Southern Railway, a predecessor of Norfolk Southern, initially opted out of Amtrak in 1971. After May 1, 1971, Amtrak inherited most of Penn Central's passenger services, including the haulage agreement for the "Southern Crescent". For a portion of the mid-1970s, Southern only operated tri-weekly between Atlanta and New Orleans, and carried a run-through Amtrak 10-6 sleeper on those days to connect to the "Sunset Limited". On occasion, when Southern deemed an Amtrak car to be short of Southern standards, it substituted a Southern sleeper in the consist. Also, one of the two dome coaches in the Southern car fleet was added for the leg south of Atlanta.