This depot, built in 1926 by the Southern Railway, replaced a late 19th-early 20th century passenger and freight depot/cotton platform which burned that year. It is typical of 20th-century depots ... (more)

This evening, I found the scribbled notes from the day Sonny Burchfield and I chased this train. They had been squirreled away in a box of "junk" for 47 years, but amazingly, the notes were still ... (more)

Natural Tunnel can be, in certain times of the year, one of the most extreme examples of bright sun and dark shadows. Just is the cast this late afternoon as the Belmont Unit Train drops downgrade... (more)

SR 925 'Cheltenham' at Leicester North

A colorful assortment of power sits at the Ivy City Engine Terminal in Washington DC on a September day in 1975. Front and center is Southern Railway E8A 6905 (ex-SOU 2928, built 9/51), still in ... (more)

The mid-train remotes on this eastbound loaded Southern unit coal train were stacked like cord wood when there was a heavy slack run-in and a broken rail just east of Natural Tunnel. The derrick w... (more)

Southern 4501 stopped just south of Natural Tunnel, VA in April 1994 after a photo runby. Note the photo was taken from a public grade crossing and the train was stationary.

Back in the days when cabooses were still common--and occupied by a flagman and a conductor--this eastbound Southern Yuma Turn is dropping downgrade between Sunbright and Natural Tunnel. This fill... (more)

A westbound Southern Railway freight enters the Nantahala Gorge in October 1979. This location is within a few hundred feet of where the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad trains now make their stop a... (more)

Southern GP30 #2609 and GP38 #2757 lead a westbound local through downtown Knoxville in this July 1984 scene. This line is operated today by the Gulf & Ohio Railways / Knoxville & Holston River Ra... (more)

Southern GP38-2s #5236 and #5247 lead a train through the yard at Bulls Gap, TN || April 1984

Southern painted U23B #3921 leading an eastbound through Newport, TN in the fall of 1986.

Just arriving from Knoxville, Southern's ex-C&O 2-8-4 number 2716 is in the midst of its very brief time pulling passenger excursions. The engine is en route to Appalachia, VA, where it will pull ... (more)

NS freight behind five SOU/NS EMDs at Morristown, TN || June 1984

Southern painted GP30 #2588 and NS painted GP38-2 #5188 at Bulls Gap, TN || June 1986