Southern Railway: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:24, 4 March 2020

The Southern Railway (SOU), operated by the Southern Railway Company was a class 1 railroad that operated across the Southern United States from headquarters offices in Washington D.C. It was created in 1894 by financier John Pierpont Morgan with the merger of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; the Richmond and Danville system; and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad. Through further acquisitions and merger it eventually combined nearly 150 predecessor lines.

By 1971 the Southern Railway operated 6,026 miles or railroad, as well as several subsidiaries, including the class 1 Alabama Great Southern Railroad and Central of Georgia Railway that served central Alabama. That year Southern reported 26.1 billion net ton-miles of revenue freight and 110 million passenger miles.

In the Birmingham District the Southern Railway maintained a regional office in Birmingham. Originally in the Morris Block, and later in the Southern Railway Building, built in 1925 at 2201 1st Avenue North. Later the railways offices moved to the Flintridge Building in Fairfield.

It owned and operated the Birmingham Terminal Station, as well as a freight depot on the Railroad Reservation at 9 20th Street South, the massive Finley Memorial Yard north of downtown, and the Norris Yards in Irondale.

In 1980 the Southern Railway joined with the Norfolk & Western Railway to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation, which began operating as the Norfolk Southern Railroad in 1982.

History

Southern Railway presidents
Samuel Spencer	1894–1906
William Finley	1906–1913
Fairfax Harrison	1913–1937
Earnest E. Norris	1937–1951
Harry A. DeButts	1951–1962
D. William Brosnan	1962–1967
W. Graham Claytor Jr	1967–1977
L. Stanley Crane	1977–1980
Harold H. Hall	1980–1982

The origin of the Southern Railway traces to the founding of the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company, which was chartered to operate from Charleston, South Carolina in December 1827. It began railroad service on a 6-mile line in December 1830 and had extended its line 133 miles to Hamburg, South Carolina by 1833. By 1857 the Memphis & Charleston Railroad connected that line across the Appalachian Mountains. That link was severed during the Civil War, with many of the war's major battles fought to disrupt or defend rail connections which could be used to supply armies or besieged cities.

After the war's end, much of the race to rebuild the railroads was engaged in opening western rivers and the mineral district of the Southern Appalachians to Gulf Coast and Atlantic ports and markets. Labor shortages prompted some companies to exploit convicts leased from state prisons as virtual slaves. The war and Reconstruction had devastated personal and business fortunes and state treasuries in the South, so many of these rail ventures were also under-capitalized. The situation presented an opportunity for J. P. Morgan to acquire and reorganize several lines as the Southern Railroad in 1894. The railway and its subsidiaries continued to grow rapidly for the next two decades, plateauing at nearly 8,000 miles of rail across 13 states when the network reached New Orleans, Louisiana in 1916.

The 1925 Southern Railway building

Between 1939 and 1953 Southern converted all of its locomotives to diesel power, becoming the first major U.S. railway to fully retire steam locomotives. Using the slogan, "Southern Gives a Green Light to Innovation," the company has also been credited with pioneering the use of bank engines, unit trains for coal, and improved freight cars. Beginning in the 1960s, Southern also began looking backward, with a series of special passenger excursions under steam power. That program continued into the 1990s and had a brief revival in the 2010s.

The company's decision to hold its territory during the merger wave of the 1960s was later regretted, especially the failure to secure a direct connection to Chicago by purchasing the Louisville & Nashville Railroad or one of its predecessors. The company's efforts to obtain that connection in the 1970s through the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission failed.

Southern initially declined to participate in the quasi-public Amtrak passenger rail service program, considering its own offerings superior in class. Eventually the carrier succumbed to declining revenues and turned over full operation of The Crescent to Amtrak in 1979.

After passage of the 1980 Staggers Rail Act, which allowed the combination of the Chessie and Seaboard systems into CSX Transportation, the Southern Railway joined with the Norfolk & Western Railway to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation as a holding company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The Norfolk Southern Railroad began operating under that name in 1982.

In the early 2000s, a 22 mile loop of former Southern Railway right-of-way encircling central Atlanta neighborhoods was acquired and redeveloped as the BeltLine trail.

