Tenn Central's ex-N&W Zclass 2-6-6-2

[curmudgeon]

Hi all -

I've read that Tennessee Central bought 4 N&W Z's during WW II.
Does anyone know anything about them?
#'s on either 'road, which subclass?
Anything at all?

TIA.

regards,

Terry

[GWoodle]

TLC Publishing has a book about the Tennessee Central, published in 2005. 156 Pages with a lot of pictures, some in color of the TC. $29.95

From Page 56, if the info is correct: 1943 was a peak year for traffic on the TC. Camp Cambell added a lot of troop traffic. Some 436,477 passengers & at least 8% more freight from 1942 levels. Two old N&W
2-6-6-2's were added, then another 2 a year later. 2 of them had steam lines added for passenger service. Fully loaded at 639,000 pounds, they were restricted to service on the Eastern Lines. #1390 & #1396 were restricted to yard & transfer duties, with #1341 & #1385 retired & used for parts, scrapped in the shops. In 1951-2 the 2 remaining were sold for scrap. N&W used the same #'s for the 1913-1914 units. Any pictures of them are extremely rare.

It appears the TC was too small to have any "class" for steamers.

[curmudgeon]

Mucho thankso, GW -

Pix I've d/l'd, purported to be TC 2-6-6-2's, are diff road #'s & have N&W markings - guess just "exemplified" TC's.

TC was always the "reheaded stepchild" of L&N - don't think they ever had much new power.

Oddly, I've read they were the first TN 'road to dieselize 'tho.

regards,

[GWoodle]

From the same book: The TC in the post WW2 period was really in bad shape. Yet the TC bought TN's first Diesel switchers. 2 Alco's handled the chores. The TC could have been the first RR to get Alco FA1's. Instead, the TC bought a pair of Baldwin diesels. They did get an ABA set of FA1's. Mostly the TC bought Alco RS3's. In the 60's they bought a few more Alcos before going belly up.

They may have been lucky the NC&STL abandoned the Lebanon Branch & the DuPont line. AFAIK what freight is there keeps the N&E running.

Even today, they like to get new/old GE's. THe Music City Star runs with ex-Amtrak F40's & C&NW gallery cars.

The MCS made the cover story of October Railfan & Railroad. Makes some good reading.

[curmudgeon]

Thanks Glenn -

Reckon I'm old-fashioned, but I liked the pre-MCS "Dinner Train" w/the old E-8 (?) and passenger cars.

[GWoodle]

I agree with you about the E's. It appears the NYC painted E's were sold & sent back to New York. There may be an Ex-NYC tourist line similar to the N&E. So a NYC E could be back on NYC rails. The third red unit in a L&N style scheme is also for sale. The ex-BN E's from the commuter service are still on the property, but not for long.

The TC Ry's Museum trains now use an ex-amtrak F40 & a pair of FB's. They have been working on repainting a set of ABBA F's into a L&N scheme. IIRC they are old D&IR units.