Class 1 (Locobase 7956)

Data from CNO & TP 1893 Locomotive diagram book supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 11, p. 157. Works number was 7420 in September 1884.

Works #7420 was a single Mogul with the steam dome over the middle of the boiler, a lead driving axle more widely spaced from the second axle than the second was from the third, the firebox riding over the rear driving axle, and a large cab.

It had a complicated history. Soon after its delivery to the 5-foot gauge, three-mile long BC&I in Alabma, #1 was sold to the Louisville Southern, which renumbered it 25. In August 1894, the LS was incorporated into the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia as a division. The ETV & G was absorbed by the Southern Railway in 1896, which renumbered the 662 as 765. Finally, in 1901, the Southern sold it to the Danville & Western as their #12.

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Class 248 (Locobase 16173)

Data from DeGolyer, Volume 18, p. 205. Works numbers were 13652-13653 and 13690-13691.

Although the compounding system was relatively novel, the use of the square-shouldered Belpaire fireboxes was still less common at the time. Each of two 10 1/2" (277 mm) piston valves served the paired HP and LP cylinder on each side of the smoke box.

The quartet was converted to simple-expansion before 1900; see Locobase 6091.

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Class 3 / B2 (Locobase 7639)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP MB 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). See also DeGolyer, Volume 10, p. 175. (Thanks to Samuel Smith for his 28 December 2021 email correcting the railroad reference originally identified as Louisiana Southern.) Works numbers were 5408 in December 1880 and 5440 in January 1881.

Not too long after these locomotives were produced, the CS transformed itself into the much more grandly scaled Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific. By 1891, the CNO&TP had sold these engines to a subsidiary, the Louisville Southern, which placed them in class B2.

Samuel Smith discovered a different set of later owners from the track laid by Locobase back in 2012. His amended history is reflected in Locobase's revised locomotive biographies below.

The 5408 started out as Cincinati Southern #43, then to CS subsidiary Louisville Southern as their #13. When the CS expanded as the CNO&TP, LS #13 became #543 and later #611. The CNO&TP reportedly sent 611 to the Gulf & Ship Island in May of 1899 as their #1.

The 5440 started out as Cincinnati Southern #44, then to Louisville Southern #14. Then it also went to the Cincinati, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific Railway as 544. It was later

renumbered to #612. In November of 1899, this engine went(sold?) to the Holmes

Logging Railroad.

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Class 30 (Locobase 11070)

Data from the 1910 Southern List and Description of Locomotives supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 13, p. 127 and Prince (1965). Works numbers were 8202-8203, 8209-8210 in October 1886; 8235, 8237, 8239-8240 in November.

Identical to the 1885 Virginia Midland five-some shown in Locobase 11069, this set of Georgia engines had a slightly longer wheelbase.

All of them were taken into the Virginia Midland, which merged with the Southern in 1894. Most of the class was scrapped in September 1923, although 3026 and 3024 had preceded the rest in August 1910 and July 1915, respectively.

NB: Firebox heating surface area is an estimate derived by subtracting from the given total heating surface area shown in the 1910 Description the calculated tube heating surface area.

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Class 45/3016 (Locobase 11069)

Data from the 1910 Southern List and Description of Locomotives supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 12, p. 221. Prince (1965). Works numbers were 7731-7732 in November 1885 and 7739, 7745, 7752 in December.

Part of a clutch of Moguls sold to railroads that would be components of the Southern Railway before too long,this sextet consisted of Richmond & Danville 97 and the 45-49 on the VM.

The Southern absorbed both railroads in 1894, and after several renumberings, arrived at the 3016-3021 shown above. 3020 was sold in 1912 to the Alabama & Florida Lumber Company.

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Class 5 (Locobase 6512)

Data from Allen Stanley's collection of locomotive diagram books. This class was shown on the Southern's 1914 locomotive summary table. See also DeGolyer, Volume 10, p. 163. Works numbers were 5815, 5818 in September 1881, 5877-5879 in October, and 5897, 5899 in November.

Numbering on the ETV & G originally ranged from 7 to 40, with most of the class falling in the 30s. Only one of the class -- 3007 -- remained in service as late as World War I; it was scrapped in September 1923.

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.

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Class 50 (Locobase 11067)

Data from the List and Descriptions of Southern Railway Locomotives 1910 supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Cooke works numbers were 2100-2102.

