Before its inaugural run, the new train was christened by actress Jean Parker at Pennsylvania Station in New York City.

[2] The train succeeded the SAL's Cotton States Special, which took the same route and which like the Silver Comet left the northeast at midday and arrived at Birmingham in the late morning.

[3][4] Daily service extended from New York City via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Atlanta to Birmingham, Alabama.

[5] The consist of the Silver Comet included baggage cars, coaches, Pullman sleepers, and a dining car between New York and Birmingham, along with through coaches and Pullmans to or from Portsmouth, Virginia, connecting at Raleigh, North Carolina.

[9] Following abandonment of the Atlanta to Birmingham segment of the Silver Comet right-of-way by SAL-SCL successor CSX in 1989, portions were converted to the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama.