Pelican (train)

The Pelican (Train #41/42) departed New York's Pennsylvania Station going south via the Pennsylvania Railroad to Washington, DC, then on Southern's line to Lynchburg, Virginia, then to Bristol, Virginia via the Norfolk and Western Railway with a major stop in Roanoke, Virginia and several stops toward Bristol.[1] From Bristol to New Orleans, the Pelican ran on Southern's line with major station stops in Knoxville, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Birmingham, Alabama and Meridian, Mississippi. South of Birmingham it made more local stops than other Southern Railway trains on the Birmingham-New Orleans route, such as the Southerner.[2]

Train Number 42, the northbound The Pelican reversed the route.

In 1957, The Pelican carried:[3]

• A New York to New Orleans 10-roomette-6-double-bedroom sleeping car;
• A New York to Knoxville, Tennessee 10-roomette-6-double-bedroom car;
• A Washington, D.C. to Shreveport, Louisiana 8-section-5-double-bedroom car (handled by Illinois Central Railroad between Meridian, Mississippi and Shreveport);
• A New York to Knoxville, Tennessee 10-roomette-6-double-bedroom car;
• A New York to Bristol 10-roomette-6-double-bedroom car;
• A Washington, D.C. to Williamson, West Virginia 10-roomette-6-double-bedroom car (handled by Norfolk and Western Railway's The Cavalier) between Roanoke, Virginia and Williamson;
• A Petersburg, Virginia to Bristol 10-section-1-compartment-2-double-bedroom car (handled by Norfolk and Western Railway's The Cavalier between Petersburg and Roanoke;
• A Roanoke to Birmingham, Alabama dining car;
• Washington to New Orleans coaches.

Into the 1950s, the train carried through sleeping cars which would split from the main route at Meridian and continue on the Illinois Central Railroad's Southwestern Limited into central Mississippi and central Louisiana to Shreveport, Louisiana. Timetables referred to section, compartment and drawing room accommodations carrying from New York to Shreveport[4][5]

O. Winston Link recorded the eastbound Pelican arriving in Rural Retreat, VA on Christmas Eve, 1957. The recording is noted as being one of the last recordings of a Norfolk and Western J Class locomotive prior to them being removed from service the next year as well as the bells from the nearby church.

With passenger traffic declining, the Pelican was combined with the Birmingham Special in 1970. [6]