The ''Tennessean'' was a named

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

jointly operated by the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

(N&W) and the Southern Railway (SOU). Inaugurated on May 17, 1941, its route ran from Washington, DC, to

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, on the SOU, then on to Bristol, Tennessee, on the N&W, terminating at Memphis Union Station via the SOU. The

St. Louis Southwestern Railway The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company , known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Ten ...

inaugurated a new passenger train, the ''

Morning Star Morning Star, morning star, or Morningstar may refer to: Astronomy * Morning star, most commonly used as a name for the planet Venus when it appears in the east before sunrise ** See also Venus in culture * Morning star, a name for the star Siri ...

'' from Memphis to Dallas, specifically to provide close connections with the ''Tennessean'' at Memphis. Intended to replace the ''Memphis Special'' as the preeminent carrier on the Washington–Memphis run, one of its critical duties was the transportation of mail for the Railway Mail Service division of the Post Office Department. The train's almost immediate success was further bolstered by a sharp rise in passenger traffic during World War II. The ''Tennessean'' carried a Bristol-

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. ...

, a

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

-Memphis sleeper, and a New York-Memphis sleeper.Schafer, Mike, ''Classic American Streamliners.'' Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing, 1997, p. 106 The heavyweight Pullman sleeping cars were painted silver to help them blend in with the train's stainless-steel, streamlined

baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passen ...

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...

s, coaches, and observation cars. Following World War II, streamlined sleeping cars replaced the heavyweight sleepers on the ''Tennessean''. The amenities provided on the ''Tennessean'' were gradually curtailed as Southern Railway attempted to reduce operating losses. By the early 1960s, the train carried only coaches and a single Pullman sleeper, in addition to the railway post office car and express and mail cars. Due to a decline in overall ridership, and Southern Railway's determination to escape the expensive burden of operating Memphis Union Station, the ''Tennessean'' was discontinued on March 30, 1968. This discontinuance ended all Southern Railway passenger train service to Memphis, allowing abandonment of Memphis Union Station.

References

Bibliography

External links

Southern Railway Tennessean
Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Norfolk and Western Railway Passenger trains of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Passenger rail transportation in Delaware Passenger rail transportation in Maryland Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey Passenger rail transportation in New York (state) Passenger rail transportation in Tennessee Passenger rail transportation in Virginia Passenger rail transportation in Pennsylvania Railway services introduced in 1941 1968 disestablishments in the United States Night trains of the United States Railway services discontinued in 1968 {{US-train-stub