Locomotives of the Southern Railway
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- 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 |
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
- Personal Maps, Timetables & Memorabilia – Documents, maps and track charts that I have from the SOU and predecessor railroads
- 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 – 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
- Magazine – ‘Trains‘
- Magazine – ‘Classic Trains‘
- Website – StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website – Hawkinsrails.net
- Website – RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City
- Website – Norfolk Southern Track Charts at Multimodalways.org
- Website – TheDieselShop.us
- Website – SteamLocomotive.com
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