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Carolina Special
Colorized postcard view of an open-deck observation car with drumhead at the end of a Carolina Special consist at Asheville, North Carolina, the female passengers' garb dating it prior to World War I, in the train's first decade of operation.
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleSoutheastern United States
First serviceJanuary 22, 1911
Last serviceDecember 5, 1968
Former operator(s)Southern Railway
Route
TerminiCincinnati, Ohio
The Carolinas (Goldsboro, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina)
Distance travelled731.2 miles (1,176.8 km) (Cincinnati-Charleston, 1952)
636.5 miles (1,024.3 km) (Cincinnati-Goldsboro, 1952)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)Northwest: 27, Southeast: 28
On-board services
Seating arrangementsReclining Seat Coaches
Sleeping arrangementsOpen sections, compartments and drawing rooms
Catering facilitiesRestaurant-lounge
Baggage facilitiesBaggage car
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Carolina Special was a passenger train operated by the Southern Railway between Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Carolinas. It operated from 1911 to 1968. It was the last passenger train to use the route of the Charleston and Hamburg Railroad, which, as the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, began operation in December 1830, as one of the oldest railroads in the United States,[1] and, by 1833, operated a 136-mile (219 km) line to Hamburg, South Carolina, on the Savannah River, the country's longest at that time. All Southern Railway Pullman service to Charleston rode over that historic, if bucolic, route from Branchville to the port city.[2]

History

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Postcard of Union Depot in Columbia, South Carolina c. 1907–1912; where the train's South Carolina branch had its southern terminus from 1964 to 1968.

The Southern Railway introduced the Carolina Special on January 22, 1911, between Cincinnati and Charleston, South Carolina, via Asheville, North Carolina. The trip took 25 hours. The train's equipment included coaches, Pullman sleeping cars, an observation car and a dining car.[3]: 14  Through-sleepers were later added to and from three different origins, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland via the New York Central (NYC). NYC coaches linked at Cincinnati from Detroit and Cleveland. In mid-20th century the train was augmented to have an eastern North Carolina branch splitting off at Biltmore, North Carolina and heading east to Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh and Goldsboro.[4] The Greensboro to Raleigh part of this branch is continued today in Amtrak's North Carolina–based Piedmont service.

"Despite its singular name, the train served both Carolinas, with a northern section going to Greensboro and Goldsboro, N.C., and the southern section serving Spartanburg, Columbia, and Charleston. The train was divided at Asheville. Over the years the consists varied (sleepers from Cincinnati to Columbia and Charleston were listed in 1917, Chicago-Columbia in 1925, Cincinnati-Spartanburg in 1930, and so forth), but typically they included a Chicago-Charleston car. Before the train was inaugurated, the Southern had run a Charleston-Cincinnati sleeper by way of Augusta and Atlanta (Georgia Railroad), but for the 57 years of its life, the Carolina Special offered a unique connection to the Cincinnati gateway."[5]

In pre-World War II years the train had additional sections that were northern destinations, aside from the default site of Cincinnati. A branch from Louisville joined with the train in Danville, and a Nashville branch running over the Tennessee Central's tracks joined the main route at Harriman. Continuing sleeper equipment was offered between Louisville and Asheville and between Nashville and Knoxville. This was a rare instance of a long-distance train traveling east out of Nashville.[6][7] By the 1950s, the Louisville part persisted as a connection, but not a through-train. However, the Nashville section, running over the Tennessee Central's tracks, was entirely lost. The connecting TC train at Harriman was impractical as a connection, out of sync with the Carolina Special by several hours.[8][9]

By 1954 the train's North Carolina route east from Asheville ended at Greensboro.[10] By 1954 the South Carolina branch no longer went to Charleston; rather, it ended at Columbia.[11] By 1966 the train lost its dining car, which in the early 1960s had been downgraded to a dinette.[12] The Southern Railway discontinued the Carolina Special on December 5, 1968, which had by then dwindled to a coach-only remnant.[13][14] In final years, all that remained was a remnant of the "Asheville Special" was a three day a week train, Southern Railway #3/#4, between Asheville and Salisbury.[15] The discontinuing of this unnamed remnant on August 8, 1975 was the last regularly scheduled passenger service for Asheville. Most of the line between Charleston and Aiken, South Carolina, has been lifted as there was little freight traffic generated by the historic but redundant route to justify its continued operation.

Main stops on route

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Northern section:

Southern section:

References

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  1. ^ Beebe, Lucius; Clegg, Charles (1952). Hear The Train Blow. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. p. 16. LCCN 52-8254.
  2. ^ Maiken 1989, p. 124
  3. ^ Greenberg, Sue; Jan Kahn (1997). "Asheville: A Postcard History, Volume 2". Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780752408071.
  4. ^ Southern Railway July 1952 timetable, Table J http://streamlinermemories.info/South/SOU52TT.pdf
  5. ^ Maiken 1989, pp. 123–124
  6. ^ 'Official Guide of the Railways' August 1936, Southern Railway section, Condensed Tables and Table 32
  7. ^ 'Official Guide of the Railways' August 1936, Tennessee Central section
  8. ^ 'Official Guide of the Railways' December 1954, Southern Railway section, Tables 9, 10
  9. ^ 'Official Guide of the Railways' December 1954, Tennessee Central section
  10. ^ Official Guide, December 1954, Southern Railway section
  11. ^ Southern Railway April 1964 timetable, Table J http://streamlinermemories.info/South/SRR64-4TT.pdf
  12. ^ Southern Railway October 1966 timetable, Table J http://streamlinermemories.info/South/SRR66-10TT.pdf
  13. ^ "That was then: Dec. 5, 1968". The State. December 28, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  14. ^ McDermott, Jim (December 1, 2018). "The Day SC Passenger Trains Ran Out of Steam". Post and Courier. Charleston.
  15. ^ Amtrak national timetable, May 15, 1975, p. 53 http://www.timetables.org/full.php?group=19750515&item=0056

Bibliography

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  • Maiken, Peter T. (December 1989). Night Trains: The Pullman System in the Golden Years of American Rail Travel. Beloit, Wisconsin: Lakme Press. ISBN 0-9621480-0-8. LCCN 88-83514.
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