This was one of the Southern system's standard Mogul designs. The leader of this Mogul class became Augusta Southern's #21 in 1912.

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Class 53 (Locobase 6495)

Data from the List and Descriptions of Southern Railway Locomotives 1914 supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

The leader of this Mogul class became Augusta Southern's #21 in 1912. Cooke delivered the first three (works numbers 2100-2102), Rogers the other two (works numbers 4518-4519 in June 1891).

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Class B (Locobase 7638)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). Works numbers were 1101-1106 in 1880, 1186-1192 in 1881.

The C, NO & TP began as the lessee of the Cincinnati Southern, which was owned by the railroad's eponymous city. The CS had built a 337-mile line from Cincinnati to Chattanooga over some very difficult terrain, so rough that the numerous curves, tunnels, and generally narrow dimensions earned part of the railroad the nickname of the "Rathole Division." Not long after its completion in 1880, the CS leased out the line to the C, NO & TP for 25 years.

Over time the C, NO & TP combined with the Alabama Great Southern (and for a short time, the Alabama & Vicksburg and the Shreveport & Pacific) and the New Orleans & Northeastern in a system owned by banker Baron Frederick Emile d'Erlanger. Known as the as the Queen & Crescent Route, it connected the Queen City of the Ohio to the Crescent City near the mouth of the Mississippi. By 1890, the Baron had had to relinquish control and the lease ultimately came to be held by the Southern Railway, itself a creature of reorganization, and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton.

Although the Southern essentially operated the C, NO & TP from 1894, it never actually acquired the railroad.

The engines came to varying ends.

Both 540 (ex-40) and 552 were wrecked in a collision on 31 May 1893 at milepost 313.

554 (ex-54) wsa sold in June 1895 to the Shelton Southwestern.

600 was sold in May 1900 to the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City as their #5.

601 went to the Rome & Attalla Furnace Company in September 1899.

602 was bought in August 1900 by the Lake Erie & Detroit River as their 32 and was rebuilt as an 0-6-0. 608 joined the 32 in the same year and bore #31. Unlike the 32, the 31 retained its pony truck and was placed in class M-2 in 1906 as #818.

603 and 605 were sold in June 1901 to the Wisconsin & Michigan as their #6-7.

604 joined the ex-600 on the MJ&KC in August 1901 as their #25 and later operated on the New Orleans, Mobile & Chicago as #25.

606 left the CNO&TP in June 1901 to operate on the Duluth & Northern Minnesota as their #4.

607 and 610 stayed in the South, being sold to the Waycross Air Line in June 1899 as their #4 and #5. The Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic took control of the AB&A in 1906 and renumbered then 1002-1003. Locomotive rebuilder/reseller Georgia Car & Locomotive bought #4 in 1908 and sold it to Finkbine Lumber Company of Wiggins, Miss. as their #10.

609 became the first locomotive to be operated by West Virginia coal road Belington & Northern, which opened in 1902. The B&N stretched 3.8 miles along the Tygart Valley River with aspirations to link to the Little Kanawha at Glenville. That never happened and the B&N was soon abandoned. (See David Bright Reger, D. Dee Teets, Charles Edwin Van Orstrand, William Armstrong Price, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey: Barbour and Upshur Counties and Western Portion of Randolph County, Volume 1 (Wheeling, WVa: News Litho Company, 1918), pp. 6-7.)

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Class B3 (Locobase 7648)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965).

This set of Rogers Moguls were the first on the AGS. Perhaps they came as single deliveries as the available works numbers range from 2810 to 2976.

In 1897, the AGS sold four of the class--128, 131-132, 129--to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Southern Iron & Equipment. SI&E found a buyer in the Columbia, Lumberton & Gulf Railroad of Lumberton and sold all four to the CL&G in 1898-1899 as their 16-19.

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Class C (Locobase 6107)

Data from the 1917 Alabama Great Southern locomotive diagram book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. DeGolyer, Volume 15, p.84 and 16, p. 111. Works numbers ran 10012, 10015-10016 in May 1889, 10728 and 10740 in March 1890, and 11274 in October 1890.

The AGS diagram notes that 154 had a Belpaire boiler. Baldwin's specs show 151-152 with a long wagon top boiler. The 1889 estimate for engine weight in Volume 15 was "about 96,000 lb [43,545 kg]", which the builder overshot by 2,690 lb according to an ink diagram of axle loadings added later. The 1890 specifications in Volume 16 showed the updated weights.

