I have a builders photo (EMD) of the original "Southerner" locomotive. It was numbered 2800 in the photo. What type locomotive was it? Also, what were the locomotive numbers of the original "Tennesseean", "Crescent", "Ponce de Leon" and "Royal Palm". Were they all ordered at or about the same time as the "Southerner" from EMD and were they the same type?

-- Dwight Richardson (rdr77@aol.com), January 22, 1999

Answers

Dwight--the locomotives for the Southerner were EMC E6s. On the Southerner only a single A-unit was used and they had 3, 2800, 2801, 2802. These originally came in green and silver paint but after less than a year the silver was replaced with imitation aluminum (light grey). They had the train name (The Southerner) on the side near the nose. The Tennessean used similar units but with an A-B pair for each train. These were 2900a-2900b and 2901a-2901b. The Crescent received A-B units too 2902 and 2903 a&b. Both the Tenneseacn and Crescent had the same type of train name logos and colors as the Southerner. They were purchased in 1941. LifeLike will be releasing all of these units in HO scale in late April or early May. Jack Wyatt sent the following information. DL107-DL108 sets were bought to dieselize between Cincinnati and Valdosta, the seasonal Florida Sunbeam. In the off season they were to be used on another Cincinnati-Florida train, either the Ponce De Leon or the Royal Palm. After arriving in time to handle the last week or two of the 1940/1941 Florida Sunbeam, they were reassigned in April 1941 to the Ponce De Leon. When they were running, they handled the 1941/42 Florida Sunbeam. In August 1942, they were reassigned to Washingon-Atlanta mainline and joined by a set of DL109-DL110's, the 2904. After the war, all three sets returned in 1946 for a year or so to the Ponce De Leon assignment.

-- Larry Puckett (lpuckett@geocities.com), January 22, 1999.

Dwight-- As far as the original "Crescent Limited" numbers go, the orig. no. was Ps-4 Pacific 1396, biult by Alco-Schenectady in 1899, five years after Southern Railway was incorporated. Only one Ps-4 still exists in SR colors, and that would be Ps-4 No. 1401, who is forever trapped in the brick walls of the Smithsonian. 1396 was dismantled in July 1953, when SR first started the dieselization project.

-- Jerry D. Strunk (norfolksouthern@usa.net), March 24, 1999.