All of the following railroads are purely fictional. However, they do tie into my
revisions to the Esch Cummins Act. So here we go...
The Nashville and South Eastern
The Nashville and South Eastern was established in January 1868 to construct a railroad line between Nashville, TN and Atlanta, GA. It was conceived as a way to compete with the pre-existing Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis by offering a more direct route from Nashville to Chattanooga which stayed entirely in Tennessee. The Southern and Illinois Central each saw this fledgling little company as becoming a thorn in the side of their common rival, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, which owned the NC&StL. The SOU and IC provided funds for the railroad and construction began in the early Spring of 1870. By that fall, the NSE had reached Shelbyville, TN and in the late spring of 1871, the NSE reached Chattanooga.
In July of 1872, the company extended its line to Atlanta by building a line of Chickamauga, GA. Then, it east to Rome, and finally Atlanta.
Up until 1875, the Philadelphia Northern only owned 15 4-4-0 American type steam locomotives of its own and made due mostly with leased power from its two backers. In 1875, the NSE purchased from Rogers Locomotive Works 13 2-6-0 locomotives numbered 20 through 32, and set them to work on freight trains. Several more 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s of similar designs and shared parts were late built by Baldwin for the line.
Passenger and freight service began in earnest after construction of the main line was completed in the summer of 1872 with a large train station built in Nashville. In 1876, the Nashville and South Eastern launched its premiere passenger train dubbed the "Music City Flyer." The following year, they bought the only inside-cylinder steam engines for use in the United States. Them being a group of 0-6-0 switchers for use mainly in Nashville.
In 1883, the NSE constructed its main locomotive and car shops in Shelbyville, TN. Also during the 1880s, the NSE constructed several branchlines to serve the communities of Tennessee, as well as an additional link to some communities south of Nashville. Lastly, they also began sharing a maintenance facility in Chattanooga with the Central of Georgia railroad. Also, the 4-4-0s and 2-6-0s were joined by 4-6-0s for mixed traffic work.
Starting in 1900, the NSE began to replace its wooden passenger car fleet with new steel cars and began to upgrade locomotives and track during a major capital improvement program that lasted throughout the first decade of the 20th Century, during this time most of the 2-6-0s and 4-4-0s were removed from the roster, and replaced with 4-6-2s on passenger work, 2-8-2s for freight, and 4-8-0s on mixed traffic work.
The next big modernization on the NSE occurred in 1917 with the United States Railroad Administration taking over the NSE (and all other US railroads) and bringing in several of the "USRA Standard" locomotives (light 2-8-2s, 4-6-2s, 2-10-2s, 4-8-2s, 0-8-0s and 0-6-0s) and rolling stock. The NSE was privatized once again in 1920.
In 1925, the NSE ordered a series of 4-8-2s from the Lima Locomotive Works for use on fast passenger trains and freights. These engines would proceed to replace the few 4-6-0s that we still in service.
In 1928, the railroad also ordered several 4-8-4s from Lima to use exclusively on its Nashville-Atlanta express trains, demoting most 4-6-2s to mere slower trains. They also ordered from Lima a group of 2-10-4s for heavy freights. These would ultimately turnout to be the last engines they bought.
In 1929, the National Railroad Consolidation Act was passed by Congress. The act was designed to create a group of lines that could enjoy long-term competition with each other. Under this act, the NSE received the half of the Tennessee Central running from Nashville to Hopkinsville, KY.
Shortly after, however, the railroad was absorbed into the Central of Georgia. That said, many of its engines still around (USRA engines, 4-6-2s, 4-8-0s, 2-8-2s, 4-8-2s, 4-8-4s, and 2-10-4s), were continued to be used by the CofG. Almost all of these engine types were once again, still used by the Illinois Central, which took over the CofG in 1948, until that rairload ended its own steam oeprations.
Today, the NSE is still a vital part of the Illinois Central's network. As it is a major source of revenue which lets the IC compete with the Atlantic coast Line and Southern in Midwest-Florida Traffic of both passenger and freight.