Southern Railway Steam Roster (Post 1900)

Published: October 16, 2026

Southern steam was a Piedmont railroad’s answer to its own curves. The main line from Washington to Atlanta follows the foothills. Predecessor construction had been cheap, rail and bridges were light except on the trunks, and the company did not build its own engines. Twentieth-century orders went to Baldwin and to Alco’s Richmond Works. The newest steam was built in 1928. A small “s” after the class letter means the engine was superheated. No “s” meant slide valves and saturated steam. The table is George H. Drury’s class grid for locomotives built since 1900, in the 1903 numbering, and it includes the Alabama Great Southern, the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific, the Georgia Southern & Florida, the New Orleans & Northeastern, the New Orleans Terminal, and the St. Johns River Terminal.

Southern Railway 4-8-2 No. 1452, class Ts, on the Asheville turntable on February 8, 1950

4-8-2 No. 1452, class Ts, on the Asheville turntable, February 8, 1950, shortly before retirement. The herald is on the railing. Shelby Lowe photograph.

On this page: At a glance · Switchers · Freight · Articulateds · Passenger engines · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Southern Railway. Mark SOU. Company history
This table	Steam locomotives built since 1900, in Drury’s class order, using the 1903 numbers. Subsidiary grids follow the Southern proper
Newest steam	1928. Ms-4 Mikados, and the last Ps-4 Pacifics
Passenger engine	Ps-4 4-6-2. 73-inch drivers. 64 engines for the Southern, the CNO&TP, and the Alabama Great Southern. Virginia green from 1926. No. 1401 at the Smithsonian since 1962
Freight backbone	More than 300 K and Ks 2-8-0s. Ms Mikados, 4501–4635, Baldwin and Richmond, 1911–1914. USRA light 2-10-2s, class Ss-1, 5200–5249
Last excursion power	Ms 4501 and Ks-1 722, both green and gold, from 1966
Diesels	Six Fairbanks-Morse power cars in 1939. The railroad was all-diesel in 1953

Switchers

Records of the shop engines are incomplete. The unusual machines were the 0-4-2Ts, 0-4-4Ts, and 0-6-4Ts assigned to engine terminals, and most of them were never given a formal class. The A-1s and A-2s were light 0-6-0s inherited from predecessor roads. A-3 and A-4 were lighter 0-6-0s built after 1894. A-5 belonged to the New Orleans & Northeastern. The standard switcher before World War I was the A-7, about 150 engines, the heaviest of the type, built between 1904 and 1914. The Southern-proper row in the grid is 1615–1751, quantity 137. The subsidiaries had A-7s of their own.

Another prewar switcher was the As-10 0-8-0. Twelve were built in 1914 and 1917 by Baldwin and Lima. The USRA 0-8-0 then became the standard and took the class As-11. Twenty were assigned to the Southern during World War I. Nearly fifty more were ordered between 1918 and 1926, including orders in 1922, 1925, and 1926. The grid’s Southern-proper row is 1839–1897, quantity 59, built by Brooks, Richmond, and Lima. The CNO&TP, the Alabama Great Southern, and the New Orleans & Northeastern rostered As-11s as well. They were among the last steam retired, in 1952–1954, and they stayed in service until the end of steam where clearances were tight.

Freight

The ordinary freight engine was the Consolidation. The K and Ks classes on the Southern proper, numbers 566–883, are 318 engines built by Richmond, Baldwin, and Pittsburgh from 1903 to 1910. More than 300 K and Ks 2-8-0s is the chapter’s round figure for the type across the system. One of them, No. 753, is the book’s example of Universal valves, the piston-valve chests applied to older slide-valve engines. Engines that received only those chests kept a Ps or Ks class. Engines that received new valves and new cylinders were reclassed.

The Mikados replaced the older 2-8-0s on the through freights. Ms 4501–4635, 135 engines, Baldwin and Richmond, 1911–1914, were the first large group. Ms-1 4750–4774 followed in 1918 and 1923. Ms-4 4800–4914, 115 engines from Richmond, Schenectady, and Baldwin, were the modern mainline 2-8-2s, built 1923–1928 and retired in 1952–1954. Five USRA Santa Fes were rebuilt as Mikados and classed Ms-5 and Ms-6. The Depression stopped the program. The grid carries them as one row, Ms-6 4995–4999, quantity five, built by Brooks in 1918, and notes that 4998 is class Ms-5. There is no sixth engine.