Passenger trains

The "Little Southerner" miniature train on the cover of Southern Railway's Ties magazine, July 1948

Ticket from New Orleans to Birmingham, April 1967

Southern Railway operated several passenger trains that serviced its Birmingham Terminal Station:

The Birmingham Special to New York City via Atlanta and Washington, D.C. (1909–1970)
The Southerner, New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (1941–1970)
The Southern Crescent, New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (1970–1979)
Kansas City–Florida Special from Kansas City, Missouri to Jacksonville, Florida (1911–1964)
The Pelican from New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (1950–1970)
The Piedmont Limited New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (by spur, 1899–1964)
The Queen and Crescent Limited from Cincinnati, Ohio to New Orleans, Louisiana (1926–1949)

In addition to ticketing facilities at the station and at its offices in the Transportation Building, Southern staffed a City Ticket Office in the Brown Marx Building.

References

"Our History" (2012) Norfok-Southern Railway news release - accessed March 3, 2020
"Southern Railway (U.S.)" (February 25, 2020) Wikipedia - accessed March 3, 2020
Harrison, Fairfax (1901) A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company Washington, D.C.: Southern Railway

External links

Southern Railway Historical Association website
Southern Railway at abandonedrails.com
Southern Railfan website

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:Southern Railway logo.jpg|right]]
 The '''Southern Railway''' ('''SOU'''), operated by the '''Southern Railway Company''' was a class 1 railroad that operated across the Southern United States from headquarters offices in Washington D.C. It was created in [[1894]] by financier John Pierpont Morgan with the merger of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; the Richmond and Danville system; and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad. Through further acquisitions and merger it eventually combined nearly 150 predecessor lines.
-By [[1971]] the Southern Railway operated 6,026 miles or railroad, as well as several subsidiaries, including the class 1 [[Alabama Great Southern Railroad]] and [[Central of Georgia Railway]] that served central Alabama. That year Southern reported 26.1 billion net ton-miles of revenue freight and 110 million passenger miles. In the [[Birmingham District]] the Southern Railway owned and operated the [[Birmingham Terminal Station]] downtown, as well as the massive [[Norris Yards]] in [[Irondale]].
+By [[1971]] the Southern Railway operated 6,026 miles or railroad, as well as several subsidiaries, including the class 1 [[Alabama Great Southern Railroad]] and [[Central of Georgia Railway]] that served central Alabama. That year Southern reported 26.1 billion net ton-miles of revenue freight and 110 million passenger miles.
-The Southern Railway joined with the Norfolk and Western Railway in [[1982]] to form the [[Norfolk Southern Railway|Norfolk Southern Corporation]] as a holding company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The merger was sought after passage of the 1980 Staggers Rail Act, which allowed the combination of the Chessie and [[Seaboard System Railroad|Seaboard]] systems into [[CSX Transportation]].
+In the [[Birmingham District]] the Southern Railway maintained a regional office in Birmingham. Originally in the [[Morris Block]], and later in the [[Transportation Building|Southern Railway Building]], built in [[1925]] at 2201 [[1st Avenue North (Downtown)|1st Avenue North]]. Later the railways offices moved to the [[Flintridge Building]] in [[Fairfield]].
+It owned and operated the [[Birmingham Terminal Station]], as well as a [[Southern Railway freight depot|freight depot]] on the [[Railroad Reservation]] at 9 [[20th Street South]], the massive [[Finley Yard|Finley Memorial Yard]] north of downtown, and the [[Norris Yards]] in [[Irondale]].
+In [[1980]] the Southern Railway joined with the Norfolk & Western Railway to form the [[Norfolk Southern Railway|Norfolk Southern Corporation]], which began operating as the Norfolk Southern Railroad in [[1982]].
 ==History==
+{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align: center;"
+|-
+| colspan="2" | '''Southern Railway presidents'''
+|-
+| | Samuel Spencer || 1894–1906
+|-
+| | William Finley || 1906–1913
+|-
+| |Fairfax Harrison || 1913–1937
