Flamingo (train)

Former American passenger train

FlamingoOverview

Service type| Inter-city rail
Status| Discontinued
Locale| Midwestern United States/Southeastern United States
First service| September 27, 1925
Last service| March 7, 1968
Former operator(s)| Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Route
Termini| Cincinnati, Ohio
Jacksonville, Florida;
Atlanta, Georgia, beginning in 1962
Stops| 17, including:
Winchester, KY; Knoxville, TN; Cartersville, GA; Marietta, GA; Atlanta, GA; Albany, GA
Distance travelled| 886 miles (1,426 km)
Average journey time| Southbound: 25 hrs 30 min
Northbound: 24 hrs 5 min
Service frequency| Daily
Train number(s)| 17 (southbound), 18 (northbound)
On-board services
Seating arrangements| Reclining seat coaches
Sleeping arrangements| Sections, roomettes, and double bedrooms (1955)
Catering facilities| Diner
| Route map

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Legend

|  |  |

|  | Cincinnati

|
|
|
|

|  |

|  |

| Ohio

Kentucky

|  |

|  | Covington
|  |

|  | Latonia
|  |

|  | Falmouth
|  |

|  | Cynthia
|  |

|  | Paris
|  |

|  | Evansville
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|  | Winchester
|  |

|  | Richmond
|  |

|  | Berea
|  |

|  | London
|  |

|  | Corbin
|  |

|  | Williamsburg
|  |

|  |

| Kentucky

Tennessee

|  |

|  | La Follette
|  |

|  | Knoxville
|  |

|  | Etowah
|  |

|  |

| Tennessee

Georgia

|  |

|  | Chatsworth
|  |

|  | Cartersville
|  |

|  | Marietta
|  |

|  | Atlanta
|  |

|  | Macon
|  |

|  | Americus
|  |

|  | Albany
|  |

|  | Tifton
|  |

|  | Waycross
|  |

|  |

| Georgia

Florida

|  |

|  | Jacksonville
|  |  |  |  |  |

The Flamingo was a passenger train operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Florida, from the 1920s to the 1960s. It carried coaches and sleeping cars.

## History

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Inaugurated on September 27, 1925, it operated between Cincinnati and Atlanta, Georgia, with sleeper service between Cincinnati Union Terminal and Atlanta Union Station. It was operated in conjunction with the Central of Georgia Railway and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.[1] From Albany to Jacksonville the Flamingo[2] ran in tandem with the Illinois Central's Seminole, departing stations with an identical schedule for that final segment.[3] In Jacksonville riders could continue their trips to elsewhere in Florida on various ACL branch lines that served different parts of the state, such as St. Petersburg, Sarasota (via Orlando and Tampa), Ft. Myers and Miami. Travellers to Miami would transfer in Jacksonville to the FEC's Havana Special.[4][5] The Southland operated on similar route from Cincinnati to Albany portion, however, the Southland ran overnight through Georgia.

An empty oil tanker that had been attached to a north-bound freight train came loose and hit and wrecked the Flamingo near Falmouth, Kentucky in 1957. The injured received care at a local hospital.[6]

Service was truncated to Atlanta in 1962; by September 8, 1965, the name was removed from the train. It was discontinued on March 7, 1968.[1]

The dining car, originally built in 1948, was restored and returned to service by the Kentucky-Indiana Rail Advocates in 1998, serving up food on the dinner train from original recipes like seafood gumbo, lamb, plum pudding, and ham with red eye gravy.[7]

## Major stations served

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* Cincinnati Union Station
* Covington, Kentucky
* Winchester, Kentucky
* Corbin, Kentucky (with connections to and from Louisville to the west)
* Knoxville L&N Station
* Cartersville, Georgia
* Marietta Depot
* Atlanta Union Station
* Albany Union Station
* Jacksonville Union Station

## References

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1. ^ a b "The Flamingo". American Rails. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
2. ^ Atlantic Coast Line Timetable, June 12, 1955, Table L
3. ^ Atlantic Coast Line Timetable, June 12, 1955, Table I
4. ^ Atlantic Coast Line Timetable, June 12, 1955, Tables C, L
5. ^ 'Official Guide of the Railways,' June 1961, Florida East Coast section, Table 1
6. ^ Penny Tuemler Conrad (2010). Pendleton County. Arcadia Publishing. p. 45\. ISBN 978-0-7385-8621-2.
7. ^ "Recipes from L&N Revived". November 22, 1998. p. 4. Retrieved August 3, 2017 - via newspapers.com.

## Further reading

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* Maury Klein (December 6, 2013). History of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-4675-1.
* The Railroad Journal. 1947.
* United States. National Railroad Adjustment Board. Third Division. Awards. Third Division, National Railroad Adjustment Board. p. 364.

## External links

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* December 1965 L&N schedule

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Named trains of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad

* Azalean
* Dixiana
* Dixie Flagler
* Dixie Flyer
* Dixieland
* Flamingo
* Florida Arrow
* Georgian
* Gulf Wind
* Humming Bird
* Pan-American
* Piedmont Limited
* Southland
* South Wind

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Named trains of the Central of Georgia Railway

* City of Miami
* Dixie Flyer
* Dixie Limited
* Flamingo
* Man O'War
* Nancy Hanks
* Seminole
* Southland

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Named trains of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

* Champion
* City of Miami
* Coast Line Florida Mail
* Dixiana
* Dixie Flagler
* Dixie Flyer
* Dixieland
* Everglades
* Flamingo
* Florida Arrow
* Florida Special
* Gulf Coast Special
* Havana Special
* Miamian
* Palmetto
* Seminole
* Southland
* South Wind
* Tar Heel
* Vacationer

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