Seaboard Air Line Timetables (August, 1952)

Published: March 2, 2024

Featured below is the SAL's complete public timetables presented in the August, 1952 issue of the "Official Guide." The company had a significant presence in the Guide, covering several pages

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) was established in 1900 although carries a heritage dating back to 1834. It was a significant part of the American railway system, playing a crucial role in passenger and freight transportation throughout the South.

Stretching from Virginia to Florida and westward through Alabama, the SAL was renowned for its high-speed passenger service, captivatingly named the Silver Meteor and Silver Star.

These streamlined services, introduced in the late 1930s and mid-1940s respectively, were hallmark innovations, offering air-conditioned comfort and refined dining to passengers, thoroughly modernizing rail travel.

Additionally, the SAL significantly contributed to the World War II efforts, hauling military equipment and troops. However, profitability issues led the SAL to merge with its rival, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, in 1967, ultimately forming the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.

This consolidation is part of the lineage that led to today's CSX Transportation. Throughout its existence, the SAL shaped both commercial and commuter landscapes with its distinctive orange and silver livery, efficient services, and notable equipment, such as its “streamlined” diesel-electric locomotives.

It continues to resonate in railway history as a symbol of the transition era from steam to diesel power and from individual railroad operations to merged entities.

Public Timetables (August, 1952)