Overland Cruise to Florida

Driving the 1,340 miles of Highway 95 from New York to Florida is at best a tiresome two-night, nine-meal trek. It costs about $150 for a group of four. But thousands of vacationers continue to make the grim odyssey rather than opt for relatively cheap air flights, for the simple reason that a Florida holiday virtually demands an automobile, and rentals there during peak seasons are prohibitive.

Now that trip will no longer be necessary, thanks to the new Auto-Train. Modeled on the excellent auto-bearing passenger trains of Europe and Canada, the Auto-Train will begin running daily from the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Va., to Sanford, Fla., on Dec. 6. The train will carry 90 to 104 vehicles in several enclosed carrier cars for a flat fee of $190 per car and group of four passengers. It will leave the new Alexandria station at 8 p.m., stop only for brief crew changes, and arrive at 11 o'clock the following morning in Sanford, a pleasent 3 1/2-hour drive from Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Breakfast in Bed. Besides its obvious convenience, Auto-Train promises to be, well, almost half the fun. In an age when rail passengers count themselves lucky if they can get stale sandwiches and warm soft drinks, the Auto-Train will seem like Queen Elizabeth 2 on wheels. For adults, there will be cocktails and complimentary hors d'oeuvres in each of the 13 full-dome coaches. The kids will be entertained with cartoons and a G-rated movie. At 9 p.m., a sitdown buffet will be served (Beef Wellington or lobster), followed by another movie for the grownups and drinks until 3 a.m. in a lounge complete with vocalist. For an extra $40, a couple can have a compartment that includes TV set and breakfast in bed.

After just one ad (on Oct. 4) in selected Northeastern newspapers, the Auto-Train has been booked for all of December and part of January. Principal credit for the operation goes to its president, Attorney Eugene Garfield, 35, who was serving as assistant to Transportation Secretary Alan Boyd in 1969 when friends with some investment capital persuaded him to head up the project. Bankers refused the group additional money. As Garfield recalls: "The reaction we got was 'Who would start a railroad in the year 1969?' " But even as major cities like Dallas were losing rail passenger service, Garfield and his associates then turned to the public, sold 700,000 shares of common stock at $10 a share to buy equipment. Thus they are launching their operation debt-free. The Seaboard Coast Line provides the crews, maintenance and track for this lavish overland cruise.

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