The Southern Railway, The Southern Serves the South

The Southern Railway, forever remembered by its famous slogan, “The Southern Serves the South – Look Ahead, Look South” (it was also known for the slogan "The Southern Gives a Green Light To Innovations"), was created from a number of smaller railroads, which merged over the years to form the Southern Railway. At its height the Southern lived up to its name quite well as the road served virtually every state south of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi River.  Perhaps the railroad’s famous green paint scheme was fitting for the railroad as it became the most respected and arguably the best managed railroad of its day before it disappeared into a merger with the Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W) in 1982 to form today’s Norfolk Southern Railway (NS).  Today, nearly all of the Southern remains an important component of NS.

The Southern had a long history of ordering its diesels with high, short hoods, even newer second-generation designs. Seen here is SD35 #3044 and two SD45s leading a freight past East Bridge Junction Tower in New Orleans during July of 1976.

The modern Southern Railway system was formed in 1894 when the Richmond & Danville and East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia railroads merged. After this initial merger the new Southern Railway began to grow through consolidations with other smaller railroads. During the Southern Railway’s final form the railroad stretched from Richmond to Florida and west to Memphis and New Orleans and would be made up of some 125 smaller railroads. The Southern Railway’s most important main line stretched from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. and was entirely double-tracked.

A major reason why the Southern Railway became so successful was because its innovative nature and sound business practices (and the company very much lived up to another slogan it used, “The Southern Gives A Green Light To Innovations”), especially in the railroad's later years. The Southern was quick to adopt new technologies that improved efficiencies such as Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) and began double-tracking lines to improve operations (it would eventually finish double-tracking its entire main line between Atlanta and Washington, D.C.). Because of its innovative nature it probably comes as no surprise that the Southern was quick to make the switch from steam to diesel locomotives as well, completely dieselizing its locomotive fleet by 1953.

Regarding the railroad’s steam locomotive fleet it rostered a wide range of wheel arrangements, from large to small. While the Southern rostered impressive power such as 2-8-8-2s to haul coal out of the mountains in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee (known as the Appalachia Division), the railroad is perhaps best known for its fleet of Ps4-class Pacifics, which were built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in 1926 and used to carry the very best passenger trains the company had to offer. The Ps4s are best remembered for their days hauling the Southern’s finest passenger train, the Crescent. They were adorned to match their trains in the company’s beautiful green, white, and gold-trimmed livery and are argued to be the most beautiful (from an aesthetic standpoint) steam locomotives ever built. Fortunately one has been saved, #1401, which today resides at the Smithsonian and is proudly on display in her original green, white, and gold-trim.

Much of what made the Southern Railway such a highly profitable railroad was its many fine business leaders. It began with Samuel Spencer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which expanded the company to much of how it looked when it merged with the Norfolk & Western in 1982. Later Ernest Norris began dieselizing the company’s fleet of motive power and Harry deButts was able to understand the future economic growth of the South, and prepared the railroad accordingly.

By the time D.W. Brosnan rose to the helm of the company it was well on its way to becoming a powerhouse in its industry. Brosnan would go on to expand the railroad in terms of new technologies and efficiencies, such as updating bottlenecks across its system and using computers for even better operations. Graham Claytor would be Southern Railway’s last president and continued operations much as his previous predecessors.

Southern Class MS 2-8-2 #4501 (coincidentally the first such Mikado the road ever owned) pulls an excursion near Lake Ponchatrain with the assistance of an FP7 during November of 1985.

In the Southern’s final days the railroad was a well-oiled machine. Even as the railroad industry hit an all-time low in the 1970s with many bankruptcies and outright liquidations (this was most prominent in the Northeast), the Southern continued to roll in profits, topping out at almost $1.8 billion in revenues in 1981, its last year as an independent company. While the company is no longer with us it will forever be remembered its famous slogans, “The Southern Serves The South” and “The Southern Gives A Green Light To Innovations,” both of which the railroad very much lived up to.

Southern Railway Diesel Locomotive Roster

For an all-time diesel locomotive roster of the Southern Railway please click here. Also, for an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the Southern Railway please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved Southern Railway diesel locomotives.

Please note that the below roster does not differentiate those units marked in Southern's predecessor roads due to the sheer number.

The American Locomotive Company

Southern Class P 4-6-2 #1374 awaits to depart Charlotte, North Carolina with its passenger train on June 4, 1940.

One of the Southern's famous and elegant Class Ps-4 Pacifics (note the white-wall wheels) leaves Chattanooga with a long passenger train on December 19, 1935.

Southern Railway Steam Locomotive Roster

For a more complete roster of Southern Railway steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving Southern Railway steam locomotives please click here. Please note that since the Southern controlled so many smaller lines its steam locomotive classes often overlap. As such, only the Southern's steam fleet is listed here.

Led by GP50 #7072 a northbound Southern freight flies over the high bridge spanning the Cumberland River near Burnside, Kentucky on May 24, 1981.

Notable Southern Railway Passenger Trains

Crescent

Pelican

Royal Palm

Southerner

Tennessean

Aiken-Augusta Special: (Washington - Salisbury - Augusta)

Asheville Special: (Washington - Greensboro - Asheville)

Birmingham Special: (Washington - Birmingham)

Carolina Special: (Cincinnati - Greensboro/Charleston)

Florida Sunbeam: (Cincinnati - Florida)

Kansas City-Florida Special: (Kansas City - Brunswick, Georgia/Florida)

Peach Queen: (Washington - Atlanta)

Piedmont Limited: (Washington - New Orleans)

Ponce de Leon: (Cincinnati - Jacksonville)

Queen & Crescent: (Cincinnati - New Orleans)

Skyland Special: (Asheville - Jacksonville)

Sunnyland: (Memphis - Atlanta)

Washington-Atlanta-New Orleans Express: (Washington - Atlanta - New Orleans)

Two Southern GP30s hustle past the historic Huntsville, Alabama depot (which dates to the Civil War) with a freight train during November of 1984.

For an excellent pictorial history of the Southern and a general history of the railroad consider the book, Southern Railway, from Tom Murray. If you have any kind of interest in the Southern this book is a must have (all of MBI's "Railroad Color History" series which feature many fallen flags do an excellent job giving a general history and featuring tons of colored pictures to enjoy). If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.