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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Reporting mark | NC&StL |
| Locale | Kentucky,Tennessee,Alabama,Georgia |
| Dates of operation | 1851–1957 |
| Predecessor | Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad |
| Successor | Louisville and Nashville Railroad |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Previous gauge | 5 ft (1,524 mm) and4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm)[1] |
| Length | 1900: 1,189 miles (1,914 km) |
TheNashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (reporting markNC&StL) was arailway company that operated in the U.S. states ofKentucky,Tennessee,Alabama, andGeorgia. It began as theNashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered inNashville on December 11, 1845, built to5 ft (1,524 mm)gauge[2] and was the firstrailway to operate in the state of Tennessee.[3]By the turn of the twentieth century, theNC&StL grew into one of the most importantrailway systems in thesouthern United States.[4]: iii, Dedication
The Nashville & Chattanooga Railway, predecessor to the NC&StL Railway, was organized in 1848 by a group of prominent Nashville businessmen. The line's first president wasVernon K. Stevenson, who was connected to wealth from the Grundy and Bass families of Nashville and was a vigorous promotor of a line between Nashville and Chattanooga; he would serve for 16 years. The first locomotive in Nashville arrived in December 1850 on thesteamboatBeauty along with 13 freight cars and one passenger car. The train made its first trip the following spring: 11 miles (18 km) toAntioch, Tennessee. It took nine years to complete the 150 miles (240 km) of line between Nashville and Chattanooga,[3] made difficult by the steep elevations of theHighland Rim andCumberland Plateau between them. The 2,228-foot (679 m)Cowan Tunnel nearCowan, Tennessee, was considered an engineering marvel of the time.[3] Due to terrain difficulties, the rail line crossed into Alabama and Georgia for short distances. Towns sprang up during construction, includingTullahoma andEstill Springs.
During theCivil War, the rail line was strategic to both theUnion andConfederate armies. The Tennessee campaigns of 1862 and 1863 saw Union troops force the Confederates from Nashville all the way toChattanooga, down the line of the railroad. The tracks and bridges were repeatedly damaged and repaired, and the rolling stock was largely destroyed. At different times the trains carried supplies for both armies. In 1885, the railroad successfully defended itself before the Supreme Court inNashville, C. & St. L. R. Co. v. United States from repaying postage payments for mail in 1861 that was not delivered because of the war.
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After the war, the company purchased theNashville and Northwestern Railroad[5] and theHickman and Obion Railroad toHickman, Kentucky, to reach theMississippi River. In 1873, it was reincorporated as the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (NC&StL); the company's tracks never actually reachedSt. Louis, Missouri, in the north. In early 1877, the NC&StL bought the bankruptTennessee and Pacific Railroad from the state government and operated it as a connection toLebanon, Tennessee.
The company also took full control of theDuck River Valley Narrow Gauge Railway in 1888, converting it tostandard gauge the following year. It had already leased the line, which linkedColumbia,Lewisburg, andFayetteville, Tennessee from its owners in 1879, when they had difficulty completing the final stretch into Fayetteville.
The railroad's only heavy repair shops for locomotives and cars were located inNashville, Tennessee. The first roundhouse and machine shop were built in 1850, which were expanded by Confederate troops during the Civil War. By 1888 the shops had become obsolete and inadequate, so they were moved to a larger tract of land two miles west, below Charlotte Avenue. The new shops featured a full-circle roundhouse and a dozen shop buildings served by two transfer tables.[6]
TheLouisville and Nashville Railroad, an aggressive competitor of the NC&StL, gained a controlling interest in 1880 through a hostile stock takeover that caused much rancor between the cities of Nashville and Louisville.[7]However, the railroads continued to operate separately until finally merging in 1957.[8] The company gave up steam operations in 1953. After the 1880 takeover, the NC&StL acquired branch lines in Kentucky and Alabama, and expanded from Nashville to Memphis. In 1890 the tracks reachedAtlanta, Georgia, by leasing the state-ownedWestern and Atlantic Railroad.[4]: List of Branches in Order of Their Acquisition
In 1902, the L&N was acquired by theAtlantic Coast Line Railroad in a takeover similar to that of the NC&StL, but continued to operate as a separate company. In 1982, the L&N's corporate existence ended when it was merged into ACL's successor, theSeaboard System Railroad. After several other mergers, in 1986 the Seaboard System was renamedCSX Transportation, which continues to use the original NC&StL route between Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. Other portions of the system, such as the route to Hickman, have been abandoned.
At the end of 1925 NC&StL operated 1,259 miles of road on 1,859 miles of track; at the end of 1956, mileages were 1,043 and 1,791.
| Year | Traffic |
|---|---|
| 1925 | 1306 |
| 1933 | 851 |
| 1944 | 2766 |
| 1956 | 2073 |
| Year | Traffic |
|---|---|
| 1925 | 141 |
| 1933 | 41 |
| 1944 | 376 |
| 1956 | 52 |
The railroad's named passenger trains included:
The railroad came to be advertised as the "Dixie Line", beginning in the 1920s.[9] The railroad also operated theQuickstep (name dropped before 1910, then known as Nos. 3 and 4),Georgian,City of Memphis,Volunteer, an unnamed night train (formerly theMemphis Limited), a Nashville-Hickman local, plus a through sleeping car from theTennessean on Nos. 3 and 4, a Chicago-to-Augusta, Georgia, train. Another part of the train split at Chattanooga and continued as aSouthern Railway operation through eastern Tennessee, and onward to Washington and the Northeast Corridor.[10]
The railroad also operated unnamed trains between Nashville and Atlanta via Chattanooga, between Memphis andPaducah, Kentucky, betweenDickson andHohenwald, between Nashville andHickman, Kentucky, viaUnion City, betweenDecherd andHuntsville, Alabama, and other short routes.[11]
Two4-4-0 locomotives from the NC&StL's predecessor road, the Western and Atlantic are on display in museums:The General andThe Texas are in the Atlanta suburbs ofKennesaw andBuckhead.
In 1953, the NC&StL donated its last steam engine,No. 576, to the city of Nashville. Originally known as aYellow Jacket, theJ3-57-class4-8-4 locomotive was manufactured by theAmerican Locomotive Company ("Alco") in 1942. The NC&StL referred to their 4-8-4s asDixies, while most other railroads called themNortherns. It has been on display inCentennial Park since then. In 2016, the city of Nashville allowed the Nashville Steam Preservation Society to take out a 23-year renewable lease on the locomotive. The locomotive is currently at theTennessee Central Railway Museum under restoration to working order and use for weekend excursion runs from downtown Nashville east to Watertown.[12]
Two other NC&StL steamers survive, 0-4-0Ts that used to work in the shops. They are stored in Taylorsville and are in either private ownership or abandoned. They appear to still have yellow-painted handrails.
In 2004, a former NC&StLEMD GP7diesel locomotive, No. 710, was restored to its original paint scheme by theTennessee Valley Railroad Museum. The TVRM also has the tail car from the city of Memphis on display at its Grand Junction Yard in Chattanooga and an EMD F7A No. 814 in storage.
In 2007, Huntsville terminal switcher No. 100, a former NC&StL GE 44-ton Diesel (1950) was moved fromMt. Pleasant to the Cowan Railroad Museum inCowan. Though subsequently an L&N engine (number 3100), she was cosmetically restored to original scheme and number. In the process, the locomotive was found to be runnable. It is important as the first transistorized remote-control locomotive in the U.S. (converted in 1962).
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