+|-
+| |Earnest E. Norris || 1937–1951
+|-
+| |Harry A. DeButts || 1951–1962
+|-
+| |D. William Brosnan || 1962–1967
+|-
+| |W. Graham Claytor Jr || 1967–1977
+|-
+| |L. Stanley Crane || 1977–1980
+|-
+| |Harold H. Hall || 1980–1982
+|}
 The origin of the Southern Railway traces to the founding of the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company, which was chartered to operate from Charleston, South Carolina in December 1827. It began railroad service on a 6-mile line in December 1830 and had extended its line 133 miles to Hamburg, South Carolina by 1833. By [[1857]] the Memphis & Charleston Railroad connected that line across the Appalachian Mountains. That link was severed during the [[Civil War]], with many of the war's major battles fought to disrupt or defend rail connections which could be used to supply armies or besieged cities.
-After the war's end, much of the race to rebuild the railroads was engaged in opening western rivers and the [[Birmingham District|mineral district]] of the Southern Appalachians to Gulf Coast and Atlantic ports and markets. Labor shortages prompted some companies to exploit [[convict lease system|convicts leased from state prisons]] as virtual slaves. The war and [[Reconstruction]] had devastated personal and business fortunes and state treasuries in the South, so many of these rail ventures were also under-capitalized. The situation presented an opportunity for J. P. Morgan to acquire and reorganize several lines as the Southern Railroad in [[1894]].
+After the war's end, much of the race to rebuild the railroads was engaged in opening western rivers and the [[Birmingham District|mineral district]] of the Southern Appalachians to Gulf Coast and Atlantic ports and markets. Labor shortages prompted some companies to exploit [[convict lease system|convicts leased from state prisons]] as virtual slaves. The war and [[Reconstruction]] had devastated personal and business fortunes and state treasuries in the South, so many of these rail ventures were also under-capitalized. The situation presented an opportunity for J. P. Morgan to acquire and reorganize several lines as the Southern Railroad in [[1894]]. The railway and its subsidiaries continued to grow rapidly for the next two decades, plateauing at nearly 8,000 miles of rail across 13 states when the network reached New Orleans, Louisiana in [[1916]].
-<!--In [[1953]] Southern became the first major U.S. railway to retire steam locomotives entirely in favor of diesel power.
-Southern also controlled the [[Alabama Great Southern]] and the [[Georgia Southern and Florida Railway|Georgia Southern and Florida]], which operated separately, and it had an interest in the [[Central of Georgia]].<ref name=SRHA2017/> Additionally, the Southern Railway also agreed to lease the North Carolina Railroad Company, providing a critical connection from Virginia to the rest of the southeast via the Carolinas.<ref name="Commissioners1895">{{cite book|author=North Carolina. Board of Railroad Commissioners|title=Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of North Carolina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNk2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PR12|year=1895|publisher=J. Daniels, state printer|pages=IV-XIII}}</ref>
-Southern's first president, [[Samuel Spencer (railroad executive)|Samuel Spencer]], brought more lines into Southern's organized system.<ref name="Loy2004p8">{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2004|p=8}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="Loy2004p8"/> 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.<ref name="Loy2004p8"/> On November 29, 1906, Spencer was killed in a train wreck.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=November 30, 1906|title=Samuel Spencer Killed In Wreck|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/11/30/archives/samuel-spencer-killed-in-wreck-head-of-southern-railway-and-guests.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=April 20, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620154916/https://www.nytimes.com/1906/11/30/archives/samuel-spencer-killed-in-wreck-head-of-southern-railway-and-guests.html/|archivedate=June 20, 2018}}</ref>
-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.<ref name="Loy2004p8"/> Additionally, Southern have operated 6,791 miles of road at the end of 1925, but its flock of subsidiaries added 1000+ more.
