The ''Seminole'', also known as the ''Seminole Limited'', was a passenger train operated by the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

, Central of Georgia Railway, and

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

and

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 ...

. It operated from 1909 to 1969 and was the first year-round service between the two cities.

History

The

, Central of Georgia Railway, and

introduced the ''Seminole Limited'' on November 15, 1909, in time for the winter tourist season. The new train carried coaches, sleeping cars, and a full dining car. Through services included a

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

–Jacksonville sleeper and a Chicago–

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

sleeper. The train operated on a "two night out" schedule, departing Chicago at 9:00 PM and arriving in Jacksonville at 7:05 AM on the second morning out. This permitted a late afternoon arrival in

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 ...

. The travel time was 35 hours from Chicago, three hours faster than existing services. The train operated on a daily schedule. The Illinois Central billed it as a "solid, fast through train." From Jacksonville passengers could make connections to other locations in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It was the first year-round service between the two cities. The

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

dramatist and playwright T. Montgomery Gregory, then a professor at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, rode the ''Seminole Limited'' in Georgia in 1915 as part of his investigation into " Jim Crow" (segregated) cars on Southern trains. Gregory noted that even though the segregated cars on the Central of Georgia were "superior" to other railroads and that the ''Seminole Limited'' in particular was "one of the most favorable trains in the South", the train's conductor forced him from his coach at three in the morning to make room for whites who wanted to

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

. He was placed in an ostensibly white car which he characterized as "filthy" and the "nastiest... ehad ever ridden in." In 1950 the Illinois Central rescheduled the ''Seminole'' to depart Chicago at 4:00 PM. This put the southbound train in Birmingham at 8:30 AM and Jacksonville at 9:00 PM. On July 1, 1967, the ACL became part of a merger product, the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate li ...

; and, thus, the SCL was a partner for the train in its final two years. On June 3, 1969, the Illinois Central truncated the ''Seminole'' from Jacksonville to Carbondale and renamed it the ''

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

''. The ''Shawnee'' would be one of the few Illinois Central trains retained by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

in 1971.

Equipment

In 1952 a typical ''Seminole'' carried sleeping cars for five city pairs: Chicago–St. Petersburg, Chicago– Tampa/

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

, Chicago–Birmingham, St. Louis–Tampa/Sarasota, and St. Louis–St. Petersburg. With the exception of the Birmingham sleeper these were scheduled for alternate days, so that there was always one sleeper each for Chicago and St. Louis on the one hand, and St. Petersburg and Tampa/Sarasota on the other. Connecting Atlantic Coast Line trains handled the sleepers south of Jacksonville; the Illinois Central's ''Chickasaw'' handled the St. Louis sleepers west of Carbondale, Illinois. The sleeping cars each had eight sections, two compartments, and a drawing room. A dining car operated Chicago–Jacksonville and a buffet-lounge Carbondale–St. Louis. For the final Albany, Georgia to Jacksonville leg of the trip, the trainAtlantic Coast Line Timetable, June 12, 1955, Table I ran in tandem, with the matching departure times for the itinerary of the

Louisville & Nashville The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

's ''

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

.'' Coach passengers would need to transfer at

Jacksonville Union Station Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center is a convention center located in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. Opened in 1986, it was built incorporating Jacksonville Terminal Complex / Union Station as well as several thousand square feet of newly b ...

to respective connecting Atlantic Coast Line and Florida East Coast Railway coach cars. Illinois Central, Atlantic Coast Line and Florida East Coast Railway timetables indicate that the matching FEC train in Jacksonville for the trips south and north was the FEC's ''Havana Special.'''Official Guide of the Railways,' June 1961, Florida East Coast section, Table 1

Cultural influence

The ''Seminole'' was a likely influence on blues guitarist

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gu ...

's song "Seminole Blues":

Notes

References

* * {{SCL named trains Named passenger trains of the United States Night trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Passenger trains of the Central of Georgia Railway Passenger trains of the Illinois Central Railroad Passenger trains of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Kentucky Passenger rail transportation in Tennessee Passenger rail transportation in Mississippi Passenger rail transportation in Alabama Passenger rail transportation in Georgia (U.S. state) Passenger rail transportation in Florida Railway services introduced in 1909 Railway services discontinued in 1969