151 was sold to Birmingham Coal & Iron in April 1908. 152-154 were sold off in 1910 (2) and 1913 to the Alabama, Tennessee & Northern as their 60-62. 156 was bought by locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Locomotive and 157 was sold for scrap in March 1913.

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Class C (Locobase 7646)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). See also DeGolyer, Volume 11, p. 200. Works numbers were 7156, 7162, 7169, 7171, 7184, 7186-7187, 7192 in February 1884.

These Moguls were produced for the 5-foot gauge still in use in 1884. They would later be converted to standard gauge.

Two (135-136) wound up on the Arkansas Southern (of Cornie Junction, Ark) in 1902 as their 4 & 5, one (140) on the Jacksonville & South Western (road #25), and one (141) as the Duluth & Northern Minnesota's #3.

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Class C1 (Locobase 7642)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). Works numbers were 1218-1226 in February 1891.

Delivered in a batch. A three-year difference between this Pittsburgh set and the Rhode Islands delivered in 1888 (Locobase 7643). One difference is in locating the steam dome, which now sits over the middle driving axle. The stack is different as well. On the other hand, the grate still rode between the rear two axles, which were spaced three feet (914 mm) further apart than were the first two.

The 627 and 630 were sold to the Alberta & Great Waterways as their 3 and 4. They passed into the Canadian Northern in July 1910 as class C-4-a 105-106. When the Canadian National took over in 1919-1920, the national railway reclassified the pair as D-2-a, but scrapped them in May and September 1923, respectively.

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Class C1 (Locobase 9344)

Data from the 1917 MB Alabama Great Southern locomotive diagram book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 1218-1219 in 1891.

This pair of freighters retained the small drivers of the earlier C3 class from Baldwin (Locobase 6107), but used a smaller boiler and a larger grate. Like the other small Moguls on the AGS, these scrapped in December 1915, before the US entered World War I.

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Class C2 (Locobase 6106)

Data from the 1912 Alabama Great Southern locomotive diagram book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. Works numbers were 1781-1788 in 1887.

An octet of typical Moguls of the time. After more than 20 years in AGS service, three--146-147 and 142 (ex-148)--went to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Locomotive in 1905, who found a buyer in C D Smith & Son of High Point, NC. 143-144, 140 (ex-150) were sold to scrap dealer Joseph J Joseph in 1913. The last two--145, 141 (ex-149)--were scrapped in 1915.

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Class C2 (Locobase 7643)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). Works numbers were 2080-2084 in October 1888.

Delivered in a batch (works# 2080-2084). The profile shows a long first course swelling to a tall firebox topped by its steam dome. The grate rode between the the rear two axles, which were spread 2 ft 5" farther apart than were the first two.

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Class C3 (Locobase 7644)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). See also DeGolyer, Volume 14, p. 61. Works numbers were works# 8436, 8938, 8940 in December 1887.

The profile shows a design with widely spaced drivers. Thus, even though the grate rode between the last two driving axles, the distance was only 1' 10" greater than that of the first two axles. The dome rode over the middle axle.

The table at the front of the book describes this boiler as a "short wagon top", procured most likely to compare this design to the Belpaire-boiler examples delivered a year later from the same order (Locobase 7645).

613 and 614 were sold to the locomotive rebuilder F M Pease in 1903. Ex-613 wound up on the Duluth & Northern Minnesota by 1912 as #7, ex-614 went to the Missouri & Northern Arkansas as their #8.

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Class C3 (Locobase 7645)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). See also DeGolyer, Volume 14, p. 61. Works numbers were 8964, 8966, 8968 in December 1887.

The only difference between this trio and the ones shown in Locobase 7644 is the adoption of a Belpaire boiler. If these three were purchased as a trial to see if the square-shouldered, equal-length stay firebox offered advantages, the results must have been inconclusive as none of the Southern companies made much use of such a firebox. The profile doesn't show a noticeable difference.

In December 1903, 617 went to Lufkin Land & Lumber, where it toiled as #9 until 1909 when it went to the Louisiana & Pacific. Three months later, in February 1904, the Southern sold 616 and 618 to the Males Company, a locomotive rebuilder. Ex-616 soon thereafter received road number 1 from the Great Southern Railroad. Males Company sold ex-618 to the Arkansas Central.

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Class C3 (Locobase 11705)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines, 1890, as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 16, p. 111. Works numbers were 11225 in September 1890.