-In 1912, the Southern Railway leased most of its [[Bluemont, Virginia]], branch to the newly formed [[Washington and Old Dominion Railroad#Washington and Old Dominion Railway|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.<ref>(1) {{cite book|last=Harwood|first=Herbert H., Jr.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928181826/http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198p01!.PDF|archivedate=2017-09-28|url=http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198p01!.PDF|title=Rails to the Blue Ridge: The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, 1847 – 1968 |edition=3rd |pages=45–46, 90|location=[[Fairfax Station, Virginia]]|publisher=[[NOVA Parks|Northern Virginia Parks Authority]]|date=April 2000 |oclc=44685168 |isbn=0615114539 |lccn=77104382}} ''In'' Appendix K of Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority - Pre-filed Direct Testimony of Mr. Hafner, Mr. Mcray and Mr. Simmons, November 30, 2005 (Part 5), Case No. PUE-2005-00018, [[State Corporation Commission (Virginia)|Virginia State Corporation Commission]]. Obtained in {{cite web|url=http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch#search|title=Case Docket Search|publisher=Virginia State Corporation Commission|accessdate=September 28, 2017}}<br>(2) {{cite book|last=Williams|first=Ames W.|title=The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad|page=94|location=Arlington, Virginia|publisher=[[Arlington Historical Society]]|year=1989|isbn=0926984004|oclc=20461397|ref=harv}}</ref>
+[[File:Southern Railway bldg postcard.JPG|left|thumb|200px|The 1925 [[Transportation Building|Southern Railway building]]]]
+Between [[1939]] and [[1953]] Southern converted all of its locomotives to diesel power, becoming the first major U.S. railway to fully retire steam locomotives. Using the slogan, "Southern Gives a Green Light to Innovation," the company has also been credited with pioneering the use of bank engines, unit trains for coal, and improved freight cars. Beginning in the 1960s, Southern also began looking backward, with a series of special passenger excursions under steam power. That program continued into the 1990s and had a brief revival in the 2010s.
-The [[Central of Georgia]] became part of the system in 1963, and the former [[Norfolk Southern Railway (former)|Norfolk Southern Railway]] was acquired in 1974.<ref name="Loy2004p8"/> Despite these small acquisitions, the Southern disdained the merger trend when it swept the railroad industry in the 1960s, choosing to remain a regional carrier. In 1978 President [[Stanley Crane|L. Stanley Crane]]<ref name="NAE">{{cite web|url=http://www.nae.edu/29537.aspx|title=NAE Website  - Mr. L. Stanley Crane|publisher=}}</ref><ref name="crane">''L. Stanley Crane'' (born in [[Cincinnati]], 1915) raised in Washington, lived in [[McLean, Virginia|McLean]] before moving to [[Philadelphia]] in 1981. He began his career with ''Southern Railway'' after graduating from [[The George Washington University]] with a [[chemical engineering]] degree in 1938. He worked for the railroad, except for a stint from 1959 to 1961 with the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]], until reaching the company's mandatory retirement age in 1980. ''Crane'' went to [[Conrail]] in 1981 after a distinguished career that had seen him rise to the position of CEO at the Southern Railway. He died of [[pneumonia]] on July 15, 2003, at a hospice in [[Boynton Beach, Florida|Boynton Beach]], [[Florida]]</ref> said the refusal to add routes through merger was a mistake, especially the decision not to add a connecting route to Chicago.<ref name="HOUSE1980">{{cite web |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1980-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1980-pt14-2-1.pdf|title=DEADLINE SET ON RAIL MERGER |last= |first= |date=June 30, 1980 |website=U.S.Government Publishing Office |publisher=U.S.Government Publishing Office |access-date=May 12, 2017 |quote="The purpose of the agency is to give railroads an opportunity to purchase portions of the Chessie and Seaboard systems. Cited as an example was the Southern Railroad's interest in the Louisville & Nashville line between Louisville, Ky., and Chicago, Ill. 'There may be other examples where parties have been unable to agree on specific terms such as price of properties and operational arrangements because of a failure to communicate adequately,' the agency said."}}</ref>
