Remembering Atlantic Coast Line Railroad freight trains

“Geep” on a local freight

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad GP7 diesel locomotive No. 117 leads a local freight from Wilmington, N.C., onto the main line Contentnea, N.C.; the train is bound for Rocky Mount, N.C.

Leonard A. McLean

Well-cared-for switch engine

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 0-6-0 steam locomotive No. 164 switches an ACL gondola car at Suffolk, Virginia, in April 1947.

H. Reid

Three in purple, one in black

Four Atlantic Coast Line Railroad diesel locomotives — GP7 No. 261 and two sisters in purple and silver and an F7 in the new black scheme — lead westbound freight train No. 97 on the ACL’s Charleston & Western Carolina line south of Spartanburg, S.C., in June 1960.

J. Parker Lamb

Diesels by the dozen

A whopping 12 diesel locomotives lead an Atlantic Coast Line Railroad freight train south through Jessup, Ga., in April 1961. Starting with the first unit, the diesel models are: F7A, FTB, F7A, F7A, F7A, F7A, FTB, F7A, F7A, FTA, FTA, and — in a break from F units — E7A!

Bruce R. Meyer

Color transition

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad FP7 diesel locomotive No. 886, backed up by an F7A, GP7, FTA, FTB, and FTA, heads a southbound freight south of Cordele, Ga., in July 1959.

David W. Salter

Diesel diversity

An interesting mix of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad diesel locomotives — U30B No. 978 (on EMD trucks from F unit trade-ins), E8A No. 555 (acquired from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad), E6B No. 753, and F7A No. 399 — stand with a freight train at Waycross, Ga., in April 1967, less than 3 months before ACL merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad.

Keith E. Ardinger

Short train, big bridge

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 4-6-2 steam locomotive No. 1650 crosses the James River south of Richmond, Virginia, with a short southbound freight in April 1948.

August A. Thieme

Doubleheaded Pacifics

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 4-6-2 Pacific-type steam locomotives Nos. 1672 and 1562 work south out of Richmond, Virginia, with a string of refrigerator cars in March 1947.

August A. Thieme

Last word in Coast Line steam

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 4-8-4 steam locomotive 1807 heads a freight south out of Richmond, Virginia, in May 1949.

August A. Thieme

Heavy freight power

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 2-10-2 steam locomotive No. 2009 hammers up the steep grade south of Montgomery, Alabama, with a long southbound freight train in November 1941.

Joseph P. Sadler