Locobase isn't sure how this Mogul can have one less tube, have all the others of slightly shorter length, less firebox heating surface, and still have more heating surface area. The diagram notes that the engine had a Belpaire boiler.

243 was sold to the Meridian & Memphis in January 1913 as their #1; thirteen years later, the M & M sold the 1 to the Meridian & Bigbee River.

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Class C3 - 1890 (Locobase 15633)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 15, p. 84. Works numbers were 10725-10727 in March 1890 and 10978-10982, 10986 in June.

This class of Moguls reverted to the straight boiler of the earliest C3s after a brief run of Belpaire fireboxes (Locobase 7645). They had one less tube than the 1887 batch.

All were later sold to lumber companies and regional railroads. The 88/588 was sold in 1892 to sister Queen & Crescent line Alabama & Vicksburg as their 420.

34 was sold early to the New Orleans & Northeastern in July 1892 as their 247. Locomotive rebuilder/reseller Georgia Car & Locomotive later bought the engine and sold it in March 1907 to the Apalachicola Northern.

The 619 also went to the NO&NE in 1892 as their 245. It was sold to the Louisiana & Arkansas as their 140 in January 1903. Stamps Lumber Company bought the 140 in March 1914. 620 went straight from the CNO&TP to the L&A in 1903 as their 141.

622-623 were sold by Birmingham Rail & Locomotive to the Escambia Railroad in 1912 and remained in service for another 45 years before being scrapped in April 1957.

621 and 624 both remained on the CNO&TP until they were scrapped in September 1915.

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Class C4 (Locobase 7647)

Data from CNO&TP 1893 and CNO&TP 1917 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange and Prince, Steam Locomotives and Boats Southern Railway System (1965). Hinkley works numbers 1776-1778.

The Southern's subsidiary railways seem to standardized on a particular Mogul size in the 1880s. Class after class has almost no variation at all in evaporative heating surface or the power dimensions (cylinder volume, boiler pressure, and driver diameter). The only difference in this trio is its small-scale builder.

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Class C5 (Locobase 6091)

Data from the 1917 New Orleans & North Eastern locomotive diagram book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

These Moguls were delivered in 1893 as Vauclain compounds (Locobase 16173). Within a few years, the quartet was converted to simple expansion, but retained their Belpaire fireboxes.

When the Southern took over numbering this class in 1916, they were classed in the 6800 range. 250 was sold to locomotive rebuilder/reseller Birmingham Rail & Locomotive in April 1917. In April 1919, the BR&L found a new owner in Stout Lumber.

The other three were sold to Consolidated Salvage in March 1922.

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Class C7 (Locobase 6093)

Data from the NO&NE A&V VS&P 10 - 1919 locomotive diagram book supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 12, p. 111. Works numbers were 7442-7443 in September 1884; 7449, 7461, 7462, 7467, 7469 in October; 7483, 7484, 7492, 7494, 7502, 7504, 7508-7509 in November.

These Moguls were originally ordered by the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific, but before production, they were redirected to the NO&NE. In the spec sheet, the boiler held 220 tubes and weights were set at 79,295 lb (35,968 kg) on the drivers and 94,700 lb (42,955 kg) on all engine axles. The higher weights and greater number of tubes in the 20th Century diagram book implies a rebuild later in their careers.

This railroad's main line ran from Meridian, Mississippi to New Orleans, serving many southern Mississippi timber harvesters. In 1916, the NO&NE was taken into the Southern Railway system, but retained a separate identity in many respects.

Of the five that were given Southern numbers in 1916, 6854 (ex-241) retired in 1917, the others lasting until 1922-1923.

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Class D (Locobase 5152)

Data from Southern Railway diagrams hosted on southern.railfan.net/images/archive/southern/steam_loco_diagrams (viewed September 2002). Works numbers were 4183-4187, 4190, 4195-4196, 4200-4203.

Part of a series of Moguls built for predecessor railroads such as the Georgia Pacific in 1887 and Richmond & Danville in 1889. Their service in the Southern system was inevitably on the secondary lines and their relatively small dimensions and adhesive weight meant retirement beginning in the teens. The last engine -- 3047 -- wasn't scrapped until 1947, however.

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.

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Class D (Locobase 6511)

Data from the 1914 Southern Railway List and description of Locomotives supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 20, p. 20. Works numbers were 19849 in December 1901 and 29172 in December 1906.