+The company's decision to hold its territory during the merger wave of the 1960s was later regretted, especially the failure to secure a direct connection to Chicago by purchasing the [[Louisville & Nashville Railroad]] or one of its predecessors. The company's efforts to obtain that connection in the 1970s through the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission failed.
-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, the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]].<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=March 22, 1968 |title=Monon, L&N. Roads Act to Merge|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1968/03/22/page/71/article/monon-l-n-roads-act-to-merge|work=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, Illinois|access-date=May 12, 2017}}</ref> A decade later Crane tried to rectify the situation by merging with the [[Illinois Central Railroad]].<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=July 5, 1978 |title=Southern Dreams of Chicago|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1978/07/05/page/69/article/southern-dreams-of-chicago |work=Chicago Tribune|location=Chicago, Illinois |access-date=May 12, 2017}}</ref> 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 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.<ref>April 8, 1978 {{cite news |last= |first= |date=April 8, 1978 |title=I.C.C. URGED TO SPLIT SEABOARD COAST LINE|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1978/04/08/110828112.html?pageNumber=29 |work=The New York Times|location=New York, New York|access-date=May 12, 2017}}</ref>
+Southern initially declined to participate in the quasi-public [[Amtrak]] passenger rail service program, considering its own offerings superior in class. Eventually the carrier succumbed to declining revenues and turned over full operation of [[Amtrak Crescent|The Crescent]] to Amtrak in [[1979]].
-===Becoming part of the Norfolk Southern Corporation===
+After passage of the 1980 Staggers Rail Act, which allowed the combination of the Chessie and [[Seaboard System Railroad|Seaboard]] systems into [[CSX Transportation]], the Southern Railway joined with the Norfolk & Western Railway to form the [[Norfolk Southern Railway|Norfolk Southern Corporation]] as a holding company based in Norfolk, Virginia. The Norfolk Southern Railroad began operating under that name in [[1982]].
-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 the eastern half of the United States.<ref>{{cite news|title=Southern Rail, N&|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/02/22/southern-rail-n38/d1ea6219-83be-429c-b969-282d36389830/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 22, 1982|accessdate=May 19, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519222859/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/02/22/southern-rail-n38/d1ea6219-83be-429c-b969-282d36389830/?utm_term=.080d7c348e3e|archivedate=May 19, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="NorfolkSouthernMergerFamilyTree">{{Cite web|title=Norfolk Southern merger family tree|url=http://trn.trains.com/railroads/railroad-history/2006/06/norfolk-southern-merger-family-tree|work=[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]]|date=June 2, 2006|accessdate=May 19, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719112504/http://trn.trains.com/railroads/railroad-history/2006/06/norfolk-southern-merger-family-tree|archivedate=July 19, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
-The Southern Railway was renamed [[Norfolk Southern Railway]] as the Norfolk and Western Railway became a subsidiary to its system on June 1, 1982.<ref name="NorfolkSouthernMergerFamilyTree"/><ref>{{Harvp|Davis|1985|p=165}}.</ref> The railroad then acquired more than half of [[Conrail]] on June 1, 1999.<ref name="NorfolkSouthernMergerFamilyTree"/>
+In the early 2000s, a 22 mile loop of former Southern Railway right-of-way encircling central Atlanta neighborhoods was acquired and redeveloped as the BeltLine trail.
-==Notable features==
