The ''Ponce de Leon'' was a named train of the Southern Railway which ran from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, from 1924 to the mid-1960s.

Operations

The ''Ponce de Leon'' (Train #4) departed Jacksonville at midday going north via subsidiary

Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad The Georgia Southern and Florida Railway , also known as the ''Suwanee River Route'' from its crossing of the Suwanee River, was founded in 1885 as the Georgia Southern and Florida ''Railroad'' and began operations between Macon, GA and Valdosta ...

to Macon and

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, then on Southern's former

East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad The East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad (ETV&G) was a rail transport system that operated in the southeastern United States during the late 19th century. Created with the consolidation of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad and the ...

line to

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

, traveling overnight to Cincinnati via Southern subsidiary

Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; ) is a railroad that leases the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and sub leases it to the Norfolk Southern Railway sys ...

. The train provided connections with the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

at Cincinnati for passengers headed to Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Buffalo. The ''Royal Palm'' alternated with the ''Ponce de Leon'' on a reverse schedule between Cincinnati and Jacksonville, operating during daylight hours south from Cincinnati and then overnight between Atlanta and Jacksonville. In the latter city there were connections with Florida East Coast Railway for an east coast trip to Miami, and

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

trains to Miami on an interior route to Tampa. Sleepers were discontinued on the train in November 1959 and it ran as a coach-only consist until the end of operation. In 1964, Southern Railway dropped the Atlanta - Jacksonville leg of the ''Ponce's'' operation. By the time Southern Railway filed to discontinue the train on January 22, 1968 it was unnamed, operating as Numbers 1 and 2, but only between Cincinnati and Atlanta. The train finally disappeared from the timetable in March 1968.

Train accident

The ''Ponce de Leon'' and ''Royal Palm'' collided on December 23, 1926 in

Rockmart, Georgia Rockmart is a town in Polk County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 4,732 at the 2020 census. It developed as a railroad depot town when the Southern Railway built a station in the area. The community was incorporated in 1872, and w ...

. The northbound ''Ponce de Leon'' struck the ''Royal Palm'' with the result that 19 people were killed and 113 were injured, most on the ''Ponce de Leon''. The accident was also the subject of a song: "The Wreck of the Royal Palm" by

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad "Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country song ...

.The Wreck of the Royal Palm by Vernon Dalhart

/ref>

References

Named passenger trains of the United States Night trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Passenger rail transportation in Florida Passenger rail transportation in Georgia (U.S. state) Passenger rail transportation in Kentucky Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Passenger rail transportation in Tennessee Railway services introduced in 1924 Railway services discontinued in 1967 {{US-train-stub

Operations

Train accident

See also

References