The ''Aiken-Augusta Special'' was a named night train of the '' Southern Railway'' between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

. Different from other long distance Southern Railway lines which tended to briefly go through the northwestern edge of South Carolina, this route went through the interior of the state. Its route marked the last directly north-south route between

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

and

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

, and it marked one of the last long distance trains into

. The train began as the ''Augusta Special'' on October 24, 1915. Beginning in 1928 the train had a section that split from the main route at

Trenton, South Carolina Trenton is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 196 at the 2010 census, down from 226 in 2000. History Bettis Academy and Junior College and Marshfield, a historic plantation house with outbuilding and c ...

and went to

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the Sout ...

, and so the train took the name, ''Aiken-Augusta Special.'' The train was carried over

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

tracks from New York City to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and in an unusual arrangement the coach cars were on a different train (#153 the ''Congressional'' southbound; #112 unnamed, northbound) from the

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. ...

s between New York and Washington, and upon reaching the latter city the itinerary became merged.

Major stations on main Augusta route

*New York, NY *Newark, NJ *North Philadelphia, PA *Philadelphia *Wilmington, DE *Baltimore, MD *Washington, D.C. *Charlottesville, VA *Lynchburg *Danville *Greensboro, NC *High Point *Concord *Charlotte *Rock Hill, SC *Columbia *Augusta, GA

''Asheville Special''

The train had the ''Asheville Special'' (#15 south/#16 north; begun in 1930), which split from the main route in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

and continued west from Greensboro, to

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

and then to

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. The sleeping cars were continuous from New York City to Asheville; but the coaches and the diner were strictly Asheville to Greensboro cars. The remainder of the trip, Greensboro to New York was on ''Aiken-Augusta Special'' equipment. Southern Railway FP7 6142 in August 1971 (26577895004)

Southern Railway FP7 6142 in August 1971 (26577895004)

For four years (1966-1970) after the termination of the ''Augusta Special,'' the ''Asheville Special'' was tacked onto the ''

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

'' from Greensboro to New York. However, southbound, the sleeping car was handled by the '' Southerner'' from New York to Greensboro. Major stops on the Asheville-Greensboro route: *Asheville *Biltmore *Marion *Morganton *Hickory *Newton *Statesville *Winston-Salem *Greensboro In 1970 the Asheville Special was truncated to an Asheville-Salisbury train. It was finally discontinued in 1975.

''Augusta Special'' and demise

With dwindling traffic in the 1950s, the Aiken spur route was eliminated and in 1953 the train reverted to the ''Augusta Special.'' Sleeper service was eliminated on October 27, 1962. Its final run as a named train between Charlotte and Augusta was on October 22, 1966.American Rails, 'The Augusta Special' https://www.american-rails.com/augusta-special.html

Notes