I would like to know the route of the Southern Crescent Limited passenger train. When did it start service and when did it stop?

-- James R. Bright (jrbright@bellsouth.net), December 08, 1999

Answers

Cresent route: NY-DC (PRR), DC-Atlanta (SR), Atlanta-Montgomery (West Point Route) and Montgomery-New Orleans (L&N). First day of operation as Crescent, Sunday, April 26, 1925. Last day of operation by SR, Wednesday, January 31, 1979. Prior to 4/26/25 train was called "New York & New Orleans Limited" After 1/31/79 train operated by Amtrak as Crescent.

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), January 20, 2000.

As an addendum to Tom Underwood's paragraph, the "Southern Crescent" was the result of the combining of "The Crescent" and "The Southerner" in early 1970. The last vestiges of the West Point/L&N "Crescent" was little more than a WofA GP7 and an L&N coach. The "Southern Crescent" followed the former route of "The Southerner" (not the "Crescent") west of Atlanta. The name "Crescent Limited" was actually dropped many years earlier (late 1930s). The train was still listed as "The Crescent", but was known by the crews as simply #37/38. During the 1960s, the history of these trains becomes quite complicated... they were combined with other trains in one direction, but run separately in the other direction... anyway, by 1970, all of the varnish was concentrated on the "Southern Crescent" until the Amtrak takeover in January 1979.

-- Tom Alderman (Topa12283@aol.com), January 22, 2000.

It was nver actually called "The Southern Crescent Limited"

It was called the Crescent Limited when put in service 1926.

In 1949 it was streamlined and just called The Crescent.

In 1979 it was sort of merged with the Southerner, as noted above, and this train of combined identities was known as the Southern Crescent, a name which was meant to reflect each of the former trains.

In 1979 Amtrak took over and the name "Southern" was dropped.

So today it is simply The Crescent, a train which, in fact, has more in common with the former Southerner than with the former rCrescnet. Esp. as to route(going via BHM and Meridian rather than Montgomery and Mobile).

-- bill haithcoat (bhaithcoat@ajc.com), May 26, 2004.