Auto-Train Corporation

Auto-Train Corporation (reporting mark AUT) was a privately owned railroad which used its own rolling stock, and traveled on rails leased from major railroads along the route of its trains, serving central Florida from points in the Mid-Atlantic region near Washington, DC, and the Mid-West near Louisville, Kentucky, during the 1970s. Despite popularity of the service on its primary route, which parallels busy Interstate 95 along much of the eastern coast of the United States in 5 states, the company failed financially after operating almost 10 years. After a hiatus, a similarly named and operated service (Auto Train) was begun under the government-financed Amtrak in 1983, which became one of railroad's most popular services.