Steam Locomotives

The steam passenger locomotives of the Southern Railway are probably best remembered for their bright colors of green, gold and silver. Freight and switch engines were also known for their well kept look. However, even though a pleasing appearance made a favorable impression upon the public, something more than just paint was required to produce efficient steam power. Unlike many other American railroads, the newest steam locomotive that the Southern owned was built for the company in 1928, prior to the days of the railroad roller bearing and cast steel bed frame. Although hardly considered modern by later steam standards, the motive power of the Southern was among the best maintained in this country. To sum this up in one sentence: "The Southern took pride in its steam locomotives."

Richard Prince

The banking house of J. P. Morgan coerced two financially hyper-extended railroads to combine on July 1, 1894, to form the Southern Railway. Although the Southern system ultimately comprised dozens of subsidiaries and affiliates, its two fundamental components were the Richmond & Danville and the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia. By 1918 the Southern either owned or controlled over 8,000 miles of railroad spanning the Southeast, from Cincinnati and St. Louis to Jacksonville, and from Washington to Memphis and New Orleans.

Southern's heart and soul lay in the Piedmont Plateau and the Appalachians. This meant grades — lots of them — nearly everywhere. The Washington-Atlanta main line, for example, followed the Appalachian foothills nearly its entire distance, slicing across dozens of watersheds. Other main lines zig-zagged through the mountains to reach operating and traffic centers such as Asheville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The financial frailty of Southern's predecessors meant that most lines were cheaply constructed. This meant curves.

Until well after World War II, the Southeast lagged behind the rest of the country in economic and population growth. About the only good thing the Southern had going for it during the steam era was the availability of inexpensive labor. This, combined with the railway's conservative, paternalistic management, meant that its operation favored relatively simple motive power. Besides, except on the main trunks, delicate bridges and light rail imposed weight restrictions.

The steam locomotives of the Southern family were a mix of antiques inherited from predecessors and basic workaday engines of conservative design, the newest of which was built in 1928. Except for a modest fleet of 2-8-8-2s, the largest locomotives were World War I-era 2-10-2s. By the time the economy improved, Southern had a new management which decided that superannuated motive power and difficult operating characteristics were great reasons to give diesel-electric locomotives a try. The first diesels — six Fairbanks-Morse power cars for local passenger schedules — were placed in operation in 1939. Fourteen years later the Southern was all-diesel, the largest railroad up to that time to completely dieselize.

In general, Southern numbered its steam locomotives according to the owning company:

Dale Roberts and Bill Schafer / Guide to North American Steam Locomotives