 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Defunct |
| Locale | Eastern Seaboard |
| First service | December 6, 1971 (Sanford-Lorton) 1974 (Sanford-Louisville) |
| Last service | April 1981 (Sanford-Lorton) 1977 (Sanford-Louisville) |
| Successor | Amtrak Auto Train |
| Former operator(s) | Auto-Train Corporation |
| Route | |
| Termini | Lorton, Virginia Louisville, Kentucky (1974-1977) Sanford, Florida |
| On-board services | |
| Observation facilities | Dome cars |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | See Rolling stock |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Founders | Eugene K. Garfield |
| Reporting mark | AUCX |
| Dates of operation | 1971–1981 |
| Successor | Amtrak (1983) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
Auto-Train Corporation (reporting mark AUCX), stylized auto-train, was a privately owned passenger railroad that operated from 1971 to 1981. Its trains included autorack cars, enabling passengers to bring their own vehicles on their journey. The company used its own rolling stock, and traveled on rails leased from major railroads. It served central Florida from points in the Mid-Atlantic region near Washington, D.C., and the Midwest near Louisville, Kentucky. The company failed after 10 years despite the popularity of the service on its primary route, which parallels busy Interstate 95 in five states along the eastern U.S. coast.
After a hiatus, a similarly named and operated service, Auto Train, began under the government-financed Amtrak in 1983, which became one of the railroad's most popular services.