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41-678: Six units, accompanied by matching trailing car sets, were manufactured exclusively for the Southern Railway . Two were later sold to the Georgia and Florida Railroad and Georgia Northern Railway as maintenance cars. The remaining four OP800s were scrapped in 1955; selected parts were retained for maintenance use on other SR F-M motive power. At least four of these cars had individual names applied to them, including "Vulcan", "Cracker", "Joe Wheeler", and "Goldenrod" . No OP800 units survive. This diesel locomotive-related article

82-415: A point near Morganton, North Carolina , and Old Fort, North Carolina , in 1869. Five-hundred African Americans were assigned to provide back breaking labor through Convict lease which was a near continuation of slavery as charges were often only applied to people of African descent. Men were shipped to and from the worksite in iron shackles. Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Eastern Division

123-504: A point near Morganton, North Carolina , between 1858 and 1863. The Western North Carolina Railroad was halted because of resistance from voters. Voters were angry about that law allowed purchasers of private bonds, that paid one third of the cost, to have the trains veer to their towns. The provision of the laws that allowed this was not repealed until Reconstruction , after the Civil War . Charles F. Fisher , later Colonel commanding

164-697: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Southern Railway (U.S.) The Southern Railway (also known as Southern Railway Company ; reporting mark SOU ) was a class 1 railroad based in the Southern United States between 1894 and 1982, when it merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) to form the Norfolk Southern Railway . The railroad was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in

205-584: The 6th North Carolina Regiment , who was killed leading a charge on a Union Army battery at the First Battle of Bull Run , had the initial contract to construct the line. Western North Carolina Railroad Company's charter was amended by act of North Carolina, August 19, 1868, which divided the company's property between Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Eastern Division and Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Western Division. Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Eastern Division acquired

246-638: The Civil War . The Battle of Shiloh , the Siege of Corinth and the Second Battle of Corinth in 1862 were motivated by the importance of the Memphis and Charleston line, the only east–west rail link across the Confederacy . The Chickamauga Campaign for Chattanooga, Tennessee , was also motivated by the importance of its rail connections to the Memphis and Charleston and other lines. Also, in 1862,

287-619: The Louisville and Nashville Railroad . A decade later Crane tried to rectify the situation by merging with the Illinois Central Railroad . When that failed, he petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to give Southern the old Monon routes and the old Atlantic Coast Line route from Jacksonville to Tampa by way of Orlando among other properties as a condition of the I.C.C.'s approval of

328-651: The Richmond and York River Railroad , which operated from the Pamunkey River at West Point, Virginia , to Richmond, Virginia , was a major focus of George McClellan's Peninsular Campaign , which culminated in the Seven Days Battles and devastated the tiny rail link. Late in the war, the Richmond and Danville Railroad was the Confederacy's last link to Richmond, and transported Jefferson Davis and his cabinet to Danville, Virginia , just before

369-665: The Seaboard Coast Line until its discontinuation in 1971. When Amtrak took over most intercity rail service in 1971, Southern initially opted out of turning over its passenger routes to the new organization. However, it shared operation of its flagship train, the New Orleans–New York Southern Crescent , with Amtrak. Under a longstanding haulage agreement inherited from Penn Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad , Amtrak carried

410-667: The Western North Carolina Railroad . Men were shipped to and from the worksite in iron shackles and around twenty were drowned in the Tuckasegee River weighted down by their shackles. In the area along the Ohio River and Mississippi River , construction of new railroads continued throughout Reconstruction . The Richmond and Danville System expanded throughout the South during this period, but

451-491: The 1,822-foot Swannanoa Tunnel, which one report said cost the lives of 23 prisoners. The first train, the Salisbury , weighed seventeen tons and was pulled using ropes by convicts who laid track in front of it. Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 2) was sold at foreclosure, April 27, 1880, and conveyed to Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 3) on May 27, 1880. Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 3)

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492-588: The 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894. At the end of 1971, the Southern operated 6,026 miles (9,698 km) of railroad, not including its Class I subsidiaries Alabama Great Southern (528 miles or 850 km); Central of Georgia (1729 miles); Savannah & Atlanta (167 miles); Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (415 miles); Georgia Southern & Florida (454 miles); and twelve Class II subsidiaries. That year,

533-526: The 1982 merger with the Norfolk and Western to form the Norfolk Southern, through increased operating costs and concerns ended the program in 1994. Norfolk Southern reinstated the steam program on a limited basis from 2011 to 2015, as the 21st Century Steam program. In the early 2000s, a 22-mile (35 km) loop of former Southern Railway right-of-way encircling central Atlanta neighborhoods

574-679: The Norfolk Southern Railway. The railroad has used that name since. The pioneering South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company , Southern's earliest predecessor line and one of the first railroads in the United States , was chartered on December 19, 1827, and ran the nation's first regularly scheduled steam-powered passenger train – the wood-burning Best Friend of Charleston – over a six-mile section out of Charleston, South Carolina , on December 25, 1830. By October 1833, its 136-mile line to Hamburg, South Carolina ,

