Hi Bill,
Ah the Florida Arrow - thanks for refreshing my memory as to that trains name.
Every February from the mid-thirties to the early fifties when my Dad retired we'd drive from Chicagoland down US 41 for a two week family vacation with an aunt and uncle who lived in Bradenton, FL. During WWII Dad saved his gasoline rationing coupons so we could continue to make that trip. Through northern Indiana the highway parallelled the Big Four's secondary line to Cairo, IL. I often saw freight trains but never the lone passenger train on that line, a named local, the Egyptian, which carried a Pullman between Harrisburg, IL and Chi. My interest would pick up when we reached Terre Haute because there were long stretches between there and Evansville where the road ran alongside the C&EI's double track main.
I really got excited when we got in L&N country and picked up the single track main with its semaphore block signals around Madisonville IIRC. I remember Madisonville because of the concrete arches which spanned Hwy 41 both N and S of town proclaming its fame as a tobacco market. At Earlington the highway made a 90 degree jog right at the L&N depot and I could always count on seeing a train there. Once in that vicinity I got the thrill of seeing a "Big Emma" on the point of a manifest freight.
At Nashville US41 ran right by the Tennessee Central station on the banks of the Cumberland River. I'd usually see a tuscan red TC business car complete with brass railed observation platform parked at the station. From there all the way through Chattanooga to Atlanta I'd keep my eyes peeled for glimpses of the NC&StL. I loved the Dixie Lines engines with their distinctive flanged stacks. If I was really lucky I'd see a Yellow Jacket which to my eyes was heaven on earth. My Dad usually gave in to my pleas to take 41W between Nashville and Monteagle because of its proximity to the railroad whereas 41E while shorter, ran some miles to the east and was virtually devoid of any railroad interest. One of my biggest thrills came when I once saw the Cowan-Tracy City mixed train at Monteagle with double headed NC&StL Consolidations on the point. Given the grades and hairpin turns of the highway, I marvelled how that train could make it up Mount Eagle from Cowan. You have probably seen the picture on the NC&StL Preservation Society website of a Consolidation on the stone bridge where that branch crossed over the mainline with a Yellow Jacket emerging from the mouth of the Cumberland Tunnel.
My mother's maiden name was Sherwood and her parents moved from Tennessee to Missouri (east of Springfield on the route of the Frisco's KC-Florida Special) in the 1890's before she was born. On one of our trips we detoured over to Sherwood where the folks spent several hours talking to locals about any kin that might be living in the area. I got to spend a glorious time at the depot watching the parade of Dixie Line trains and helper engines heading up and down the grade to the tunnel. As I recall the helpers were 2-8-0's while the road engines were mountains and Yellow Jackets which had lost their shrouds and became just Yellow Stripes.
One reason I loved Chattanooga was because it was there that I'd almost always get to see trains of the Southern Railway. Since you live or lived there perhaps you can shed some light on a mystery that has haunted me for probably 65 or more years. Heading south US41 passed through a tunnel on the outskirts of the city. Shortly after leaving the tunnel there was an abandoned rail line that IIRC once crossed the hwy at grade and ran alongside the roadway for a short distance before veering off to what I believe would be the east. I only have a vauge recollection of this but I believe it was narrow gauge (probably 3 ft). I sent an e-mail to the local railfan club (I think the Tennessee Valley Railroad Society or some such name) looking for info but never got a reply. If you know about this line or any possible source that could shed light on it I'd be eternally grateful for any info about that mystery line.
But back to the Dixie Flagler and Flyer. I believe the ACL line out of Atlanta through Manchester and Fitzgerald over which they operated was the former Atlanta Birmingham and Coast. When did the ACL acquire the AB&C and upgrade it to handle these fast trains? Before that time didn't they run out of Atlanta on another route (probably the CofG to Albany) before hitting the ACL's rails? Give me some help on this please.
Mark