-Southern and its predecessors were responsible for many firsts in the industry. Starting in 1833, its predecessor, the [[South Carolina Canal and Rail Road]], was the first to carry passengers, U.S. troops and mail on steam-powered trains<ref name="Brown, William H. 1871">{{cite book| chapterurl=http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/brown/chpt29.html| chapter=Chapter XXIX: Explosion of "Best Friend"| title=The History of the First Locomotives in America; From Original Documents And The Testimony Of Living Witnesses| author=Brown, William H.| year=1871| url=http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/brown/| publisher=D. Appleton and Company| location=New York| accessdate=May 28, 2008| url-status=dead| archiveurl=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011126015654/http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/brown/| archivedate=November 26, 2001}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Wolmar2010">{{cite book|author=Christian Wolmar|title=Blood, Iron, and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjauMPhk9WAC&pg=PA72|date=March 2, 2010|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-58648-851-2|page=72}}</ref>
-In 1939, the Southern Railway went under [[Dieselisation|dieselization]] and became the first major railroad in the United States to be fully converted from steam to diesel-powered locomotives in 1953.<ref name="Loy2004p8"/><ref name="Schafer2000p133">{{Harvp|Schafer|2000|p=133}}.</ref> On January 20, 1953, the last steam-powered passenger train arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee.<ref>{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2004|p=10}}.</ref> On June 17, 1953, the railroad's last steam-powered freight train arrived in Chattanooga, Tennessee.<ref>{{Harvp|Davis|1985|p=3}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2004|p=13}}.</ref> Although a handful of steam locomotives such as the As-11 class 0-8-0s and Ms-4 class 2-8-2s were in storage until 1954.
-The Southern Railway was active in mechanization, used [[bank engine]]s, is widely credited with inventing [[unit train]]s for coal and new freight cars,<ref name="Kelly2001">{{cite book|author1=Brian Solomon|author2=Patrick Yough|title=Coal Trains: The History of Railroading and Coal in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAIiJCH4Kw8C&pg=PA13|date=July 15, 2009|publisher=MBI Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-61673-137-3|page=13}}</ref> and understood the power of marketing using the promotional phrase "Southern Gives a Green Light to Innovation".<ref name="SolomonYough2009">{{cite web |url=http://ctr.trains.com/railroad-reference/operations/2001/04/selling-the-service |title=Selling the service: A look at memorable railroad slogans and heralds through the years |last=Kelly |first=John  |date=April 5, 2001 |website=Classic Trains Magazine |publisher=[[Kalmbach Publishing]] |access-date=May 16, 2017 |quote=}}</ref>
-In 1966, a popular [[steam locomotive]] excursion program was instituted under the presidency of [[W. Graham Claytor, Jr.]], and included Southern veteran locomotives [[Southern Railway 630|No. 630]], [[Southern Railway 722|No. 722]],<ref name="Loy2004p124">{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2004|p=124}}.</ref> [[Southern Railway 4501|No. 4501]], and Savannah & Atlanta No. 750 along with non-Southern locomotives such as [[Texas and Pacific 610|Texas & Pacific No. 610]],<ref name="Loy2005p114">{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2005|p=114}}.</ref> [[Royal Hudson#Southern 2839|Canadian Pacific No. 2839]],<ref name="Loy2005p123">{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2005|p=123}}.</ref> and [[Chesapeake and Ohio 2716|Chesapeake & Ohio No. 2716]].<ref name="Schafer2000p134">{{Harvp|Schafer|2000|p=134}}.</ref> The steam program continued after the 1982 merger with the Norfolk and Western to form the Norfolk Southern, through increased operating costs and concerns ended the program in 1994.<ref name="Schafer2000p134"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Phillips|first=Don|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/10/29/norfolk-southern-plans-to-end-nostalgic-steam-locomotive-program/18caf343-d584-4a5c-bde7-ed3e68cd4da1/|title=Norfolk Southern plans to end nostalgic steam locomotive program|work=The Washington Post|date=October 29, 1994|accessdate=March 11, 2017}}{{dead link|date=July 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> 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 {{convert|22|mi|km|adj=on}} loop of former Southern Railway right-of-way encircling central [[Atlanta]] neighborhoods was acquired and is now the [[BeltLine]] trail.
 ==Passenger trains==
