Georgian (train)

Georgian
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleMidwestern United States/Southeastern United States
First service1946
Last service1968
Former operator(s)Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
Route
TerminiChicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri
Atlanta, Georgia
Distance travelled731 miles (1,176 km) (Chicago - Atlanta)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)53, 54, 93, 94
On-board services
Seating arrangementscoach
Sleeping arrangementssections, roomettes, double bedrooms and a compartment
Catering facilitiesdining cars and tavern-lounge cars

The Georgian was a long-distance passenger train operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in conjunction with the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. It operated between St. Louis Union Station and Atlanta's Union Station with a section operated by the C&EI from Evansville to Chicago's Dearborn Station. From Nashville to Atlanta it operated over the tracks of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. The introduction of this train made the C&EI's Chicago-Evansville Whippoorwill train superfluous.[1][2][3][4][5]

It was begun in 1946 as a streamliner. As a night train, it offered sleeping car and dining car services. In 1968 the L&N Railroad discontinued the Georgian. In its place was an unnamed St. Louis-Evansville train, and an unnamed Evansville-Atlanta train. (The Chicago branch from Evansville eliminated, passengers seeking an L&N route would need to wait several hours at Nashville for a connection to the South Wind.) [6] The St. Louis-Evansville and the Evansville-Atlanta trains were among the trains that Amtrak chose not to pick up when it assumed long-distance operations on May 1, 1971.[1][2] Since that time Atlanta has had no service heading directly north to Tennessee.[1][2][7]

  1. ^ a b c Edmonson 1972, pp. 102–104
  2. ^ a b c "Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak" (PDF). Trains. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Schafer & Welsh 1997, pp. 118–19
  4. ^ "The Georgian". American Rails.
  5. ^ Maiken 1989, pp. 130, 162–63, 231
  6. ^ "Louisville and Nashville, Tables 1, 4, 5". Official Guide of the Railways. 101 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1968.
  7. ^ Schafer & Welsh 1997, pp. 118–20