Fifty USRA light Santa Fes, class Ss-1, numbers 5200–5249, were built by Baldwin and Richmond. Many of them worked Alexandria–Atlanta until the Ms-4 Mikados bumped them. The Ss-1 rigid wheelbase was longer than the older Ss, so the Ss-1s were ruled off the Asheville Division, and the USRA 2-10-2s worked out of Knoxville. Five Ss-1s went to the CNO&TP and one to the New Orleans & Northeastern. The older Ss class, 5000–5079, was eighty engines. One Ss ran with a 2-6-2 auxiliary tractor under the tender from 1918 to 1926. The Russian Decapods and the USA 2-8-0s assigned during World War I are the 8000–8051 number block. The grid’s two Decapod rows are 8000–8019, Richmond, 1918, and 8025–8034, Baldwin. They were reassigned after the war.

Articulateds

The articulated fleet was small, which is the point. Two 2-6-8-0s, class Ls, numbers 4002 and 4003, were Baldwin engines. The 2-8-8-2s are Ls-1 4004–4026, quantity 23, and Ls-2 4050–4058, quantity nine, both Baldwin. They were the largest power the Southern owned, and they worked the coal grades of the Appalachia Division in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The Alabama Great Southern had one 2-6-8-0 of its own, No. 6399. The year cells for the Southern articulateds are blank in the table. The crops of that part of the page shift the built and retired columns onto the neighboring rows, and the two readings do not agree.

Passenger engines

Ten Atlantics, class C, numbers 1905–1914, were built by Richmond in 1906 with 79-inch drivers, the largest drivers on any Southern steam. After the steel cars arrived they worked the Georgia lowlands, mostly Macon–Brunswick. All of them were scrapped in the Depression.

The first P-class Pacifics came in 1903, not superheated, and with slide valves. The class eventually reached about 100 engines, the last delivered in 1910. Engines that received only Universal or Economy steam chests were classed Ps. Engines that received new valve and cylinder assemblies were reclassed Ps-2. The grid’s note on Ps 1200–1250 is “Many to Ps-2,” and the Ps-2 rows themselves are 1251–1270 and 1325–1359. Twenty-five class P-1 Pacifics with 63-inch drivers were built in 1906 for mountain service, numbers 1275–1299. Four were later rebuilt with 67-inch drivers and reclassed P-5. It does not appear that any P-1 or P-5 was superheated. Most were retired in the Depression. The P-5s are not a separate row. Five ultra-light Ps-3 Pacifics were built for the New Orleans & Northeastern in 1914 and lasted until the diesels after World War II.

The Ps-4 is the engine people mean by Southern passenger power. Deliveries began in 1923 with USRA 10,000-gallon tenders. It was a modified USRA heavy Pacific: 73-inch drivers, a slightly shorter boiler, and a slightly shorter frame. The 1926 and 1928 batches have twelve-wheel tenders of 14,000 gallons. The Southern-proper row is 1366–1409, 44 engines, Schenectady, Richmond, and Baldwin, 1923–1928. The CNO&TP row is 6471–6482, twelve engines. Eight more 4-6-2s, 6684–6691, sit in the Alabama Great Southern section, built by Schenectady and Richmond. The class letters on that row were at the gutter of the page. Together the three groups are the chapter’s 64 Ps-4s. They were black until 1926. Fairfax Harrison, after London and the London & North Eastern’s green, brought Virginia green and gold leaf back. Within a few years the scheme was on passenger power from 4-8-2s to 4-4-0s. CNO&TP Ps-4s carried an odd number plate under the headlight and a Wimble smoke duct. No. 1401 has been the centerpiece of the Smithsonian’s railroad collection at the Museum of American History since 1962.

Thirty Ts-class 4-8-2s were built in 1917 for the Southern, the CNO&TP, and the Alabama Great Southern: Southern 1450–1472 is 23, CNO&TP 6490–6494 is five, and Alabama Great Southern 6695 and 6696 is two. The Ps-4s bumped them onto harder territory. In 1919 the USRA assigned 25 light Mountains, class Ts-1, numbers 1475–1499, Baldwin and Richmond. They worked Bristol–Memphis, Atlanta–Birmingham, Macon–Chattanooga, and the Asheville Division. Most were modernized through the end of World War II and, with few exceptions, wore green to the end. Five of them were later numbered 6495–6499 on the CNO&TP. The grid’s note is former Southern 1495–1498 and 1475. No. 6499 is the former 1475.

Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific 4-8-2 No. 6499, class Ts-1, at Danville, Kentucky, in May 1948

4-8-2 No. 6499, class Ts-1, at Danville, Kentucky, May 1948. One of five Mountains assigned to the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific. This engine was originally Southern 1475. William Clark photograph.

Excursions began in 1966 with Ms 4501 in green and gold, a Baldwin engine of 1911 from the 4501–4635 series, joined by Ks-1 Consolidation 722, also green and gold. The diesels had already finished the railroad’s own steam in 1953.

Roster

Columns follow the chapter: type, class, numbers, quantity, builder, year built, year retired, and notes. A blank year means the cell on that row could not be separated from the row above or below it. The quantity is the printed cell. Where a number span and a quantity do not close, both are left as they stand. Shays 4000 and 4001, two Limas of 1907, retired in 1916, close the Southern-proper list.

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Retired	Notes
Southern Railway
0-6-0	A-3	1562–1565	4	Baldwin
0-6-0	A-4	1566–1575	10	Baldwin
0-6-0	A-4	1576–1600	25	Pittsburgh
0-6-0	A-8	1601–1607	7	Baldwin
0-6-0	A-7	1615–1751	137	Baldwin, Pittsburgh, Lima			Prose: about 150 A-7s, built 1904–1914
0-8-0	As-10	1898, 1899	2	Baldwin
0-8-0	As-11	1839–1897	59	Brooks, Richmond, Lima			USRA design. Ordered 1918–1926. Retired 1952–1954
2-10-2	Ss	5000–5079	80				One engine carried a 2-6-2 tractor under the tender, 1918–1926
2-10-2	Ss-1	5200–5249	50	Baldwin, Richmond			USRA light Santa Fe, 1918. 5 to the CNO&TP, 1 to the NO&NE
2-8-0		205–219	15	Schenectady
2-8-0	H-1	251, 252	2	Richmond
2-8-0	H-1	290–312	23	Richmond
2-8-0	H-1	313–322	10	Richmond	1900	1935–1952
2-8-0	H-1	353–377	25	Baldwin	1901	1935–1952
2-8-0	H-3	323–352	30	Pittsburgh	1900	1933–1952
2-8-0	H-4	378–402	25	Baldwin	1907	1933–1954
2-8-0	I	549–552	4	Pittsburgh	1907	1935–1938
2-8-0	I	553–556	4	Baldwin	1909	1934–1935
2-8-0	J	440–454	15	Pittsburgh	1903	1933–1952
2-8-0	J	455–469	15	Richmond	1902	1935–1950
2-8-0	J	480–489	10	Baldwin	1903–1904	1934–1950
2-8-0	J	505–548	44	Pittsburgh, Baldwin	1903	1934–1951
2-8-0	J-1	403–408	6	Baldwin	1900	1933–1939
2-8-0	J-2	470–479	10	Baldwin	1902	1936–1950
2-8-0	Ks	566–883	318	Richmond, Baldwin, Pittsburgh	1903–1910	1935–1953
2-8-2	Ks-3	2500–2509	10	Richmond	1926	1952–1953
2-8-2	Ms	4501–4635	135	Baldwin, Richmond	1911–1914	1939–1953	4501 is the 1966 excursion engine
2-8-2	Ms-1	4750–4774	25	Schenectady, Richmond	1918, 1923	1951–1953
2-8-2	Ms-4	4800–4914	115	Richmond, Schenectady, Baldwin	1923–1928	1952–1954
2-8-2	Ms-6	4995–4999	5	Brooks	1918		Rebuilt from 2-10-2s. 4998 is class Ms-5
2-10-0		8000–8019	20	Richmond	1918		Russian Decapods. Reassigned after the war
2-10-0		8025–8034	10	Baldwin			Russian Decapods and USA 2-8-0s, number block 8000–8051
