Southern's streamlined "Southerner" made its debut in 1941 as an all-coach train between Washington and New Orleans. Rather than follow the more traditional route south of Atlanta (with the West Point Route and L&N completing the run from there through Montgomery and Mobile), the new service followed an all-Southern route via Birmingham and Meridian--the same route for today's Amtrak version of the "Crescent." Here, westbound 47 rolls through a curve into Austell, Georgia behind green E-8 number 2926. The engine's front coupler shroud is still in place at this date, but such fancy items would soon be discarded out of a sense of practicality. Normally, a single E-8 handled 47/48 between Atlanta and New Orleans. The 2926 would later be renumbered to 6903. After Southern joined Amtrak in 1979--soon putting its remaining E8 fleet out of work--the 6903 was sold to New Jersey DOT, where she ran for a little longer as the 4333. (original photo by the late Dick Sharpless)
What did passenger trains look like before Amtrak in America, and Via Rail in Canada? Find out in this album with 2,700+ Historical Photos from early passenger trains of North America from the 1900's up until the early years of Government passenger trains
Photos of North America's favorite First Generation locomotives. EMD, ALCO, Baldwin; essentially anything that represents the OG wide cab diesel locomotive