+[[File:Little Southerner.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The "[[Little Southerner]]" miniature train on the cover of Southern Railway's ''Ties'' magazine, July 1948]]
+[[File:Railway_pass_from_New_Orleans_to_Bham.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Ticket from New Orleans to Birmingham, April 1967]]
+Southern Railway operated several passenger trains that serviced its [[Birmingham Terminal Station]]:
+* ''[[The Birmingham Special]]'' to New York City via Atlanta and Washington, D.C. (1909–1970)
+* ''[[The Southerner]]'', New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (1941–1970)
+* ''[[The Southern Crescent]]'', New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (1970–1979)
+* ''[[Kansas City–Florida Special]]'' from Kansas City, Missouri to Jacksonville, Florida (1911–1964)
+* ''[[The Pelican]]'' from New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (1950–1970)
+* ''[[The Piedmont Limited]]'' New York City to New Orleans, Louisiana (by spur, 1899–1964)
+* ''[[The Queen and Crescent Limited]]'' from Cincinnati, Ohio to New Orleans, Louisiana (1926–1949)
-Along with its famed ''[[Crescent (Amtrak)|(Southern) Crescent]]'' and ''[[Southerner (passenger train)|Southerner]]'', the Southern's other named trains included:<ref name="Schafer2000pp127-132">{{Harvp|Schafer|2000|pp=127-132}}.</ref>
+In addition to ticketing facilities at the station and at its offices in the [[Transportation Building]], Southern staffed a City Ticket Office in the [[Brown Marx Building]].
-* '''''[[Aiken-Augusta Special]]'''''
-* '''''[[Airline Belle]]'''''
-* '''''[[Asheville Special]]'''''
-* '''''[[Birmingham Special]]'''''
-* '''''[[Carolina Special]]'''''
-* '''''[[Fast Mail (Southern Railway)|Fast Mail "Old 97"]]'''''
-* '''''Florida Sunbeam'''''
-* '''''Goldenrod'''''
-* '''''[[Kansas City–Florida Special]]'''''
-* '''''Land of the Sky Special'''''
-* '''''Memphis Special'''''
-* '''''New Yorker'''''
-* '''''Peach Queen'''''
-* '''''[[Pelican (train)|Pelican]]'''''
-* '''''[[Piedmont Limited]]'''''
-* '''''[[Ponce de Leon (train)|Ponce de Leon]]'''''
-* '''''[[Queen and Crescent Limited]]'''''
-* '''''[[Royal Palm (train)|Royal Palm]]'''''
-* '''''[[Skyland Special]]'''''
-* '''''Sunnyland'''''
-* '''''[[Tennessean (train)|Tennessean]]'''''
-The Southern Railway also handled ticket sales and operations for subsidiary railroads, such as:
-* '''''[[Nancy Hanks (train)|The Nancy Hanks]]''''' (operated by Central of Georgia Railway)<ref name="Loy2004p93">{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2004|p=93}}.</ref>
-* '''''The Man O' War''''' (operated by Central of Georgia Railway)
-The Southern Railway also participated in the operation of the '''''[[City of Miami (train)|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 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 Transportation Company|Penn Central]] and the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]], Amtrak carried 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.
-==Roads owned by the Southern Railway==
-* [[Alabama Great Southern Railway]] (AGS)
-* [[Albany and Northern Railway]] (A&N)
-* [[Atlantic & Eastern Carolina Railway]] (A&EC)
-* [[Birmingham Terminal Company]]
-* [[Camp Lejeune Railroad Company]]
-* [[Carolina & North-Western Railway|Carolina and Northwestern Railway]] (C&NW)
-* [[Central of Georgia Railway]] (CofG)(CG)
-* [[Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway]] (CNO&TP)
-* [[Chattanooga Station Company]]
-* [[Chattanooga Traction Company]] (CTC)
-* [[Georgia and Florida Railroad (1926-1971)|Georgia and Florida Railroad]] (G&F)
-* [[Georgia Ashburn Sylvester and Camilla Railway]] (GAS&C)
-* [[Georgia Northern Railway]] (GANO) &mdash; acquired in 1967
-* [[Georgia Southern and Florida Railway]] (GS&F)
-* [[Interstate Railroad]] (INT)
-* [[Kentucky and Indiana Terminal Railroad]] (K&IT)
-* [[Sievern and Knoxville Railroad]]
-* [[Live Oak Perry and Gulf Railway]] (LOP&G)
-* [[Louisiana Southern Railway]] (LS)
-* [[New Orleans and North Eastern Railway]] (NO&NE)
-* [[New Orleans Terminal Company]] (NOTCO)
-* [[Norfolk Southern Railway (1942-1982)|Norfolk Southern Railway]] (NS)
-* [[Savannah and Atlanta Railway|Savannah & Atlanta Railway]] (SA)
-* [[Saint John's River Terminal Company]] (SJRT)
-* [[State University Railroad Company (54%)]]
-* [[South Georgia Railway]] (SG)
-* [[Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway]] (TA&G)
-* [[Tennessee Railway]] (TENN)
-==Major railroad yards==