2-6-8-0	Ls	4002, 4003	2	Baldwin
2-8-8-2	Ls-1	4004–4026	23	Baldwin
2-8-8-2	Ls-2	4050–4058	9	Baldwin
4-4-2	C	1905–1914	10	Richmond	1906		79-inch drivers
4-6-0	F-7	915–918	4	Baldwin	1903	1933–1937
4-6-0	F-8	919–928	10	Baldwin	1907	1933–1946
4-6-0	Es-20	3458	1	Schenectady
4-6-0	F-11	1001–1040	40	Schenectady, Richmond, Baldwin
4-6-0	F-12	1051–1084	34	Baldwin, Richmond
4-6-0	F-14	1085–1112	28	Baldwin	1903–1904	1933–1947
4-6-0	F-16	1113	1	Baldwin	1914	1934
4-6-0	Fs-17	1114	1	Baldwin	1914	1947
4-6-2	Ps	1200–1250	51	Baldwin, Richmond	1903–1910	1938–1951	Many to Ps-2
4-6-2	Ps-2	1251–1270	20	Richmond, Baldwin	1911–1912	1947–1952
4-6-2	P-1	1275–1299	25	Baldwin	1906	1935–1947	63-inch drivers. Four later reclassed P-5
4-6-2	Ps	1300–1324	25	Baldwin	1910–1911	1937–1953
4-6-2	Ps-2	1325–1359	35	Richmond, Baldwin	1912–1914	1946–1951
4-6-2	Ps	1360–1365	6	Baldwin	1910	1940–1952	Ex-Georgia Southern & Florida 500–505
4-6-2	Ps-4	1366–1409	44	Schenectady, Richmond, Baldwin	1923–1928	1949–1953	73-inch drivers. 1401 at the Smithsonian since 1962
4-8-2	Ts	1450–1472	23	Baldwin	1917	1949–1953
4-8-2	Ts-1	1475–1499	25	Baldwin, Richmond	1919	1952–1953	USRA light Mountain
Shay		4000, 4001	2	Lima	1907	1916
Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific
0-6-0		6000–6012	11	Baldwin, Pittsburgh, Dickson	1900–1904	1922–1939
0-6-0	A-7	6015–6020	6	Pittsburgh, Richmond	1906–1907	1935–1948
0-8-0	As-10	6025–6028	4	Lima	1917	1952
0-8-0	As-11	6029–6033	5	Brooks	1918	1952–1954	Ex-Southern 1878–1880, 1891, 1892
0-8-0	As-11	6034–6045	10	Baldwin, Lima	1922, 1926	1952–1954
2-8-0	G-4	6101–6179	79	Rhode Island, Schenectady, Pittsburgh, Baldwin	1899–1903	1923–1934
2-8-0	Ks	6180–6229	50	Richmond, Baldwin	1905–1911	1939–1950	13 to the NO&NE
2-8-2	Ms	6250–6284	35	Baldwin	1911, 1913	1949–1953
2-8-2	Ms-1	6285–6319	35	Schenectady, Richmond	1918, 1922	1952–1953
2-8-2	Ms-4	6320–6337	18	Richmond	1926	1953–1954
2-8-2	Ms-4	6350–6374	25	Baldwin	1928	1952–1954
4-6-0		6420–6423	4	Baldwin	1903, 1906	1924, 1927
4-6-2	Ps	6450–6470	21	Richmond, Baldwin	1907–1913	1938–1951
4-6-2	Ps-4	6471–6482	12	Schenectady, Richmond	1924, 1926	1952–1953
4-8-2	Ts	6490–6494	5	Baldwin	1917	1951–1953
4-8-2	Ts-1	6495–6499	5	Richmond, Baldwin	1919	1951–1953	Ex-Southern 1495–1498, 1475. 6499 was 1475
Alabama Great Southern
0-6-0	A-9	6501, 6502	2	Baldwin	1903	1932, 1929
0-6-0	A-7	6510–6518	9	Pittsburgh, Richmond	1905–1907	1936–1949
0-8-0	As-10	6530–6533	4	Lima	1917	1952–1953
0-8-0	As-11	6534–6537	4	Lima	1926	1953–1954
2-8-0	H-7	6550–6558	9	Richmond, Baldwin	1902–1903	1924–1938
2-8-0	K	6565–6595	31	Richmond, Baldwin	1905–1909	1939–1953
2-8-0	Ks-1	6599	1	Baldwin	1909	1947
2-6-8-0	Ls	6399	1	Baldwin	1909	1935
2-8-2	Ms	6600–6611	12	Baldwin, Richmond, Lima	1913–1917	1949–1950
2-8-2	Ms-1	6612–6621	10	Richmond	1922	1952–1953
