Champion (train)
A postcard depiction of the Champion.
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| Overview | |
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| First service | December 1, 1939 |
| Last service | October 1, 1979 |
| Successor | Silver Meteor |
| Former operator(s) |
Atlantic Coast Line (1939–1967) Seaboard Coast Line (1967–1971) Amtrak (1971–1979) |
| 1939 | |
|---|---|
| Train | Original FEC consist |
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The Champion was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway between New York City and Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida. It operated from 1939 until 1979, continuing under the Seaboard Coast Line and Amtrak. It was a direct competitor to the Seaboard Air Line Railway's Silver Meteor, the first New York-Florida streamliner.
The Champion started as a daily service of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1939, competing with the Silver Star and Silver Meteor of the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) on the New York–Florida route. Initially just a New York-Miami service, the ACL added a St. Petersburg train in 1941 once enough streamlined equipment was available. The two trains were called the Tamiami Champion (West Coast), which ran from New York to St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area, and the Tamiami Champion (East Coast), which ran from New York to Miami, Florida. In 1943 the names became East Coast Champion and West Coast Champion.
Southbound trains originated in New York's Pennsylvania Station, and traveled south over the Pennsylvania Railroad-owned Northeast Corridor through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. There, a radio-equipped lounge car was added to the train. Leaving Washington, trains used the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to Richmond, Virginia, the north end of the ACL's main line. From Richmond, trains followed the Atlantic coast through Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida. Here the trains split, with the West Coast trains moving south then west through DeLand and Sanford on ACL rails to the Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg area, while East Coast trains turned south south-east to run along Florida's east coast to Miami via the Florida East Coast Railway.
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