
Queen City Bound
"The Southern's Palm has a history which dates back to November 1913 and even during these earliest days of wooden cars and steam locomotives the train operated with run through equipment owned by the NYC (coming from such cities as Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Cincinnati) and worked in conjunction with the FEC to reach Miami. In the 1920s the train was upgraded with heavyweight cars and sleepers and continued to maintain top level service for Florida travelers. Interestingly, however, during the 1930s and early 1940s when the streamliner era was getting into full swing the Royal Palm maintained its heavyweight status and steam power. Most likely, however, the Southern would have upgraded the train during the early '40s if it was not for the World War II conflict that caused new construction to be suspended.