No. 10412 Electro-Motive E-6 A Diesel Locomotive, heading up the "City of Miami" Streamlined Passenger Train

 Illinois Central Railroad

Streamlining was all the rage on America's railroads in the mid-to-late 1930s, and the Illinois Central was one of the first to trot out a diesel-powered streamliner, the "Green Diamond" articulated all-coach five-car train between Chicago and St. Louis, introduced in May, 1936 (see No. 10032).

Then, in December, 1940, Illinois Central entered the Florida streamliner race in a colorful manner with the new "City of Miami," spectacular in orange and green with red striping and a radical green bow wave swooping up from the locomotive front. The "City of Miami" was one of a trio of Chicago-Miami streamlined all-coach newcomers introduced in 1940, the others being the more conservative "South Wind" (Pennsylvania Railroad) (see No. 10705) and "Dixie Flagler" (Florida East Coast/Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroads) (see No. 10570). Each train operated every third day so that streamlined service was established between Chicago and Miami just about every day of the week for the first time, although on different routes.

The "City of Miami" was a 7-car luxury coach train, the lightweight painted stainless steel coaches by Pullman-Standard, completely air-conditioned, with a registered nurse on board. Features on the train were the "Palm Garden" diner with tropical scenes and the "Bamboo Grove" tavern-lounge-observation car with its oversized windows and bamboo bar. Power was furnished by a single Electro-Motive E-6 A diesel locomotive developing 2000 horsepower. In 1949, the "City of Miami" was equipped with sleeping cars, and in 1950 a through St. Louis-Miami sleeping car was added, switched in and out of the "City" at Carbondale, Illinois. By this time, the "City of Miami" had lost its remarkable one-of-a- kind exterior paint scheme and was converted to the brown and orange colors that Illinois Central had adopted as its official passenger colors after it streamlined its celebrated Chicago-New Orleans "Panama Limited" in 1942 (see No. 10329).

The streamliner proved so popular that a second "City" Train was added in 1951.

For the winter season of 1964-1965, Illinois Central added domed sleepers leased from the Northern Pacific Railway. The overnight Chicago-Miami trip took 29 1/2 hours over 1,493 miles of track on four different railroads, the other three being the Central of Georgia (Birmingham, Alabama to Albany, Georgia) Atlantic Coast Line (Albany to Jacksonville, Florida), and Florida East Coast (Jacksonville to Miami).

The "City of Miami" survived to Amtrak, but when Amtrak began operations in May,1971, it chose the "South Wind" over the "City of Miami" to be its daily Chicago-Miami flagship train, primarily because its route served greater population centers (the "Dixie Flagler," renamed "Dixieland" in 1954, had been discontinued in 1957 [see No. 10570]).

No. 10412 represents an accurate scale model of Illinois Central's Electro-Motive E-6A diesel locomotive, heading up the 7-car streamlined "City of Miami" luxury coach train as it would have been seen on its run from Chicago to Miami in the 1940s. The train is in "0"gauge, the locomotive by MTH and cars by Weaver, custom painted.