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The Crescent
After the Civil War, the Richmond and Danville Railroad established
a connection between the Northeastern US through Richmond and Atlanta,
eventually reaching New Orleans. The Richmond and Danville inaugurated
the Washington &: Southwestern Vestibuled Limited, which became
the Washington & Southwestern Limited (southbound) and the
New York Limited when the R&D became
part of the Southern Railroad in 1894. The train was re-equipped to
all-Pullman service in 1925 and renamed the Crescent Limited,.
The line became the Southern Crescent in 1970 and was one
of the last two privately-operated intercity passenger lines, surviving
until it was turned over to Amtrak in 1979 and re-christened The Crescent.
I used to live in New York and took The Crescent to visit my
parents in Louisiana, stopping either in Meridian, MS or New Orleans, LA.
These photos are in approximate route order southbound, then returning northbound over the
period 2001 - 2010.
New York Penn Station
Washington, DC
North Carolina
Georgia
Peachtree Station, Atlanta, GA
1688 Peachtree Street
This station on the North side of Atlanta was designed by Neel Reid and
opened in 1918. It was originally a stop before Terminal Station in
downtown Atlanta, but when that station closed in 1970, this became
the only Atlanta stop for the Southern Crescent
Just south of Atlanta, the train passes the ruins of a Cotton Ginning Machinery
factory.
On the North side of Birmingham, you pass the former
Sloss Furnaces, which were
shut down in 1971 and became a museum in 1983.
Birmingham, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL
Union Station, Meridian, MS
1901 Front Street
Meridian became a major rail junction in the mid 19th century and
a Mission Revival Style depot was built here in 1906. It was
almost entirely demolished in the late 1940s and in 1966. In
1991, the city was awarded $5.1 million in federal ISTEA funds
to reconstruct the depot as a multimodal facility, which
was dedicated on 11 December 1997.
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
This modernist terminal opened in 1954, consolidating New Orleans' passenger
rail and train operations and replacing a much more elegant Louis Sullivan-designed
station that had stood on an adjacent lot.
The Crescent used to leave at 6am, so one time I tried arriving the
night before to spend some quality time sightseeing. Fascinating place,
but not cheap.
Once upon a time, if you booked early enough you could get a cabin for
around $100. But coach wasn't too bad until ridership got up to a point
where you would almost always have to share a seat.
Exiting New Orleans, the train passes cemeteries and a long
trestle over Lake Pontchartrain.
Meridian, MS
Birmingham, AL
Atlanta, GA
Virginia
Washington, DC
Philadelphia, PA
Newark, NJ
Return to Penn Station
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