Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Steam Roster (Post 1900)

Published: October 12, 2026

The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis ran a Consolidation longer than the grade charts suggested it should. Eight-coupled freight power, a small fleet of Mikados after 1915, and 25 4-8-4s at the end: that was the modern steam the Dixie Line owned. The last steam run was January 4, 1953, when class H7 Consolidation No. 406 brought the Union City, Tennessee, branch freight into Bruceton.

Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis 4-8-4 468 in Atlanta GA

Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 4-8-4 #468 lays over in Atlanta, Georgia, circa 1950. C.C. Grayson photo.

The class grid is the post-1900 roster in George H. Drury’s Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, pages 226–227. Charles B. Castner wrote the chapter. The company history is the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis. Diesels are the diesel roster.

On this page: At a glance · Consolidations and switchers · Mikados, Decapods, and Mallets · Ten-Wheelers, Pacifics, and the Dixies · Roster built since 1900

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis. Mark NCSTL. Company page: Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis
This roster	Engines built since 1900, after Drury, pages 226–227. The quantity column totals 229
Freight	Consolidations H5-29 through H9-46. 51 Mikados. Five Russian Decapods. Three compound 2-8-8-2s
Passenger and dual service	Sixteen Ten-Wheelers in G6, G7, and G8. Twenty Pacifics. Thirteen J1 Mountains. Twenty-five 4-8-4s
Switchers	Six-wheel and eight-wheel engines rebuilt from Consolidations, classes C1-28 and C2-40, plus two B2-29s
Last steam	January 4, 1953. H7 No. 406, into Bruceton with the Union City branch freight
Preserved	J3 4-8-4 No. 576, donated to Nashville in 1953. Nashville Steam is restoring it

Roster follows Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives (revised edition), pages 226–227. Information compiled October 12, 2026.

Consolidations first, then the engines rebuilt from them

After 1900 the freight engine was a 2-8-0. Baldwin delivered 24 class H5-29s, numbers 350–373, in 1899–1901: 56-inch drivers, long straight boilers, and the firebox down between the drivers. One of the 24 was a Camelback, with a modified Wootten firebox laid out to burn slack coal. It later received a conventional firebox. The grid’s built cell on the H5s reads 1899–1901, and the retirement reads 1934–1950.

Between 1903 and 1907 Baldwin delivered 51 heavier Consolidations in the H6, H7, and H8 classes, with wider fireboxes carried over the rear drivers. The H6s and H7s had 56-inch drivers. Five H8s had 50-inch drivers and were bought for pusher service on Cumberland Mountain. The ten H9-46s of 1911, numbers 450–459, were the strongest of the type on the roster: 56-inch drivers and 46,000 pounds of tractive effort. In the 1920s the Nashville shops gave many H6s and H7s superheaters, piston valves, power reverse, and Walschaerts gear. The Consolidations then went to branches, yards, and transfer runs. Some of them were still at work when the diesels arrived.

The grid splits the H7s into H7B37 numbers 410–419, built in 1907, and two H7C-40 blocks, 400–409 and 384–399. The note on 410–419 reads “Some rebuilt to H7C-40.” No. 406, the engine that closed steam service on January 4, 1953, stands in the 400–409 block. That block’s retired cell reads 1948–1951. The cell is printed that way.

Two Brooks Consolidations, H8G-40 numbers 430 and 431, built in 1900, carry the note “Rebuilt to 0-8-0 775, 776.” The retired cell on that row is blank. The eight-wheel switchers that received those numbers are class C2-40, Brooks, 1900, retired in 1936, noted “Rebuilt from 2-8-0s in 1920 and 1919.” Four Rogers 0-6-0s, C1-28 numbers 770–773, built in 1902 and retired in 1936, are noted “Rebuilt from 2-8-0s in 1916, 1922.” The only other post-1900 six-wheel switchers on the grid are Baldwin B2-29s 60 and 61, built in 1904 and retired in 1936.

51 Mikados, five Russian Decapods, three Mallets

After 1915 a fleet of 51 Mikados took mainline freight away from the Consolidations. The first 29 were class L1-55, numbers 600–628, Baldwin 1915–1918. They had superheaters, 58-inch drivers, and Vanderbilt tenders, and they later received mechanical stokers. Crews called them Jitneys. They ranged over the whole railroad. After the Second World War they concentrated west of Nashville. The retired cell reads 1942–1950. The first of these Mikados weighed 272,000 pounds, about 20,000 pounds under a USRA light Mikado, with a high-mounted headlight, a capped stack, and a sharply tapered boiler.

Ten USRA light Mikados followed, class L2-55, numbers 650–659, from Alco’s Schenectady Works in 1918. Twelve Baldwin copies, class L2A-55, numbers 660–671, came in 1922 and 1923 with cast trailing trucks, boosters, and Vanderbilt tenders. Four of the original USRA engines later received booster-equipped cast trailing trucks. With 63-inch drivers and more boiler than the L1s, the L2s handled mainline freights through the war and finished the 1940s as Cumberland Mountain pushers. On that grade a Mikado was coupled ahead of the road engine, a J3 4-8-4 included, and it was as likely to run backward as forward. The grid marks the L2 row “USRA” and retires both L2 classes in 1951.

During the First World War the railroad acquired five Russian Decapods, class P1-51, numbers 950–954. They worked the Huntsville and Paducah branches. The builder cell reads Richmond, Baldwin, the built year is 1918, and the retirement is 1950.

Low-wheeled Ten-Wheelers and Consolidations shoved trains up Cumberland Mountain until 1915, when Baldwin delivered three compound 2-8-8-2s, class M-1-99, numbers 900–902. Each Mallet took the place of two Consolidations. Pairs of Mikados replaced the Mallets in 1945, and the 4-8-4s later took the helper job. The grid retires 900–902 in 1945.