-* Chattanooga, Tennessee &ndash; DeButts Yard (formerly Citico Yard)
-* Atlanta, Georgia &ndash; Inman Yard
-* Spencer, North Carolina &ndash; Spencer Yard
-* [[Birmingham, Alabama]] &ndash; Norris Yard
-* Knoxville, Tennessee &ndash; Sevier Yard
-* [[Macon, Georgia]] &ndash; Brosnan Yard<ref name="Loy2004p54">{{Harvp|Loy|Hillman|Cates|2004|p=54}}.</ref>
-* [[Sheffield, Alabama]] &ndash; Sheffield Yard
-* [[Alexandria, Virginia]] &ndash; [[Potomac Yard]]
-==Company officers==
-Presidents of the Southern Railway:
-* Samuel Spencer (1894–1906)<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gorowan.com/spencer/| title=The History of the railroad and Spencer| publisher=North Carolina Transportation Museum| accessdate=January 25, 2007| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205080337/http://www.gorowan.com/spencer| archivedate=February 5, 2007}}</ref>
-* William Finley (1906–1913)
-* [[Fairfax Harrison]] (1913–1937)
-* Earnest E. Norris (1937–1951)
-* [[Harry A. DeButts]] (1951–1962)
-* [[D. William Brosnan]] (1962–1967)
-* [[W. Graham Claytor, Jr.]] (1967–1977)<ref>{{White - America's most noteworthy railroaders}}</ref><ref>[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r103:E18MY4-295: quotes from article by journalist Don Phillips of the ''Washington Post'' in a "Tribute to W. Graham Claytor, Jr." published May, 1994]</ref>
-* [[Stanley Crane|L. Stanley Crane]]<ref name="NAE"/><ref name="crane"/> (1977–1980)
-* Harold H. Hall (1980–1982)
-==[[Heritage unit]]==
-To mark its 30th anniversary, Norfolk Southern painted 20 new locomotives with the paint schemes of predecessor railroads. [[GE ES44AC]] #8099 was painted in Southern Railway's green and white livery.<ref>[http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/the-norfolk-southern-story/heritage-locomotives.html Heritage Locomotives] Norfolk Southern</ref><ref>[http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/news/norfolk-southernsheritagelocomotives.html Norfolk Southern Heritage Locomotives] Norfolk Southern</ref>
--->
 ==References==
 * "[http://www.nscorp.com/content/nscorp/en/archived-news-release/2012-news-releases/our-history.html Our History]" (2012) Norfok-Southern Railway news release - accessed March 3, 2020
-<!--
+* "[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Railway_(U.S.) Southern Railway (U.S.)]" (February 25, 2020) ''Wikipedia'' - accessed March 3, 2020
+* Harrison, Fairfax (1901) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ&dq=mobile+and+birmingham+railroad&source=gbs_navlinks_s A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company]''  Washington, D.C.: Southern Railway
 ==External links==
-* [http://www.nscorp.com Norfolk Southern company website]
+* [http://www.srha.net/ Southern Railway Historical Association] website
-* [http://www.srha.net/ Southern Railway Historical Association] covers Southern Railway history
+* [http://www.abandonedrails.com/gallery.asp?t=2&id=457 Southern Railway] at abandonedrails.com
-* [http://www.vmt.org/ Virginia Museum of Transportation ] located in Roanoke, VA
+* [http://southern.railfan.net Southern Railfan] website
-* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026071304/http://johnsonsdepot.com/ Johnson's Depot: Railway History of Johnson City, TN]
-* [http://www.abandonedrails.com/gallery.asp?t=2&id=457 Railroad lines abandoned by the Southern Railway]
-* [http://purl.oclc.org/umarchives/MUM00010/ Annual Report of Southern Railway Company in Mississippi (MUM00010)] at The University of Mississippi.
-* [https://books.google.com/books?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ&dq=mobile+and+birmingham+railroad&source=gbs_navlinks_s Harrison, Fairfax.  ''A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company''.]  Washington, D.C.:  1901. (A Google eBook)
-* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050206090247/http://pages.ivillage.com/generaljim1/theerielackawannalimited/id19.html Norfolk Southern Railway]''. Retrieved February 22, 2005.
-* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120504083350/http://innvista.com/culture/travel/rail/namerail.htm Named Trains]
-* [http://southern.railfan.net SOUTHERN Railfan]
-* [http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/gwinnett/passenger-coach-no.-3780 Passenger Coach No. 3780] historical marker
--->
 [[Category:Southern Railway|*]]
+[[Category:1894 establishments]]
+[[Category:1982 disestablishments]]