Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis

Company History: The NC&St.L (not to be confused with NYC&St.L which is the Nickel Plate Road) dates to 1845. Before 1873 it was called the Nashville & Chattanooga and locals continued to call it “the NC” until the end.

The NC&St.L ran from Memphis east to Nashville, then southeast to Chattanooga and finally Atlanta. There were also important branches to Paducah, Kentucky where they shared ownership of a bridge across the Ohio River with the CB&Q; Columbia, Tennessee; and Huntsville and Gadsden, Alabama (a big steel center.)

In 1879, NC&St.L began buying and leasing lines to reach Evansville, Indiana then west to St. Louis. In a move typical of the era, the L&N bought 55% of NC&St.L’s stock, and transferred those lines to itself. Although operated independently, the NC&St.L would remain under the control of the L&N for the next 78 years.

NC&St.L was the middle link in “the Dixie Route” for passenger trains between Chicago (or St. Louis) and Florida. Trains such as The Dixie Flagler would travel on (from north to south) C&EI, L&N, NC&St.L (from Nashville to Atlanta), Atlanta Birmingham & Coast, Atlantic Coast Line and Florida East Coast. St. Louis trains skipped the C&EI, and some others used Central of Georgia instead of the AB&C.

On the steam front, Consolidations and Mikes handled the freight with Pacific’s and Mountains pulling passengers. Most engines were equipped with Vanderbilt tenders. The only “modern” steam was a fleet of 25 4-8-4’s, the first of that wheel arrangement in the south. NC&St.L called them “Dixies” instead of Northerns. These had semi-Vanderbilt tenders (flat sides that curved inward toward the bottom), smooth boilers, and conical smoke box fronts. The first batch had wide panels on the running boards that were painted yellow. These earned the nickname “Yellow Jackets.”

North of Chattanooga, the NC&St.L crossed the Cumberland Mountains with 2.5% grades. This required pusher service. They had a trio of 2-8-8-2’s for this but often used 2-8-0’s and Mikes. Since there was nowhere to turn power at the summit, the helpers could face in either direction. Picture a long passenger train with a Yellow Jacket on the point. Passenger trains received helpers ONLY on the head end. So a 2-8-2 couples to the front of the Yellow Jacket -nose-to-nose. The Mike then leads the train over the mountains with the Vanderbilt tender leading the way. This happened routinely.

By 1953, NC&St.L had completely dieselized with an all EMD roster. F3’s and F7’s were painted blue and silver with black roofs. Geeps and switchers were painted oxide red with yellow stripes (with the exception of some dual service geeps in blue and silver.) The first batch of GP7’s were delivered with switcher trucks. There is some argument over whether they did this to save money or weight. Later groups came with standard Blomberg trucks. The F’s were used in freight and passenger service although only the B units had steam generators so a passenger train would have at least an A and B no matter how short it was.

During the 50’s, NC&St.L was 1,043 miles long (a bit longer than Lackawanna or Montana Rail Link), had 132 diesels, 106 passenger cars and 6,800 freight cars. In 1957, they were finally merged into parent L&N.

Successor/Parent History: The Louisville and Nashville Railroad (reporting mark LN), commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.

Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the great success stories of American business. Operating under one name continuously for 132 years, it survived civil war and economic depression and several waves of social and technological change. Under Milton H. Smith, president of the company for thirty years, the L&N grew from a road with less than three hundred miles (480 km) of track to a 6,000-mile (9,700 km) system serving thirteen states. As one of the premier Southern railroads, the L&N extended its reach far beyond its namesake cities, stretching to St. Louis, Memphis, Atlanta, and New Orleans. The railroad was economically strong throughout its lifetime, operating both freight and passenger trains in a manner that earned it the nickname, "The Old Reliable."

Growth of the railroad continued until its purchase and the tumultuous rail consolidations of the 1980s which led to continual successors. By the end of 1970, L&N operated 6,063 miles (9,757 km) of road on 10,051 miles (16,176 km) of track, not including the Carrollton Railroad.

In 1971 the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, successor to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, purchased the remainder of the L&N shares it did not already own, and the company became a subsidiary. By 1982 the railroad industry was consolidating quickly, and the Seaboard Coast Line absorbed the Louisville & Nashville Railroad entirely. Then in 1986, the Seaboard System merged with the C&O and B&O and the new combined system was known as the Chessie System. Soon after the combined company became CSX Transportation (CSX), which now owns and operates all of the former Louisville and Nashville lines.

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