2-8-2	Ms-4	6622–6629	8	Richmond	1926	1952–1954
2-8-2	Ms-7	6630–6636	7	Baldwin, Schenectady, Lima	1911–1913	1949–1952	Ex-Erie
4-6-0		6654–6657	4	Richmond	1900, 1902	1923–1928
4-6-0		6660	1	Schenectady	1905	1932
4-6-0		6661	1	Baldwin	1906	1931
4-6-2	Ps	6675–6683	9	Baldwin, Richmond	1907, 1909	1939–1949
4-6-2		6684–6691	8	Schenectady, Richmond			Class letters at the gutter. With the 44 and the 12, these eight make the 64 Ps-4s
4-8-2	Ts-1	6692–6694	3	Baldwin
4-8-2	Ts	6695, 6696	2	Baldwin
New Orleans & Northeastern
0-6-0	A-8	6815–6826	12	Baldwin, Richmond
0-8-0	As-11	6849	1	Brooks	1918	1952
4-6-0	E-21	6875–6885	11	Baldwin
4-6-0	Es-22	6886–6888	3	Baldwin
4-6-0	Es-22	6892, 6893	2	Baldwin	1912	1940, 1948
4-6-0	Fs-21	6894, 6895	2	Baldwin	1912	1947
2-8-0	Hs-6	6898, 6899	2	Baldwin	1912	1939
2-8-0	Ks	6900–6911	12	Baldwin, Richmond	1910	1949
2-8-0	Ks	6915	1	Baldwin	1906–1911	1939–1951	Ex-CNO&TP
2-8-0	Ks	6920, 6921	2	Richmond, Baldwin	1907	1950	Ex-CNO&TP
2-8-0	Ks-4	6922–6926	5	Baldwin	1905, 1907	1951, 1950	Ex-CNO&TP
2-8-2	Ms-3	6940–6944	5	Baldwin	1914	1949–1952
New Orleans Terminal
0-6-0		7071–7077	7	Baldwin	1905	1923–1936
2-6-0		7080–7084	5	Baldwin	1905	1933–1937
Georgia Southern & Florida
4-4-0	B-14	8200–8202	3	Baldwin	1900	1928, 1932
4-4-0	B-16	8210–8213	4	Schenectady	1900–1901	1929–1934
4-6-0	Fs-11	8230–8233	4	Baldwin	1906–1907	1929–1938
4-6-0	Fs-17	8250–8257	8	Baldwin	1914–1915	1947–1949
4-6-0	Es-20	8300–8305	6	Schenectady, Baldwin	1900–1904	1928–1939
2-8-0	Ks	8330–8338	9	Baldwin	1910	1951–1952
2-8-0	Ks-1	8339–8344	6	Richmond	1912	1949–1953
0-6-0	A-7	8370–8375	6	Baldwin, Richmond	1910, 1912	1948–1953
St. Johns River Terminal
0-6-0	A-4	8550, 8551	2	Baldwin	1908, 1909	1941, 1947
0-6-0	A-7	8555, 8556	2	Baldwin, Lima	1909, 1912	1953

The company those engines ran for, from the Richmond & Danville charter of March 9, 1847, through the holding company of June 1, 1982, and the renaming of December 31, 1990, is the Southern Railway page. The Cincinnati lease is the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific. The other named lines in the grid that have their own pages are the Alabama Great Southern and the New Orleans & Northeastern. Ps-4s on the Queen & Crescent are on that train’s page. The Crescent is the flagship.

Sources

George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition. “Southern,” by Dale Roberts and Bill Schafer, pp. 294–299. The class grid and the fleet history on this page.
Richard E. Prince, Southern Railway System Steam Locomotives and Boats (Richard E. Prince, 1970; SBN 9600088-4-5).
Railroad Magazine, June 1937, p. 80; July 1938, p. 134; March 1950, p. 114.
Trains, December 1949, p. 18.
Southern Railway Historical Association, srha.net, is the society named in the chapter.

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