615-568: The Norfolk and Western Railway in 1980 to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation . The Norfolk Southern Corporation was created in response to the creation of the rival CSX Corporation by a number of railroads in the eastern United States (adopting the name CSX Transportation for its rail system in 1986). Southern and N&W continued as operating companies of Norfolk Southern until in 1982, when Norfolk Southern merged nearly all of N&W's operations into Southern to form

656-519: The Richmond Terminal Reorganization Committee obtained control of the company. Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 3) constructed 49.6 miles (79.8 km) of railroad line between Azalea, North Carolina, and Paint Rock, North Carolina , in 1882 and 122.6 miles (197.3 km) of railroad line between Asheville, North Carolina , and Murphy, North Carolina , in 1882–1890. The construction work

697-616: The Seaboard Coast Line – Chessie System merger in 1979. While the request was supported by the I.C.C.'s Enforcement Bureau, it was ultimately unsuccessful. In response to the creation of the CSX Corporation in November 1980, the Southern Railway joined forces with the Norfolk and Western Railway and formed the Norfolk Southern Corporation in 1980 which began operations in 1982, further consolidating railroads in

738-572: The Southern Railway leased most of its Bluemont, Virginia , branch to the newly formed Washington and Old Dominion Railway . In 1945, the Southern sold most of the remnant of the branch to the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad , the successor to the Washington and Old Dominion Railway. The Central of Georgia became part of the system in 1963, and the former Norfolk Southern Railway was acquired in 1974. Despite these small acquisitions,

779-597: The Southern disdained the merger trend when it swept the railroad industry in the 1960s, choosing to remain a regional carrier. In 1978 President L. Stanley Crane said the refusal to add routes through merger was a mistake, especially the decision not to add a connecting route to Chicago. The Southern tried to gain access to Chicago by targeting the Monon Railroad and the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad but both those railroads went to Southern's competitor,

820-435: The Southern itself reported 26,111 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 110 million passenger-miles. Alabama Great Southern reported 3,854 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 11 million passenger-miles; Central of Georgia 3,595 and 17; Savannah & Atlanta 140 and 0; Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway 4906 and 0.3; and Georgia Southern & Florida 1,431 and 0.3. The railroad joined forces with

861-493: The eastern half of the United States. The Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway as the Norfolk and Western Railway became a subsidiary to its system on June 1, 1982. The railroad then acquired more than half of Conrail on June 1, 1999. Southern and its predecessors were responsible for many firsts in the industry. Starting in 1833, its predecessor, the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road ,

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902-517: The existing 76 miles (122 km) of railroad line. Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Western Division acquired the franchise to build a railroad line from the French Broad River to Paint Rock, Alabama , and Ducktown, Tennessee , but did not complete construction of any part of the proposed railroad line. Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Eastern Division constructed 35.1 miles (56.5 km) of railroad line between

943-470: The fall of Richmond in April 1865. Known as the "First Railroad War", the Civil War left the South's railroads and economy devastated. Most of the railroads, however, were repaired, reorganized and operated again. Convict lease was a near continuation of slavery as charges were often only applied to people of African descent. Five-hundred African Americans were assigned to provide back breaking labor on

984-442: The northwest side of the city and renamed Coster. The 1850s-era Atlanta , Georgia shops were moved to the south side of the city in 1883. These were originally called South Shops but later renamed to Pegram. In 1907 a new terminal with medium repair capabilities was added to the north side of Atlanta. The modern and complete Spencer Shops, located 2.5 miles north of Salisbury, North Carolina , were opened in 1896. Another new shop site

1025-684: The rest was held through leases, operating agreements and stock ownership. Southern also controlled the Alabama Great Southern and the Georgia Southern and Florida , which operated separately, and it had an interest in the Central of Georgia . Additionally, the Southern Railway also agreed to lease the North Carolina Railroad Company, providing a critical connection from Virginia to the rest of

1066-573: The southeast via the Carolinas. Southern's first president, Samuel Spencer , brought more lines into Southern's organized system. During his 12-year term, the railway built new shops at Spencer, North Carolina , Knoxville, Tennessee , and Atlanta, Georgia , upgraded tracks, and purchased more equipment. He moved the company's service away from an agricultural dependence on tobacco and cotton and centered its efforts on diversifying traffic and industrial development. On November 29, 1906, Spencer

1107-494: The train north of Washington. By the late 1970s, growing revenue losses and equipment-replacement expenses convinced Southern it could not continue in the passenger business. It handed full control of its passenger routes to Amtrak in 1979. Presidents of the Southern Railway: To mark its 30th anniversary, Norfolk Southern painted 20 new locomotives with the paint schemes of predecessor railroads. GE ES44AC #8099

1148-655: Was acquired and is now the BeltLine trail. Along with its famed Crescent and Southerner , the Southern's other named passenger trains included: The Southern Railway also handled ticket sales and operations for subsidiary railroads, such as: The Southern Railway also participated in the operation of the City of Miami , which was operated by the Southern Railway over the Central of Georgia trackage from Birmingham, Alabama , to Albany, Georgia , where it traded off with

