Southern Railway System Train Symbols

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Where can I find a list of the Southern Railway System Train Symbols?

-- John Welch (brozzer@webtv.net), December 20, 1998

Answers

Please elaborate on this as I'm not certain I understand what your looking for.

-- Jim McGhee (amcghee@icx.net), December 22, 1998.

After digesting your E-Mail I assume you are wanting pre-1982/merger information. If so are you interested in a particular time frame? This information would have been the domain of the SR Operating Dept. and perhaps the accounting bean counters.Access to this might have been available to the Division Chief Dispatcher's but I doubt any lower than that. What you need to find is a NS corporate heavy hitter to open the vaults. This association had one in Bill Shafer but I don't know if he is still involved.Good luck.

-- Jim McGhee (amcghee@icx.net), December 23, 1998.

In answer to the question about symbols, I can answer about one series of trains. Starting in the early 1970's and up to some point in late 1980 or eaarly 1981, the Southern operated a run-through train with the MoPac between Jacksonville. and Chicago. On Southern these were trains 231 wb and 232 eb. These trains entered/departed Southern rails at Mt. Vernon, IL and used MoPac's former C&EI to reach Chicago. these were daily trains using both MoPac and Southern power and cabooses. On the MoPac they were symbolled CJZ/JCZ (Chicago- Jacksonville. They handled intermodal and manifest freight including auto parts, autos, lumber food products and clay.

In checking a Southern Western Division employee timetable from December 1978,the Southern operated daily trains symbolled 127,111,123 eb between St Louis and Louisville and 128,112,and 124 wb.

Some of the coal trains that operated in and out of coal mines in southern Indiana and southern Illinois used symbols in the high 200 (270's-280's) series.

-- JD Santucci (thetuch@netnitco.net), February 12, 1999.


Some more information to the question of Southern train symbols; the Southern used the 207-239 and 707-739 series to designate "Rail- Highway trains. These were trains consisting entirely of TOFC/COFC, Multilevel auto racks or passenger equipment.

Coal trains used the 240-299 and 740-799 number series.

Some additioanl train symbols employed: 24/25-locals between Raleigh and Fayetteville, NC operating on the old NS main and the Fayetteville branch. 75-manifest Winston-Salem, NC to Greensboro (Pomona Yard), SC. 149/150-mainfest trains operating between Linwood (Spencer), NC and Chockwinity, NC. 158-manifest train between Linwood (Spencer) and Potomac Yard 159-hot manifest between Potomac Yard and Atlanta. 173-manifest between Potomac Yard and Sheffield, AL 183/184-manifest trains between Raleigh, NC and Linwood (Spencer), NC. 219-rail-highway train between Potomac Yard and New Orleans, LA. 222-rail-highway train between New Orleans and Potomac Yard. 223-rail-highway train between Greensboro (Pomona) SC and Knoxville, TN.

The 100 series train symbols I listed in my previous e-mail operated at least as far east as Danville, KY instead of Louisville.

-- JD Santucci (thetuch@netnitco.net), February 13, 1999.


Let me make a correction to my answer above, Pomona Yard is Greensbor NORTH Carolina and not South Carolina as I had entered. Sorry for the mix-up.

-- JD "Tuch" Santucci (thetuch@netnitco.net), March 12, 1999.


in early 1980s 13/14 were Star NC or Varina NC to Charlotte NC locals on the OLD NS mainline

-- Steve Tedder (tedrz@ac.net), June 08, 1999.

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