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 Railroad’s Silver Meteor was one of those. While the Seaboard (also known as the SAL) kicked off the streamliner passenger train craze to serve southern destinations other railroads soon followed suit, like rival Atlantic Coast Line Railroad which inaugurated its New York-Miami Champion during late 1939, a few months after the Silver Meteor. Interestingly, it would be the Meteor's name that would live on under Amtrak as the national passenger carrier discontinued the Champion in the late 1970s.

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.

A testament to this popularity can be seen in the number of passenger 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 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.

A typical consist during the late 1950s included reclining-seat coaches, a diner, lounge, sleepers, and tavern observation. Listed as Trains #57 (southbound) and #58 (northbound) on Seaboard's timetable, the Silver Meteor would depart Pennsylvania Station at 2:55 pm, powered by PRR GG1s until reaching Washington, D.C. where the train was handed off, about four hours later, to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac. The RF&P carried the train another few hours until reaching Richmond's Main Street Station before 10 pm. From this point the Seaboard carried its train the rest of the way to Florida, arriving in Miami by nearly 5 pm the next day (the train also provided connecting service to Tampa, Venice, and St. Petersburg). For more information regarding the Silver Meteor's timetable and consist please click here.

Much like the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad took great pride in its passenger train operations and they remained flawlessly operated with excellent service until the SAL disappeared into the Seaboard Coast Line in 1967. Under the SCL high quality service was retained (although the train's livery was a much more subdued black with yellow trim) as one could still purchase sleeper service to New York/Boston and the train retained its diner, reclining-seat coaches, and tavern-observation lounge. As a testament to the SAL’s high quality of passenger operations and lucrative southern market, Amtrak continues to operate several of its trains including the Silver Meteor (as well as the Silver Star), and in 1979 elected to discontinue the Atlantic Coast Line's Champion.

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(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of the Seaboard Air Line to be featured here. Please note that the photos featured on this page feature their corresponding image number so that you may quickly and easily find more information about it from their website. To view Ron Nixon's entire collection please click here.)

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