From a compound Ten-Wheeler to the Gliders

The best of the 4-6-0s were 16 Baldwin and Rogers engines built from 1902 to 1908, classes G6-24, G7-25, and G8-29. They were of similar size, with 66-inch drivers, and they handled passenger trains in the early years of the century. The seven G8s, numbers 280–286, were four-cylinder compounds, all four cylinders driving the first axle. They were later rebuilt as two-cylinder simple engines and shifted to Nashville–Memphis service around the First World War. The built cell reads 1906, 1908. The G6s, 250–254, are retired in 1945–1949. The G7s, 270–273, are retired in 1936.

In 1909 Baldwin delivered a final four Ten-Wheelers. They steamed poorly, went back to Philadelphia in 1912, and returned as the railroad’s first Pacifics, class K1-34, numbers 500–503. The grid’s note on that row reads “Rebuilt from 4-6-2, 1912,” and the retirement is 1942–1948. Eight lighter Pacifics, class K1A-37, numbers 504–511, came from Baldwin in 1915 for Atlanta Division trains: 69-inch drivers and 237,000 pounds.

Eight class K2 Pacifics, numbers 530–537, Baldwin 1912 and 1913, had larger boilers and 72-inch drivers and took the Chattanooga Division. No. 535 was christened Marie, for the daughter of a former engineer. The K2s later received mechanical stokers and feedwater heaters. Nos. 535 and 536 were streamlined, 536 for the Dixie Flagler in 1940 and 535 for the City of Memphis in 1947. No. 535 was rebuilt with cast cylinders, roller bearings, and a 12-wheel tender. For several years it averaged 14,000 miles a month on the daily round trip between Memphis and Nashville. The K2 retired cell reads 1949–1951.

The dual-service Mountains were 13 class J1-54 engines, numbers 550–562, from Richmond and Baldwin between 1919 and 1925. The grid retires them in 1949–1950.

The 25 4-8-4s were the only modern steam the railroad bought. Five class J2-57s, numbers 565–569, came from Schenectady in 1930. They were among the lightest of the type, 381,000 pounds as built, and they were the only NC&StL 4-8-4s with outside lead-truck journals. Crews called them the Gliders. Twenty class J3-57s, numbers 570–589, followed from Schenectady in 1942 and 1943. The railroad’s name for the 4-8-4 was Dixie. The J2 retired cell reads 1951. The J3 cell reads 1951–1952.

By 1947 well over half the locomotives were more than 30 years old. F3s arrived in 1948 and 1949. On the Nashville–Atlanta runs the new power nearly doubled the steam tonnage rating, and by 1951 most mainline trains were diesel. The railroad was fully dieselized in 1953. J3 No. 576 was given to the city of Nashville that year and placed on display in Centennial Park. Nashville Steam moved the engine out of the park in 2019 and is restoring it at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. A stationary steam test was completed on July 16, 2026. The restoration is the subject of NC&StL No. 576.

Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis steam locomotives built since 1900

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Retired	Notes
0-6-0	B2-29	60, 61	2	Baldwin	1904	1936
0-6-0	C1-28	770–773	4	Rogers	1902	1936	Rebuilt from 2-8-0s in 1916, 1922
0-8-0	C2-40	775, 776	2	Brooks	1900	1936	Rebuilt from 2-8-0s in 1920 and 1919
2-8-0	H5-29	350–373	24	Baldwin	1899–1901	1934–1950
2-8-0	H6A-39	374–383	10	Baldwin	1902–1903	1946–1952
2-8-0	H7B37	410–419	10	Baldwin	1907	1947–1952	Some rebuilt to H7C-40
2-8-0	H7C-40	400–409	10	Baldwin	1904–1907	1948–1951
2-8-0	H7C-40	384–399	16	Baldwin	1903–1904	1948–1951
2-8-0	H8C-44	420–424	5	Baldwin	1904–1906	1948–1951
2-8-0	H8G-40	430, 431	2	Brooks	1900		Rebuilt to 0-8-0 775, 776
2-8-0	H9-46	450–459	10	Baldwin	1911	1950–1953
2-8-2	L1-55	600–628	29	Baldwin	1915–1918	1942–1950
2-8-2	L2-55	650–659	10	Schenectady	1918	1951	USRA
2-8-2	L2A-55	660–671	12	Baldwin	1922–1923	1951
2-10-0	P1-51	950–954	5	Richmond, Baldwin	1918	1950	Russian Decapod
2-8-8-2	M-1-99	900–902	3	Baldwin	1915	1945
4-4-0	D0-20	50	1	Baldwin	1902	1934	Ex-Georgia RR 35
4-6-0	G6-24	250–254	5	Baldwin	1902	1945–1949
4-6-0	G7-25	270–273	4	Rogers	1904	1936
4-6-0	G8-29	280–286	7	Baldwin	1906, 1908	1947–1949
4-6-2	K1-34	500–503	4	Baldwin	1909	1942–1948	Rebuilt from 4-6-2, 1912
4-6-2	K1A-37	504–511	8	Baldwin	1915	1948
4-6-2	K2	530–537	8	Baldwin	1912–1913	1949–1951
4-8-2	J1-54	550–562	13	Richmond, Baldwin	1919–1925	1949–1950
4-8-4	J2-57	565–569	5	Schenectady	1930	1951
4-8-4	J3-57	570–589	20	Schenectady	1942–1943	1951–1952

Sources

George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, pages 226–227. Chapter by Charles B. Castner. The class grid and the service history on this page follow that chapter.
Nashville Steam Preservation Society, for the 2019 move of No. 576 from Centennial Park, the restoration at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum, and the stationary steam test announced July 16, 2026.

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