• Atlantic Coast Line/Seaboard winter fleet in the summer

  • Forum dedicated to the Seaboard System Railroad and its predecessors, aka The Family Lines System, prior to its operational merger with the Chessie System, forming CSX, in 1982. Predecessors included the Atlantic Coast Line, the West Point Route, the Clinchfield, the Louisville and Nashville, the Seaboard Air Line, and the Seaboard Coast Line.
Forum dedicated to the Seaboard System Railroad and its predecessors, aka The Family Lines System, prior to its operational merger with the Chessie System, forming CSX, in 1982. Predecessors included the Atlantic Coast Line, the West Point Route, the Clinchfield, the Louisville and Nashville, the Seaboard Air Line, and the Seaboard Coast Line.
  by eastwind
 
Until 1955, the summer-only East Wind between New York and Portland ME carried a dining car leased from the Atlantic Coast Line's idled wintertime fleet.
Can anyone provide more details of this arrangement? Could it have been one of the Florida Special cars?

Were other cars from ACL's fleet leased to summer-only trains to northern destinations?

Did Seaboard do something similar, or was this limited to the ACL?

My specific reason for asking is the discussion in the Bar Harbor Express - East Wind (B&M/MEC Seasonal Service) thread, but any information would be greatly appreciated.

eastwind
  by eastwind
 
I've come across this two-page thread in the NHRHTA New Haven Railroad Forum, which, part way down on the first page, gives details of the consist of the summer-only (PRR-)NH-B&M(-MeC) East Wind for both pre- and post-war periods.

In particular, it mentions the following Atlantic Coast Line cars:

• Atlantic Coast Line (leased) tavern-lounge car #5403, “South Carolina”
• Atlantic Coast Line (leased) diner “Bangor”
• Atlantic Coast Line (leased) tavern-lounge car #5204, “North Carolina”
• Atlantic Coast Line (leased) diner “Portland”
• Atlantic Coast Line (leased) diner “Sumpter”

Can anyone verify that these were indeed Atlantic Coast Line cars, or were the names made up by the modeler, Division Point?