Southern Railway
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- Related: Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
Page Contents
Southern Railway
Using the great valley extending through Virginia and Tennessee, northeast to southwest, the Southern Railway and the Norfolk and Western Railway were the first railroads to enter the Central Appalachians. That rail line; made up of smaller railroads that would eventually become the Southern and the N&W initially connected Washington DC to Chattanooga TN in 1856. This first rail artery allowed the mountain region to have connections to the major cities of the Northeast and the South.
This rail line did not cross mountain ranges, but rather used valleys and rivers parallel to the mountains to Later in the 1880s, the Southern also crossed the mountain ranges north to south, from Cincinnati to Chattanooga TN.
Our sister website Southern-Railroads.org focuses on the Southern Railway and its predecessor rail lines as they existed yesterday, and also its successor, today’s Norfolk Southern.
Southern-Railroads.org Site Map
- Southern Railway – Serves the South
- Books on the Southern Railway
- Dr. Samuel B. Cunningham
- Embreeville Branch of the Southern Railway
- History of the Southern Railway
- Johnson City & Carolina Railway
- Johnson City Southern Railway
- Locomotives of the Southern Railway
- Maps of the Southern Railway
- Museums for the Southern Railway
- Norfolk Southern
- Passenger Trains of the Southern Railway
- 1952 Passenger Trains of the Southern Railway
- Asheville Special on the Southern Railway
- Birmingham Special on the Southern Railway
- Carolina Special on the Southern Railway
- Crescent on the Southern Railway
- Peach Queen on the Southern Railway
- Pelican on the Southern Railway
- Piedmont Limited on the Southern Railway
- Ponce de Leon on the Southern Railway
- Royal Palm on the Southern Railway
- Southerner on the Southern Railway
- Tennessean on the Southern Railway
- Predecessors of the Southern Railway
- Bristol Coal and Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad
- Bristol Elizabethton & North Carolina Railroad
- Cincinnati New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway
- East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad
- East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad
- Holston River Railroad
- Louisville Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad
- Memphis & Charleston Railroad
- Richmond & Danville Railroad
- South Atlantic & Ohio Railway
- South Carolina Canal & Rail Road
- Virginia & Kentucky Railroad
- Virginia & Southwestern Railway
- Virginia & Tennessee Railroad
- Virginia Tennessee & Georgia Air Line
- East Tennessee Virginia & Georgia Railroad
- Site Map
- Sandhi Kozsuch, Editor of the Southern-Railroads.org Website
For More Information – Sources and Resources
The following are wonderful resources for those interested in Appalachian Railroads. They also serve as sources of information for Appalachian-Railroads.org
- Association/Archives: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
- Book: Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book: Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi: The Southern Railway
- Book: Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’
- Book: Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’
- Book: Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’
- Book: King: ‘Clinchfield Country’
- Book: Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’
- Book: Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book: Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’
- Book: Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’
- Book: Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’
- Book: Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazine: ‘Trains‘
- Magazine: ‘Classic Trains‘
- Website: Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website: HawkinsRails.net
- Website: StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website: RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- Website: SteamLocomotive.com
- Website: WvncRails.org – North Carolina and West Virginia Railroads
- Video: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1
- Video: Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
- Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Articles: ‘Johnson City Comet‘
- Article: Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps and track charts
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.