The Royal Palm was a named train of the Southern Railway that ran from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Jacksonville, Florida, and then on the Florida East Coast Railway's East Coast Champion to Miami, Florida. The train was discontinued in 1970. Operations The Royal Palm provided connections with the New York Central Railroad at Cincinnati for passengers headed to Detroit, Cleveland and St. Louis. The Pennsylvania Railroad from Cincinnati provided a connection to Chicago. A through sleeper and coach between Miami and Detroit operated until 1957. The Florida East Coast Railway operated the Jacksonville to Miami section of the route, on the FEC's #5 train south and #6 train north. From Jacksonville to St. Petersburg the Seaboard Air Line operated that alternate section of the train on the SAL's Silver Meteor. The Royal Palm operated overnight between Atlanta and Jacksonville and during daylight hours to the north to Cincinnati. The Ponce de Leon alternated with the Royal Palm on a reverse schedule between Cincinnati and Jacksonville, and the heavyweight companion was actually just as fast as the Palm during the 1950s and 1960s. The Royal Palm (Train #3) departed from Cincinnati going south via the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway to Chattanooga, Tennessee, then on Southern's former East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia main on to Atlanta, Georgia, and Macon, Georgia, then via the Georgia Southern & Florida to Jacksonville, Florida. History Train accident The Ponce de Leon and Royal Palm collided on December 23, 1926, in Rockmart, Georgia. The northbound Ponce de Leon struck the Royal Palm, killing 19 people and injuring 133 others, most on the Ponce de Leon. The collision was the subject of the song "The Wreck of the Royal Palm", which was written by Andrew Jenkins and recorded by Vernon Dalhart in 1927. Post-war winter schedule In 1949, an order for twelve EMD E7s was delivered to Southern Railway for use on its passenger trains. On December 15, 1949, the New York Central, Southern and Florida East Coast began operation of the streamlined New Royal Palm winter-only train that replaced the Florida Sunbeam, which had run down Southern's (GS&F) Palatka branch to Hampton, where it connected to the Seaboard to Miami. The New Royal Palm was a Detroit-Miami streamliner which carried through-sleepers for Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo. Each train carried up to 20 cars, including a dining car and tavern-lounge car. In the off-season, the equipment