as travelers found planes and more reliable automobiles more convenient means of transportation (the Interstate highway system also didn’t help the railroads), across the industry both the Seaboard and ACL continued to earn profits with their Florida-bound trains all of the way up through the 1960s! (Both railroads would merge in 1967 forming the Seaboard Coast Line system.)

A testament to this popularity can be seen in the number of trains both railroads offered to points south. The Seaboard offered such trains as the Cotton Blossom (Washington, D.C. – Atlanta), Gulf Wind (Jacksonville – New Orleans), New York – Florida Special (New York – Miami/St. Petersburg), Orange Blossom Special (New York – Miami), Palmland (New York – Tampa/Boca Grande, Florida), Silver Meteor (New York – Miami), Silver Comet (New York – Birmingham), Silver Star (New York – Miami: A train actually introduced to meet the demand of the Silver Meteor’s route!), Sunland (Washington, D.C./Portsmouth, Virginia – Miami), and the Suwanee River Special (Cincinnati – Florida).

The Atlantic Coast Line’s services to the south included the East Coast Champion (New York – Miami), West Coast Champion (New York – Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota), Florida Special (New York – Miami), Miamian (Washington, D.C. – Miami), Vacationer (New York – Miami), Havana Special (New York – Key West), Palmetto (New York – Savannah/Augusta, Georgia/Wilmington, North Carolina), and the Everglades (New York – Jacksonville). The ACL also operated most of these trains in conjunction with the Florida East Coast, such as its Havana Special to Key West (this train was renamed the Gulf Coast Special after the 1935 Hurricane destroyed the FEC’s Key West Extension and the train then terminated as far south as Fort Myers). The railroad’s Floridian passenger service was also so successful that it continued building new stations up through the 1960s!

While service to Florida had been brisk for both railroads for decades, it wasn’t until the streamlined, and very colorful, Seaboard Air Line Silver Meteor debuted on February 2, 1939 did southern passenger railroading take on a whole new level of service. The original version of the Silver Meteor was a lightweight, seven car, all-coach affair. However, although it was only all-coach service, it was extremely successful. Advertised as an overnight train between New York and Miami it featured stainless-steel cars (built by the Budd Company, which had a patent as the only manufacturer capable of producing all stainless-steel passenger cars) with livery adorning the new EMD E4 diesel locomotives, which was as colorful and bright as Florida itself. The classic paint scheme featured blends of bright yellow and orange with a center color of very dark green with bright silver featured along the bottom (including the trucks).

The bright livery adorning the Silver Meteor became a signature feature of both the ACL and SAL Florida-bound trains as they exuded bright, cheery themes meant to give passengers a glimpse of the sub-tropical/tropical weather in which they were heading. The success of the original Silver Meteor meant that the train would not remain an all-coach only affair for long. After World War II it was upgraded with features such as sleepers and lounges (including the 1956 introduction of the “Sun Lounge,” a car with glass ceilings [to allow in natural light], since clearance restrictions did not allow the SAL to operate domes to New York City, and beach themes) giving the train much more diversity and options for passengers.

Much like the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line took great pride in its passengers operations and they renamed flawlessly operated with excellent service until the SAL disappeared into the Seaboard Coast Line in 1967. However, as a testament to the SAL’s high quality passenger operations and lucrative southern market, Amtrak continues to operate several of its trains including the Silver Meteor and Silver Star.

For a superb general history of passenger trains like the Silver Meteor consider the book American Passenger Train from Mike Schafer. Using plenty of colored photographs complemented with lots of good information, if you are interested in passenger trains or would like to learn more about them this book will get you started.