Seaboard’s Silver Comet, c.1955-c.1964

Fred Klein, 2013

The Silver Comet ran from New York City to Birmingham Alabama. Daily trains started in 1947 and the Comet was discontinued in 1969 just before Amtrak took over America’s passenger trains. Service extended from New York via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama. From New York to Washington, the train was handled by the Pennsylvania Railroad; from Washington to Richmond, by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad; and by Seaboard from Richmond to Birmingham. The Comet competed with Southern Railroad’s Cresent, which ran over a parallel route to New Orleans and had better Los Angeles connections than the Comet.

 

A postcard view of Seaboard’s Silver Meteor, probably from about 1950 after it was completely streamlined and shed it heavyweights. The appearance would be very similar to the Comet, with an E6 diesel in the citrus paint scheme and a baggage-dorm in the front.

 

The Silver Comet in the late 1940s or early 1950s while it had an observation-lounge. There is still a heavyweight coach in the consist. From one of Kip Farrington’s books written in the years right after the war.

 

The consist is from Wayner’s Passenger Train Consists 1923-1973 for a Silver Comet arriving Atlanta on July 13, 1964. The approximate time period for this train consist is about 1955 to about 1964. Seaboard received new streamlined sleepers in 1949 and new 52-reclining-seat coaches in 1955, enabling trains like the Comet to cast off the heavyweight cars it had been using since 1947. Unfortunately the Comet lost the streamlined observation car (in the black & white photo above) to the Silver Star in 1955. After 1964, ridership was falling off and merger with the Atlantic Coast Line would change locomotive color schemes and train composition. The Seaboard Air Line Railroad merged with the Atlantic Coast Line in 1967, after the time period for this train. The Comet had a connecting train from Portsmouth, Virginia that met the Comet in Hamlet, North Carolina. A coach from this connecting train (with non-reserved seats) that originated in Jacksonville Florida was attached to the Comet in Hamlet. That is the last coach in this consist.

 

 

 

It is possible to fill most of the cars in the Comet with factory made, prototype or near-prototype cars. Centrailia-Intermountain makes the 1955 divided 52-seat coach purchased by Seaboard, Chesapeake and Ohio and other southern railroads. The divided coaches were made for the still segregated south so different races could be separated. 10 roomette-6 bedroom sleepers were becoming the norm in the 60s, and both Budd and Pullman Standard cars are available, but I do not know if the model floorplans exactly match the cars of the prototype train. Specialty cars like dorms, parlors, diners and observations are usually the most difficult to match. The Comet is an all streamlined, unpainted metal train with a colorful locomotive that is beautiful even if all windows do not match the prototype.

 

Locomotives and baggage-dormitory

 

Seaboard hauled the train south of Richmond VA. The train was initially pulled by an EMD E6 diesel pair painted in the beautiful “citrus” scheme. At some time (in the 1960s?) the citrus scheme was abandoned and a simple off-greenish-white with a red stripe was adopted. The baggage-dormitory car model is a Rivarossi streamlined car based on a Rock Island prototype, which is the closest factory-made car available to use on the Comet. I re-decaled the car for the Seaboard.

 

Coach section

 

Seaboard bought several streamlined, half-corrugated coaches from Pullman in 1955. The car divider is at the interruption in the long windows. There was a series of partitions inside that separated the passenger compartments during the era of segregation in the south. I use 3 divided coaches from Intermountain and a decaled Budd coach from Concor.

 

Lounge and diner section

 

The next car is a lounge-buffet for the coach passengers. A Budd parlor car (Concor model) may not be prototypical but is a good-looking stand-in car. Next another divided Seaboard coach. The Atlantic Coast line car is a 10-6 corrugated PS sleeper modeled by a Walthers car. It is decaled “Halifax County” exactly like the prototype car in the consist. The next car is the diner. I do not know how similar the diner car is to the Seaboard prototype. The model is of a Budd diner made for the California Zephyr by Concor, re-decaled for Seaboard.

 

Sleeper section

 

After the diner were two more 10/6 sleepers. For the Seaboard sleeper I use a Budd sleeper from Concor, decaled for Seaboard. The Budd 10/6 is a near prototype to the Seaboard. The Pennsylvania-owned car is a corrugated PS 10/6 car made for partnering railroads with unpainted cars such as the Seaboard. This is a Walthers model. The Comet ends with a coach, which was the coach originating in Jacksonville that was attached to the Comet in Hamlet, North Carolina. The coach is a prototypical Centralia-Intermountain model.

 

Power north of Washington DC

 

The Pennsylvania hauled the Comet between New York and Washington DC. The PRR used one of its GG1 locomotives on the electrified railroad.

 

Power between Richmond Virginia and Washington DC

 

The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac hauled the Comet between Washington DC and Richmond Virginia. The E8 diesel in RFP colors is what would have been used on this segment.

 

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Wayner, Robert J., Passenger Train Consists 1923-1973, Wayner Publications.

http://webpages.charter.net/suzuya/Seaboard2.html

 

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