Humming Bird (train)

The Humming Bird was a named train of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). The train, inaugurated in 1946, originally ran from Cincinnati, Ohio, to New Orleans, Louisiana, via Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile and later via a connection at Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Memphis, Tennessee. A connection to Chicago was provided by the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad.

Condensed 1956 timetable documenting different northern origins and southern destinations of the Humming Bird, along with the train consist

Humming Bird

Postcard of the Humming Bird circa 1940s-1950s
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Midwestern United States Southeastern United States
First service	November 17, 1946[1]
Last service	January 9, 1969
Former operator(s)	Louisville & Nashville
Route
Termini	Cincinnati, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri New Orleans, Louisiana and Memphis, Tennessee
Distance travelled	927 miles (1,492 km)
Average journey time	Original schedule, 19 hours in each direction[2]
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	Southbound: 5; Northbound: 6
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Reclining seat coaches
Sleeping arrangements	Open sections, roomettes, double bedrooms
Catering facilities	Dining cars, tavern-lounge car
Route map Cincinnati Ohio Kentucky Covington Baxter Avenue Louisville Elizabethtown Bowling Green Kentucky Tennessee Nashville Tennessee Alabama Decatur Cullman Birmingham Montgomery Greenville Flomaton Mobile Alabama Mississippi Pascagoula Biloxi Gulfport Bay St. Louis Mississippi Louisiana Carrollton Avenue New Orleans

The Humming Bird had separate sections in the north and the south. The main northern part originated in Cincinnati; other sections (of the L&N's Georgian) originated in St. Louis and from Chicago. These sections linked with the main part of the train in Nashville. At Bowling Green, Kentucky, a southwest-bound section broke off, bound for Memphis; whereas the main southern route continued south to Nashville and New Orleans. Also, en route to New Orleans, a connecting bus option in Flomaton, Alabama assisted with travel to Pensacola, Florida, while trains were used for the northbound trip.[3]

In the mid-1950s, Train 5 departed Louisville at 10:05 pm for New Orleans. Train 6 was the northbound number.[4]

The original equipment was part of a 28-car order of four train sets of lightweight stainless steel cars built in 1946 by ACF. Fourteen cars were assigned to the Humming Bird and fourteen to the Georgian. Many of those cars were removed from service in the late 1960s due to severe corrosion problems.

The L&N Railroad served the old Union Station in Memphis, until its closure on April 1, 1964. The railroad then used Central Station. Both L&N and Southern Railway were forced to reopen part of Union Station on December 1, 1966, and use it until March 30, 1968.

The Humming Bird was canceled on January 9, 1969. At that time, the L&N Railroad earned some unwanted publicity when it terminated the final run of the train en route southbound at Birmingham when a federal judge lifted the order keeping the train running after the Interstate Commerce Commission approved its permanent discontinuance. The passengers were then bused to their destinations.[5]

The train inspired the song "Hummingbird" by country artist Ricky Skaggs and was mentioned in the song "Southern Rains" by country artist Mel Tillis.