1189-660: Was active in mechanization, used helper engines , is widely credited with inventing unit trains for coal and new freight cars, and understood the power of marketing using the promotional phrase "Southern Gives a Green Light to Innovation". In 1966, a popular steam locomotive excursion program was instituted under the presidency of W. Graham Claytor Jr. , and included Southern veteran locomotives No. 630 , No. 722 , No. 4501 , and Savannah & Atlanta No. 750 along with non-Southern locomotives such as Texas & Pacific No. 610 , Canadian Pacific No. 2839 , and Chesapeake & Ohio No. 2716 . The steam program continued after

1230-404: Was completed to link both Charleston, South Carolina, and Memphis, Tennessee . The Western North Carolina Railroad was halted because voters were angry about that law allowed purchasers of private bonds to have the train tracks veer to their towns. The provision of the laws that allowed this was not repealed until Reconstruction . Rail expansion in the South was also halted with the start of

1271-708: Was consolidated with Western North Carolina Railroad Company - Eastern Division to form Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 2), which had been incorporated March 3, 1873 in anticipation of the sale of the property of the Western North Carolina Railroad Company - Eastern Division. Three-fourths of the capital stock was held by the state of North Carolina and one-fourth was held by private stockholders. Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 2) constructed 23.2 miles (37.3 km) of railroad line between Old Fort, North Carolina and Azalea, North Carolina in 1879. This included

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1312-524: Was established on the north side of Birmingham, Alabama near the Findley Yard in 1924, taking the place of two obsolete facilities. The Princeton, Indiana shops were built in 1890. After the railroad switched to diesel power, the primary repair shops were consolidated to Spencer and Pegram. The Southern Railway began dieselization in 1941, and was the largest all-diesel railroad when it retired its last steam locomotive in 1953. The Southern Railway

1353-465: Was incorporated under act of North Carolina, May 27, 1880. The Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company controlled the company through ownership of a majority of the outstanding capital stock. Mortgage bonds were issued to the State of North Carolina in partial consideration for the acquisition of the property while preferred stock was issued to the private stockholders. In July 1893,

1394-609: Was instrumental in planning and sponsoring the construction of the first leg of the railroad in 1855, then in managing it in the era after the American Civil War . The state of North Carolina helped finance, build, and operate the new railroad through subscription to $ 1.4 million of the $ 2.1 million in capital stock, which was paid for through the issuance of state bonds. The company constructed 76 miles (122 km) of 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) gauge railroad line between Salisbury, North Carolina , and

1435-408: Was killed in a train wreck. After the line from Meridian, Mississippi , to New Orleans, Louisiana , was acquired in 1916 under Southern's president Fairfax Harrison , the railroad had assembled the 8,000-mile, 13-state system that lasted for almost half a century. Additionally, Southern have operated 6,791 miles of road at the end of 1925, but its flock of subsidiaries added 1000+ more. In 1912,

1476-632: Was overextended, and came upon financial troubles in 1893, when control was lost to financier J. P. Morgan , who reorganized it into the Southern Railway System. Southern Railway came into existence in 1894 through the combination of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the Richmond and Danville system and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad . The company owned two-thirds of the 4,400 miles of line it operated, and

1517-838: Was painted in Southern Railway's green and white livery. As of May of 2023, the engine was released from the Juniata Engine shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after having been repaired from a derailment in December 2021. Western North Carolina Railroad Western North-Carolina Railroad Company was incorporated under act of North Carolina on February 15, 1855. Western North Carolina Railroad Company went through several slight changes in name and reorganizations before being sold at foreclosure on August 21, 1894, and conveyed to Southern Railway (U.S.) on August 22, 1894. Future Confederate States Army officer Samuel McDowell Tate

1558-468: Was performed by The American Construction Company, a corporation controlled by the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company. Nineteen African-American prisoners on their way to work on the Cowee Tunnel drowned in the Tuckasegee River weighted down by their shackles. Constructed for the railway finished in 1891. The property of Western North Carolina Railroad Company (No. 3)

1599-429: Was sold at foreclosure, June 22, 1875, and conveyed to the state of North Carolina, August 3, 1875. Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Western Division was sold in settlement of a judgment, July 8, 1872. After several changes in title, Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Western Division was acquired by the state of North Carolina on April 17, 1875. Western North Carolina Rail Road Company - Western Division

1640-522: Was the first to carry passengers, U.S. troops and mail on steam-powered trains and experimented with railroad lighting. They had a pine log fire on a flatcar , covered in sand, to provide light at night before inexpensive kerosene was invented for lamps. The Southern operated some of the largest heavy repair shops of any US southeastern railroad. The oldest shops were located in Knoxville , Tennessee, first built in 1855. In 1890 they were relocated to

1681-531: Was the longest in the world. The company leased enslaved African Americans from plantation owners when free white people refused to work in the swamps. The company eventually purchased 89 people to work as slaves. As railroad fever struck other Southern states, networks gradually spread across the South and even across the Appalachian Mountains . By 1857, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad

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