Few railways are as deeply associated with the regions they serve as the Southern railway. This illustrated account of the venerable Southern is the story of the railroad's nearly ninety-year tenure as a transportation force driving industry and agriculture and a fascinating chapter of Southern history. Southern Railway eventually incorporated some 150 predecessors into it's system, and was the first railroad to go completely diesel. Author Tom Murray explores this complex prehistory before examining it's ninety decades of passenger and freight service, right up to the 1982 merger with Norfolk and Western to form Norfolk and Southern. Full of fascinating history - JP Morgan, the legendary financier, the luxurious Crescent passenger train, the Southerner, the 21.5 mile-long trestle across Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. Wonderful archive photographs capture the railway's motive power and rolling stock against the nation's cityscapes and scenic countryside, in addition to fascinating timetables, period ads and system maps.