IF Southern merged the C of G in 1963, how did they manage to have C of G join Amtrak and not Southern too? Was C of G still extant on paper?

-- Roy Bower (RoyPBower@juno.com), March 25, 2001

Answers

I've read several articles about this and it is obvious there was much debate on this matter in 1971. Southern Railway made it known prior to Amtrak taking over that they would seek inclusion into Amtrak for the CofG but not for Southern Railroad. The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) sued Southern Railway in court in a challenge to Southern's standing that the CofG was a subsidiary of Southern Railway and therefore not a part of Southern Railroad. The courts agreed with Southern, the CofG joined Amtrak, and off came the "Nancy". This finding by the courts is puzzling considering that Southern Railway had 100% ownership of the Central several years prior to 1971 but I guess they were able to use legal wrangling to prove their case.

It's also ironic that the same Graham Claytor that became so associated with the Southern steam program and later on became president of Amtrak was also instrumental in discontinueing many Southern (and CofG) passenger trains in his role as head of Southerns law department and later as CEO of Southern.

Bryan Smith

-- Bryan Smith (bsmith3608@aol.com), March 25, 2001.