I have a Weaver "O" Guage loco. of the streamlined pacific that pulled the Southern Tennessean. I was told that the passenger cars were stainless rather than green. I have seen a few photographs of the engine but none of the passenger cars it pulled. I was reading in other question and answer selections and you mentioned that you will be adding more photo's of this engine soon. If you have one with the passenger cars, please include it also. Thankyou for your help.

Joe Hicks jhicks4501@aol.com

-- Joseph F. Hicks (jhicks4501@aol.com), March 07, 1999

Answers

Dear Sir, The December 1991 and January 1992 Mainline Mideler contained drawings and lots of information about the cars used on the Tennessean and Southerner trains. I have copies of both issues and the articles are excellent. Good luck.

-- Joe Daniels (4JM@home.com), May 17, 1999.

If you're ever traveling through Duluth, Georgia, after the Southeastern Railway Museum re-opens late in the summer of 1999, you may wish to take a look at Southern #812, "Charlottesville," a stainless 56-seat coach built by Pullman in 1940. The car ran on the Tennessean and, like the other cars used on that train, was named after a city along the route.

-- Malcolm Campbell (71045.2202@compuserve.com), May 25, 1999.

Hi,

I have done a lot of research on the passenger section of the SOUTHERN RAILWAY, and I can say with out a trimmer that the cars used on the Tennessean was all stainless steal passeger cars.

Thanks, JAson

-- Jason Hutchens (amtrak_crescent@yahoo.com), December 11, 2001.

Jason--sorry to bust your bubble but not all the Tennessean's cars were streamlined stainless steel. When the train was introduced in 1941 the SR was too cheap to buy stainless sleepers. Instead, they had Pullman paint some heavyweight sleepers silver and then ran them behind the observation car. That's the reason that the observations used on the Tennessean were square ended instead of boat tailed like those used on the Southerner. When I get back home (answering this from San Francisco) I'll give you a reference in Ties for the story behind this--Larry

-- Larry Puckett (ljpuckett@starpower.net), December 11, 2001.

Sorry, I really was under the impression of the all stainless idea, SORRY!

-- Jason Hutchens (amtrak_crescent@yahoo.com), December 15, 2001.

The Tennessean originally had stainless steel coaches, diner and lounge and even head end cars. The sleepers were heavyweight though painted to resemble stainless. About 1949, Southern bought many new cars including sleepers. The Tennessean received two streamlined sleepers at this time--one from Washington to Memphis, the other from New York to Memphis. The shorter line sleepers, i.e. Bristol to Memphis, Bristol to Nashville(via NC&STL in Chattanooga\),Chattanooga to Memphis, etc continued to be heavy weight and I suspect the silver coloring was long gone. The Washington to Memphis sleeper did not last long, so that left only the N.Y.-Memphis sleeper as a streamlined pullman.I think the last sleeper on the train was , if I remember correctly, a Knoxville to Memphis streamlined car.The rest of the train was heavyweight , at least when I saw and rode it--- talking now about the mid to late sixties. About 1962 or so, when I began to ride the train on a regular basis, it seems that even the coaches were no longer streamlined.What I am saying, basically, is that the train deteriated considerably the last years of its life.

-- Bill Haithcoat (bhaithcoat@ajc.com), June 11, 2002.