Locomotives of the Southern Railway
- Southern Home Page
- History | Maps | Locomotives
- Predecessors | SCC&RR | LC&C | ET&V | ET&G | V&T | ETV&G | VT&G Air Line | R&D | M&C | CNO&TP | V&K | BC&ING | SA&O | V&SW | BE&NC | HRR
- Passenger Trains | Asheville Special | Birmingham Special | Carolina Special | Crescent | Peach Queen | Pelican | Piedmont Limited | Ponce de Leon | Royal Palm | Southerner | Tennessean
- Cities: Bristol TN/VA
- Related Lines: Embreeville Branch | Johnson City & Carolina | Johnson City Southern
- Notable People: Dr. Samuel B. Cunningham | Samuel Spencer | W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
- Today: Norfolk Southern
- Railfan Guides: Virginia & Southwestern
- Resources & Sources: Books | Scholars-Authors | Museums | Associations | Website Editor | Site Map
- Related Websites: Rails Across the Appalachians | Clinchfield.org
Southern Railway Locomotives
Multiple Railroads, Single Locomotive Paint Scheme
The Southern Railway owned and managed quite a collection of railroads that made up its entire 10,209 miles. The largest Southern operating units were the:
- Central of Georgia
- Cincinnati, New Orleans, & Texas Pacific
- Alabama Great Southern
- Georgia Southern & Florida
The locomotives were painted in the Southern black-and-white or green-and-white design, but they also carried smaller letters that signified which operating unit to which they belonged or were assigned.
Southern Railway Diesel Roster
In order to better understand the stable of Southern Railway diesels over the years, I’ve grouped this roster by year of purchase and by type of locomotive (e.g. 4 axle cab unit, 6 axle freight hood, etc.).
| Year | Units | Make | Model | HP | Road Numbers |
| Six Axle Passenger | |||||
| 1941 | 4 | EMD | E6A | 2,000 | 2800, 2802, 2900-2903 |
| 1941 | 4 | EMD | E6B | 2,000 | 2950-2953 |
| 1941 | 2 | Alco | DL109 | 2,000 | 6400-6401 |
| 1941 | 2 | Alco | DL110 | 2,000 | 6425-6426 |
| 1946-1949 | 28 | EMD | E7A | 2,000 | 801-810, 2905-2922 |
| 1951-1953 | 19 | EMD | E8A | 2,250 | 6900-6916, 811-812 |
| 1953 | 6 | Alco | PA-2 | 2,250 | 6900-6905 |
| Four Axle Car Body | |||||
| 1942-1946 | 42 | EMD | FTA | 1,350 | 4100-4127, 400-401, 6100-6105, 6700-6701, 6800-6803 |
| 1939-1945 | 30 | EMD | FTB | 1,350 | 6150-6155, 4300-4319, 6825-6828 |
| 1946-1949 | 103 | EMD | F3A | 1,500 | 901-902, 905, 909, 4128-4206, 6106-6113, 6702-6712, 6804-6806 |
| 1946-1949 | 75 | EMD | F3B | 1,500 | 4320-4384, 6156-6159, 6750-6755, 6829 |
| 1949-1951 | 79 | EMD | F7A | 1,500 | 4207-4269, 6114-6120, 6714-6719, 6756-6758, |
| 1949-1952 | 68 | EMD | F7B | 1,500 | 4386-4429, 6160-6183 |
| 1950 | 20 | EMD | FP-7 | 1,500 | 6130-6149 |
| Four Axle Freight Hood | |||||
| 1948-1949 | 8 | Alco | RS2 | 1,500 | 1-2, 1-4, 6206-6207 |
| 1950-1956 | 104 | Alco | RS3 | 1,600 | 1-2, 5-10, 30-39, 110-159, 6210-6239, 6875-6882 |
| 1950 | 4 | EMD | GP7 | 1,500 | 6200-6201, 6542, 6544 |
| 1951 | 1 | Alco | RS1 | 1,000 | 405 |
| 1955-1957 | 25 | EMD | GP9 | 1,750 | 6246-6268, 6898-6899 |
| 1950-1955 | 11 | FM | H16-44 | 1,600 | 6300-6304, 6545-6550 |
| 1956 | 1 | Alco | RS11 | 1,800 | 11 |
| 1960-1963 | 23 | EMD | GP18 | 1,800 | 171-176, 179-196 |
| 1963 | 120 | EMD | GP30 | 2,250 | 2525-2644 |
| 1963-1965 | 76 | EMD | GP35 | 2,500 | 2645-2715, 210-214 |
| 1966-1970 | 115 | EMD | GP38 | 2,000 | 2716-2822 2879-2886 |
| 1968 | 257 | EMD | GP38-2 | 2,000 | 5000-5256 |
| 1971 | 55 | EMD | GP38AC | 2,000 | 2823-2878 |
| 1980 | 6 | EMD | GP39X | 2,600 | 4600-4605 |
| Six Axle Freight Hood | |||||
| 1953 | 1 | EMD | SD7 | 1,500 | 197 |
| 1955 | 6 | EMD | SD9 | 1,750 | 198-199, 203-206 |
| 1959-1960 | 48 | EMD | SD24 | 2,400 | 2502-2524, 6305-6325, 6344-6347 |
| 1965-1966 | 110 | EMD | SD35 | 2,500 | 3000-3099, 215-224 |
| 1967-1970 | 70 | EMD | SD45 | 3,600 | 3100-3169 |
| 1971-1972 | 28 | EMD | SD40 | 3,000 | 3172-3200 |
| 1972-1979 | 127 | EMD | SD40-2 | 3,000 | 3201-3328 |
| Switchers | |||||
| 1969-1970 | 65 | EMD | SW1500 | 1,500 | 67-83, 2300-2347 |
| 1977-1982 | 88 | EMD | MP15 | 1500 | 2348-2435 |
More Southern Railway information will be added to this page and others in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any edits that should be made or any content you are willing to share by utilizing the comment form below. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in the railroads, the region, or model railroading.
Links for More Information
For those who want more detail, I highly recommend these sources and resources:
https://www.thedieselshop.us/SouRy.HTML
http://southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/diesel.html
https://hawkinsrails.net/mainlines/sou/sou_mp_cabs.htm
Southern-Railroads.org Sources and Resources
The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Southern Railway and its predecessors. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Southern-Railroads.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.
- Association: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Personal maps, timetables, track charts, and memorabilia
- Book – Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi: The Southern Railway
- Book – Graybeal: The Railroads of Johnson City
- Book – Harshaw: ‘Trains Trestles & Tunnels, Railroads of the Southern Appalachians’
- Book – Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review’
- Book – Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book – Reisweber: ‘Southern Railway Power’
- Book – Scales: Natural Tunnel, Nature’s Marvel in Stone’
- Book – Stout: ‘Southern Railway: Through Passenger Service’
- Book – Ward: ‘Southern Railway Varnish 1964-1979’
- Book – Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History’
- Book – Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Southern Railway Handbook’
- Book – Withers & Sink: ‘Southern: A Motive Power Pictorial’
- Book – Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazines – ‘Trains‘ , ‘Classic Trains‘
- Website – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website – Hawkinsrails.net
- Website – Johnson’s Depot hosted by StateOfFranklin.net
- Website – Multimodalways.org: Norfolk Southern Track Charts
- Website – RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City
- Website – SteamLocomotive.com
- Website – TheDieselShop.us
- Website – VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the Southern or Model Railroads.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
