Southern Railway

Yard Switchers


sou_yard_leader_drawing

By way of regional mergers and acquisitions of various shortlines, the Southern Railway amassed a wide variety of nearly 20 different yard switcher models from all four major locomotive builders. The Central of Georgia merger, especially, brought a large variety of switcher units to the Southern — most of which retained their original CG numbers. Small batches of inherited and unusual models peppered a switcher roster otherwise dominated by major purchases made by the Southern system itself. Dominating models bought new included Alcos S2 switcher and Electro-Motive's popular NW2, SW7, SW1500, and MP15 models. Like most of its road switchers, Southern assigned batches of these units to its various corporate subsidiaries, especially the CNO&TP and AGS. Most non-EMD switchers were off the roster by the early 1970s, and only four models were in still in service by the time of the Norfolk Southern merger. Of those, only the SW1500 and the MP15 avoided early NS retirement and labored on in yards and on locals beyond the 1980s.

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Our Southern yard switcher scrapbook below is in no way comprehensive, but instead offers a sampling of our favorite models and collected materials.

44 tonner

Southern 44 tonners

  • builder:General Electric
  • model:44 ton
  • type:B-B light switcher
  • built:1940-56
  • series:386 produced, 7 for Southern
  • engine:various models (~800 hp)
  • notes:
  • 11 units total, several by acquisition
    all retired by 1976; #1952 to TVRM
  • builder
    44ton_drawing
    44ton_assignments

    collection

    journal_rwh

    My dad always had a soft spot for GE 44 tonners, always tracking them down in their off-beat places where the railroading is less glamorous than out on the mainline ... but still where there is work to be done. Perhaps that tender affection began with Southern #6010, above. Delivered to the Southern in the fall of 1945, she was marked CNO&TP and assigned to Chattanooga. By the mid 1960s, however, 6010 could frequently be found drilling the yards of Southern's main-to-Memphis through north Alabama, including Huntsville. My father always told the story of one Saturday morning in the fall of '66 when he took my two older siblings and their pal out the Southern yard in Huntsville to see what they could see. The 44 tonner was working that morning, and the kindly engineman invited the kids to pose on the running board for a series of pictures with the locomotive. My sibs could not have cared less that they were standing on the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway's sole centercab, nor would they have noticed such rare features as the numbered light shroud or the deck-mounted water cooler. Even so, a proud dad and true Southern devotee got his photos, and Number 6010 claimed a place in his heart for all subsequent examples of General Electric's working-man switcher.

    44ton_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    - Paul K. Withers - 1997 / collection

    tag_clipArticle

    44ton_cover 44ton_article1

    from TIES magazine
    — Jul-Aug 2003 / collection

    44ton_article2
    44ton_article3

    This article by John C. Hawkins originally appeared in TIES magazine, a publication of the Southern Railway Historical Association. Posted here with permission.

    S2

    Southern #2209-2232
    Central of Georgia #21-35

  • builder:American Locomotive Company
  • model:S2
  • type:B-B yard switcher
  • built:1940-50
  • series:1376 produced, 28 for Southern
  • engine:Alco 539, 6 cyl. 1000 hp
  • notes:
  • 11 inherited from Central of Georgia
    all retired by 1972, most traded to EMD
  • builder
    S2_drawing
    S2_assignments

    collection

    S2_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    - Paul K. Withers - 1997 / collection

    SW1

    Southern #1000-1014

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:SW1
  • type:B-B yard switcher
  • built:1939-53
  • series:660 produced, 7 for Southern
  • engine:EMD 567A (6 cyls. 600 hp)
  • notes:
  • 8 inherited through acquisitions
    most units retired by 1979
    4 to Norfolk Southern at merger
  • builder
    sw1_drawing
    sw1_assignments

    collection

    sw1_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    - Paul K. Withers - 1997 / collection

    NW2

    Southern #1016-1086

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:NW2
  • type:B-B yard switcher
  • built:1939-49
  • series:1119 produced, 69 for Southern
  • engine:EMD 567A (12 cyls. 1000 hp)
  • notes:
  • 2 inherited in Central of Georgia merger
    all retired by 1982
  • builder
    nw2_drawing
    nw2_assignments

    collection

    tag_clipArticle

    nw2_cover nw2_article1

    from TIES magazine
    — Jan-Feb 1999 / JCH

    nw2_article2
    nw2_article3
    nw2_article3
    nw2_article4
    nw2_article5

    This article by John C. Hawkins originally appeared in TIES magazine, a publication of the Southern Railway Historical Association. Posted here with permission.

    SW1500

    Southern #2300-2347

  • builder:Electro Motive Division
  • model:SW1500
  • type:B-B yard switcher
  • built:1966-74
  • series:808 produced, 48 for Southern
  • engine:EMD 645 (12 cyl 1500 hp)
  • notes:
  • also Kentucky & Indiana Terminal #62-83 inherited through acquisition
    all to Norfolk Southern #2300-2347
    all retired by NS
  • builder
    sw1500_drawing
    sw1500_clipping

    from Diesels of the Southern Railway 1939-1982
    - Paul K. Withers - 1997 / collection


    Links / Sources

    The diesel locomotive diagrams included on this page are from Southern Railway Diesel Locomotive Diagram Book - Southern Railway Historical Association / collection


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    This page was updated on 2020-12-10