Queen & Crescent Route Teapot Help

[nsrlink]

I'm the proud new owner of a "Queen & Crescent Route" silver teapot (or is it a coffee pot?) recently shipped to me from an ebay auction.  I looked up the silvermark on the bottom & two different sources show it is from E.H.H. SMITH SILVER CO - Bridgeport, CT.  One source says that company was in business 1907 - 1914, while the other source shows the silver company was in business 1904 - 1914.  Either way it's pretty damn old.

Anyway, the purpose of bringing this topic to the board is I'm wondering what trains this might have been used on.  I read through some of the older threads about the use of the moniker "Queen and Crescent Route" and was wondering how early on this moniker  / slogan was being used and also how late it was known to be used.  I suppose there may be no answer to the specific railroad or train it may have been used on way back when, but I wouldn't mind hearing some educated guesses from those more knowledgeable than myself on Queen & Crescent history.  I reckon it could have come from any of the trains of these railroads...  CNO&TP, AGS, NO&NE, Alabama and Vicksburg Railway, or Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railway??











I'm pretty proud & pleased to have this in my RR collection.  I can hardly imagine what it must have been like to ride the rails 100 years ago, though I know it would have been a big deal.  Besides, it's not every day something like this comes up for new ownership.  Thanks in advance for any history I can learn from y'all.

[Ponce de Leon]

I would have to dig out some old timetables, but off the top of my head, this could have been used on the Queen & Crescent Limited, the Royal Palm, the Ponce de Leon, the Carolina Special---or maybe even the Pelican and Birmingham Special, which used the AGS (a Q&C member) as far as Birmingham, and (for the Pelican), the NO&NE via Meridian to New Orleans. However, by the '20s and later, I think it would be far more likely to see Southern Railway-marked silver on the dining cars of these trains. This piece was probably used during the WWI era on up to the mid-'20s, and maybe beyond. There would be no reason to toss a perfectly usable teapot, particularly since the Q&C was still an entity for many more years.

In any event, this is VERY rare piece---and it appears to be authentic. Congrats on adding it to your collection.

[nsrlink]

Thanks Ron!
You (and other members) would know more about the trains on the route way back when than I would and you listed several I wouldn't have thought of.  I agree by the 20's it would have been likely to encounter Southern Railway accoutrements in the dining cars instead of Q&C branded items.  In you last sentence, you mentioned "since the Q&C was still an entity for many more years." -- Any idea on when the Q&C "branding" disappeared?  Or when it would have first appeared?  If I've been following along (correct me if I'm off,) Q&C was a "branding" of sorts used by several railroads (CNO&TP, AGS, etc.) promoting service between Cincinnati & New Orleans, rather than an operating company?  (Or was it a holding or operating company for several of those lines making up the route?) 

Thanks for the congrats on the piece.  My wife asked what it was worth.  I told her I guess it's worth at least whatever someone (me) was willing to pay for it.  And, truthfully, the value isn't a concern or question for me at all.  More importantly, for me, it's a rare opportunity to own a piece of RR history, and preserve it as it helps tells the story of a by-gone era. 

[Southern6482]

That is a GREAT piece! Congrats on winning the ebay auction!

[Ponce de Leon]

I would have to do some research, but the Queen & Crescent Route was basically put together by English interests before the turn of the century (19th to 20th, that is). I think I'm right on this...but the ETV&G (a Southern predecessor) actually acquired the Alabama Great Southern first. At any rate, shortly after the creation of the Southern Railway System, all three---the CNO&TP, AGS and NO&NE---came under the Southern tent. As we all know, the CNO&TP still exists, since it holds the lease on the Cincinnati Southern (and will until 2026, when the current lease expires). I seem to recall the NO&NE was folded into the AGS in the '60s. So, the AGS probably still exists.

As for "Queen & Crescent Route"---that was more of a marketing moniker than anything else. The Queen & Crescent Limited was still a big deal in 1926, when some of the Harrison Ps-4s were outshopped from Alco's Richmond Works with that train's name across the tender. The route (I think CNO&TP numbers 41 and 42 and 43 and 44 were through trains to and from New Orleans) between Cincinnati and New Orleans was actually shorter than the L&N's route between those same two cities. However, the Southern never could get a decent share of the market, so the Q&C Limited continued to be downgraded until finally it was just a connection at Chattanooga with Washington-New Orleans trains 41 and 42. The L&N served Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham (which was also on the Southern's route), Montgomery, Mobile, and particularly the lucrative and passenger-rich stretch along the Gulf Coast between Mobile and New Orleans. The Southern only reached Chattanooga and Birmingham (also Lexington, KY and Meridian, MS---but they were hardly passenger hot spots).

EM and some of the guys in and around Danville, KY can confirm this fact: a "Queen & Crescent Route" herald used to be in the door threshold of the passenger station there--in colored tiles. I wonder if it's still there.

Again---I think you acquired a very cool artifact of the grand old days of passenger service on the Southern. One can only imagine pouring some tea from this vessel on the dark green heavyweight dining car of a fast-rolling passenger train on the CNO&TP. A hint of coal smoke wafts back by your window as you take another bite of succulent steak, and watch the Kentucky countryside as you pass on your way to New Orleans. Life is definitely good!

[E.M. Bell]

I have never been much of a collector of RR stuff (except for hats), but that is a fine piece! Anything marked from the CNO&TP, CSRY, or the Q&C is fairly rare to find.

Ron, the Q&C logo is still intact in the entryway of the Danville Depot. Its done in tile, and despite the countless number of folks that have walked over it, is still in pretty good shape (or was the last time I was in there)..  If that building ever gets torn down, I think I might try to buy that hunk of floor for our house  

[Ponce de Leon]

I have never been much of a collector of RR stuff (except for hats), but that is a fine piece! Anything marked from the CNO&TP, CSRY, or the Q&C is fairly rare to find.

Ron, the Q&C logo is still intact in the entryway of the Danville Depot. Its done in tile, and despite the countless number of folks that have walked over it, is still in pretty good shape (or was the last time I was in there)..  If that building ever gets torn down, I think I might try to buy that hunk of floor for our house  

I'm glad it still exists! I remember the first time I walked into that building (in 1968), I immediately noticed it and thought: "Wow!"

[nsrlink]

I wanted to publicly say thanks to those who have commented on & off forum on the Coffee Pot.  Gotta say BIG THANKS to Ron for some great info he PM-ed me.  I appreciate it!!