Train Connections

One story often leads to another and so it is with one story about a passenger line called the Palmetto. Both passenger trains and cycling went into decline with the rise of the automobile, and so it is fitting that the stories I'm about to tell connect the two.

I grew up in Savannah, GA at a time that rail service was still more prevalent than airline travel and when my uncle from Alexandria Virginia visited he sometimes took the train called the Palmetto which ran between New York and Florida. The Palmetto conjures images of the coastal regions surrounding Savannah. The sound of palmetto branches gently catching the breeze can relax me by just imagining the sound.

Now, the Palmetto was once part of the Silver Service. At the time, it's name was the Silver Palm. Other lines included the Silver Star, Silver Meteor - both running from Boston/New Yourk into Florida - and the Silver Comet which ran through Atlanta to Birmingham.

The Silver Comet ran until 1969 and the right of way was abandoned in 1989. This right-of-way has been turned into the Silver Comet Trail and is now one of the Atlanta area's favorite places to ride a bike.



Let's follow the other end of the Silver Comet train back up to New York. Pennsylvania Station (often referred to as Penn Station) is by far the busiest train station in North America, serving 600,000 passengers daily.

The 4th Madison Square Garden was opened in 1968 on top of Penn Station when the original Penn Station was demolished. The original Madison Square Garden, when opened on May 31, 1879 by William Henry Vanderbilt, was configured for the burgeoning sport of track cycling.

During cycling's heyday around the turn of the century, there was a popular event called a six-day race. Contestants would complete as many laps as possible during six consecutive days and understandably, would sacrifice sleep for laps. This grew to be so dangerous that the City of New York passed a law that no cyclist could ride more than 12 hours in a day. To skirt this law, the six-day race became a team event with two or more cyclists taking turns. This cycling event is now called a Madison to honor the location where it was first held.

Good Roads

I was surprised to recently learn cyclists first lobbied for Good Roads in this country. Facing motorist domination of the roads, cyclists ask that the road be shared without realizing the roads exist because cyclists got them built.

In the late 1800's, Horatio "Good Roads" Earle shepherded the Good Roads Movement, a national push to develop roads outside of cities. Earle chaired the Michigan branch of the League of American Wheelman that promoted a national system of roads.

In his 1929 autobiography, Earle states:

"I often hear now-a-days, the automobile instigated good roads; that the automobile is the parent of good roads. Well, the truth is, the bicycle is the father of the good roads movement in this country."

"...the League of American Wheelmen was formed in 1879, with each state organized as a division. The League was the first organization that promoted the building of better roads. The League fought for the privilege of building bicycle-paths along the side of public highways. The League fought for the privilege of carrying bicycles in baggage cars on railroads. The League fought for equal privileges with horse-drawn vehicles. All these battles were won and the bicyclist was accorded equal rights with other users of highways and streets."