Baldwin supplied a pair (works #14406-07) in 1895 and a single engine (15128) in 1896 to the M & B. Firebox heating surface is an estimate based on the calculated tube heating surface subtracted from the evaporative heating surface supplied in the 1914 list.

They were taken into the Southern in 1899

3000 was scrapped by the Southern in September 1923, but 3002 was not sold off until July 1947. 3001 was sold to the Knoxville, Sevierville & Eastern in 1915. The KS & E sold the engine to the Knoxville & Carolina in 1921 as that line's #35.

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Class J H Jones (Locobase 6007)

Data out of List & Description of Southern Railway Locomotives (1914) book provided in April 2004 from Allen Stanley's extensive Rail Data Exchange. DeGolyer, Volume 8, p. 234. Works numbers were 4361 in June 1878 and 4386 in July.

Tiny Moguls that first served the EAL, a 51-mile long skinny gauge in northeast Georgia; #2 was named Hiram W Sibley. At first controlled by the Atlanta & Charlotte, the EAL's ownership passed to the Richmond & Danville in 1881. In 1887, the EAL sold the #2 to Wiley Boom & Lumber. WB & L incorporated the Holston Valley Railway in 1892; the HVR ran from Bristol, Tenn near the North Carolina border for 8 miles up the valley to Big Creek, then another 11 miles to Fish Dam in 1903 and still another 13 to Fields in 1904. After steam service ended in 1915, the Bristol Traction Company acquired the Bristol-Big Creek segement and served it for three more years.

In 1894, the R & D came under the control of the Southern, as did the #1. Operated by the Hartwell on behalf of the Southern, former EAL #1 remained in service until its scrapping in October 1929.

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.

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Class William Cornwall, Jr / B-2 (Locobase 6513)

Data from the 1914 Southern List and Description of Locomotives supplied in March 2004 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange. See also DeGolyer, Volume 13, p. 247; and Prince (1965). Works numbers were 8666 in July 1887, 9133-9134 in March 1888, 9211 in April, and 9213 in May.

The first of the Mogul class -- the William Cornwall, Jr, -- arrived alone; the next two of these modestly powered Moguls - originally numbered 7 & 5 and named Dennis Long and Henry Weissinger, respectively -- came as a pair from Baldwin; another pair -- 9 (W H Dillingham) and 11 (Robert Young) were produced a month later.

Once the LS was absorbed by the Southern in 1894, the class was renumbered frequently, first as 659, 660, 661 (5, for some reason, was not renumbered), then 761, 760, 762-763 in 1896, then 821, 820, 822-823 in 1903.

Scrapping began early for most of this class. 822 was scrapped in March 1905. The other three were renumbered again in 1906 as 3013, 3014, and 3015. Very shortly afterward (April 1906) 3013 was sold for scrap. 3014 went 3 1/2 years later in October 1909. For some reason, 3015 served for another 14 years before going to the furnace in September 1923.

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.

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Class unknown (Locobase 6006)

Data out of List & Description of Southern Railway Locomotives (1914) book provided in April 2004 from Allen Stanley's extensive Rail Data Exchange collection. See also "Atlantic & Danville Railroad" on the virginiaplaces website at [], last accessed 19 October 2024. Works number was 1542 in March 1885.

When taken into the Southern Railway system, this Ocean State Mogul maintained its service on the James River Division between the James River Junction in Emporia and the Claremont Wharf on the James River across from Williamsburg. Chartered in 1882, the line sought to offer competition against other James River ports.

Alas, the virginiaplaces account reports, "Building at Claremont turned out to be a bad business decision. The Atlantic and Danville had no coal and too little other cargo for export, and could not attract enough ships to the new port. A Hampton Roads port would be more attractive, so the railroad created a new eastern terminus. ."

But a sunk cost has its own charm and the A&D never widened the 51-mile (82 km) stretch to standard gauge. Its primary freight cargo--timber from southeastern Virginia. But the Great Depression exacerbated an already shaky line of business. Virginiaplaces places the blame in large part on the timber producers: "The supply of timber in southeastern Virginia area crossed by the Atlantic and Danville Railroad was also declining. Landowners had not implemented sustainable forestry practices, and were not replanting as fast as they harvested. The forests were "mined" rather than "farmed."

It's not clear how long the N-2 remained on the roster, but the branch line lay abandoned in the early 1930s.