The ''Queen and Crescent Limited'' was a named
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...
operated by the
Southern Railway in the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. It was operated over a historic route that had been established in the late 1800s called the
Queen and Crescent Route
The Queen and Crescent Route was a cooperative railroad route in the Southeastern U.S., connecting Cincinnati (the "Queen City") with New Orleans (the "Crescent City") and Shreveport. Inaugurated in the 1880s, the name was retained by Souther ...
, which referred to
Cincinnati
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 wit ...
as the "Queen City" and
as the "Crescent City".
The train began service in 1926 and it was never a financial success. The Southern Railway operated the ''Queen and Crescent Limited'' from Cincinnati, Ohio to New Orleans, Louisiana via
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
,
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, ...
,
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
and
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
. The new train carried both coaches and
Pullman sleepers and a dining car. Its road numbers on the Southern Railway were #43 (southbound) and #44 (northbound).
Accidents
* On the first year of operation, the train derailed on October 15, 1926, one half mile south of
Williamstown, Kentucky
Williamstown is a home-rule-class city in Grant and Pendleton counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 3,925 at the 2010 census, up from 3,227 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Grant County.
History
When Grant ...
. One engineer died and another was seriously injured, but no passengers died.
* On February 4, 1947, the ''Queen and Crescent'' struck a car and killed three persons near New Orleans.
End of service
The ''Queen and Crescent'' was removed from the timetable by 1949 and only a remnant remained: Southern operated Train numbers 43 and 44 between Birmingham, Alabama and Meridian, Mississippi as a local.
References
{{Named Trains of the Southern Railway
Night trains of the United States
Railway services introduced in 1926
Passenger rail transportation in Alabama
Passenger rail transportation in Kentucky
Passenger rail transportation in Louisiana
Passenger rail transportation in Mississippi
Passenger rail transportation in Ohio
Passenger rail transportation in Tennessee
Passenger trains of the Southern Railway (U.S.)
Named passenger trains of the United States