Family Lines | Locomotives

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Family Lines System (Railroad)

Family Lines System Locomotive Roster

Below is a diesel locomotive roster for Family Lines System, organized by manufacturer and then by model. This roster includes the number of units that the Family Lines operated by each model. For further details, there are numerous websites, books, and archived reference materials that include more information on each locomotive.

The Family Lines System was a marketing umbrella under which a collection of railroads operated that were owned by the same holding company from 1972 to 1982. The Family Lines was not an operating railroad. bit it did share marketing and scheduling. Locomotives remained on the roster of their respective railroad owners.

Members of the Family Lines System

The primary members of the Family Lines were:

  • Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL)
  • Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N)
  • Clinchfield Railroad (CRR)
  • Atlanta and West Point Railroad (A&WP)
  • Georgia Railroad (GA)
  • Western Railway of Alabama (WRA), which together with the A&WP formed the “West Point Route.” 

Paint and numbering

  • Paint: A unified scheme was adopted for locomotives, consisting of a gray body with a red nose and yellow sill striping. The “Family Lines” name and logo were prominently displayed on the sides.
  • Numbering: Each locomotive retained its original owning railroad’s reporting marks (SCL, L&N, CRR, A&WP, GA, or WRA). This allowed each railroad to maintain its separate accounting and identity while projecting a unified image to customers. 

Electro-Motive Division (EMD)

  • SW7/SW9: ~100 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, L&N, and other predecessors.
    • Comments: A fleet of older EMD switchers used for yard and local service.
  • MP15DC/MP15AC: ~40 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: Some units from predecessors; many acquired new.
    • Purchased by: SCL and L&N (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: Modern switchers purchased during the Family Lines era.
  • GP7/GP9: >300 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, L&N, and other predecessors.
    • Comments: A large fleet of first-generation EMD road switchers, comprising a major portion of the combined roster.
  • GP16: 149 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL.
    • Comments: A rebuild program by the SCL from older GP7/GP9 units, these served on lighter lines.
  • GP38AC/GP38-2: >150 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL and L&N.
    • Purchased by: SCL, L&N, and CRR (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: A large, reliable fleet of second-generation EMD road switchers.
  • GP40/GP40-2: >150 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, L&N, and other predecessors.
    • Purchased by: SCL and L&N (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: Standard high-horsepower units for fast freight trains, with many GP40-2s purchased during the Family Lines era.
  • SD35: 35 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL and L&N.
    • Comments: Heavy-haul, six-axle freight units.
  • SD40/SD40-2: >200 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, L&N, and CRR.
    • Purchased by: SCL, L&N, and CRR (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: A major portion of the combined heavy freight fleet, with many SD40-2s purchased new.
  • SD45/SD45-2: ~60 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL and CRR.
    • Comments: High-horsepower, six-axle units, primarily from the SCL. 

General Electric (GE)

  • U18B: 15 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL.
    • Comments: Lighter-weight units for local freights.
  • U25B/U30B/U33B/U36B: >100 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL and L&N.
    • Comments: GE “U-boat” models from the predecessor fleets.
  • B23-7: 73 locomotives.
    • Purchased by: SCL and L&N (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: Reliable, four-axle units purchased in 1978 and 1980. The SCL received 19 units, while the L&N received 15.
  • BQ23-7: 10 locomotives.
    • Purchased by: SCL (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: A unique variant with an elongated cab, built only for the SCL.
  • C30-7: >150 locomotives.
    • Purchased by: SCL and L&N (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: Six-axle, high-horsepower freight units. The SCL acquired 71 units, while the L&N acquired 44.
  • C36-7: ~50 locomotives.
    • Purchased by: L&N (during the Family Lines era).
    • Comments: A later, more powerful six-axle GE unit. 

American Locomotive Company (ALCO)

  • C420/C628: ~45 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, ACL, and L&N.
    • Comments: Older ALCO road switchers and powerful six-axle units from the predecessor fleets. 

Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW)

  • S-12/AS-616: >100 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, ACL, and predecessors.
    • Comments: Baldwin switchers and road switchers from the predecessor fleets. 

Fairbanks-Morse (FM)

  • H16-44: 15 locomotives.
    • Inherited from: SCL, ACL, and predecessors.
    • Comments: Remnants of the FM “Hood” road switcher fleet. 

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For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org