CSX L806-27 "Dalton Turn" got a good signal to proceed north through Tyner Holdout on the CSX Western & Atlantic Sub for the return trip back to Wauhatchie Yard on this dreary afternoon. CSXT Nº 1851 Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis Heritage Unit and theirs no mistaking this scheme, has been assigned to this local job for now 2 weeks. The name NC&StL appeared in 1873 with its early roots 25 years earlier in 1848 as it's predecessor Nashville & Chattanooga Railway which was organized by a a group of prominent Nashville businessmen. It took nine years to get 150 miles of track from Nashville to Chattanooga to be completed which include the difficult section of railroad which climb the steep elevations of the Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau. The N&C was also part of the Civil War with the line playing a strategic role for both Union and Confederate troops. In the 1870s the N&C bought a lot of their smaller competitor expanding their reach in southern Middle Tennessee and part of Kentucky, in addition to the buyouts the company was reincorporated as the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. In 1880 with a hostile stock takeover, aggressive competitor Louisville & Nashville gained a controlling interest, but the NC&StL continued to operate separately purchasing more smaller competitor in Alabama and expanded from Nashville to Memphis. As a final push under it's own control the railroad in 1890 expansion reached Atlanta, Georgia, by leasing the state-owned Western and Atlantic Railroad until finally merging in 1957. Who would've thought 68 years later under the name CSX the colors of Mineral Red and Yellow and the name would roam it's graceful stomping grounds like a homecoming of an old lost friend in the in 2025. The NC&StL wasn't just a folklore, it was a company that took part of the growth of American South holding it's name as the Dixie Line.
