City of Memphis (train)

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City of Memphis

First trip of the streamlined City of Memphis, May 17, 1947
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Tennessee
First service	1947
Last service	1958
Former operator(s)	Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
Route
Termini	Memphis, Tennessee Nashville, Tennessee
Distance travelled	236.8 miles (381.1 km)
Average journey time	5 hrs 00 min
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	Eastbound: 105-5, Westbound: 106-6
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Reclining Seat Coaches
Catering facilities	Tavern-dining car
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Legend 0 mi Nashville 41 mi 66 km Dickson 66 mi 106 km Waverly 86 mi 138 km Camden 95 mi 153 km Bruceton 126 mi 203 km Lexington 151 mi 243 km Jackson 180 mi 290 km Whiteville 193 mi 311 km Somerville 232 mi 373 km Lenox 236 mi 380 km Memphis This diagram: view talk edit

The City of Memphis was a 236.8-mile (381.1 km) passenger train route operated by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway connecting Nashville's Nashville Union Station and Memphis, Tennessee's Memphis Union Station.^[1]

The City of Memphis was powered by one of the last steam locomotives ever streamlined.^[2] The six cars were all rebuilt and streamlined by the NC&StL shops from heavyweight cars. The six cars were originally Pullman Heavyweight Parlor Cars before purchase by the NC&STL for conversion to coaches in June 1941.^[3]

The six car consist had a revenue seating capacity of 204 and was built to operate on a fast five-hour schedule between Nashville and Memphis a distance of 239 miles (385 km). The train set operated a daily round trip and lasted beyond the 1957 Louisville and Nashville Railroad takeover of the NC&StL, although the name was removed from the service by 1955.^[4]

To equip the train the railroad rebuilt six heavyweight Pullman parlor cars. The resulting train consisted of a baggage-mail car, a coach-dinette-lounge, two 56-seat coaches, a dining-tavern car, and a coach-lounge-observation car. Several of the train's cars survive, including the coach-lounge-observation, which is part of the collection of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in the Chattanooga area.^[6]

• Holland, Kevin J. (2003). "The Frugal Approach". Classic Trains Special Edition. No. 1, Dream Trains. ISSN 1541-809X.
• Rieves, George (Summer 2000). "City of Memphis: The Budget Streamliner". Classic Trains. Vol. 1, no. 2. ISSN 1527-0718.
• Rieves, George (2017). "The Budget Streamliner". In McGonigal, Robert S. (ed.). Great Trains Heartland. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 102–105. ISBN 978-1-62700-497-8.
• Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.

• 1950 timetable
• Burns, Adam. "The NC&StL's City of Memphis". AmericanRails.com. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
• Condren, Mike. "Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis Passenger Trains - City of Memphis Streamliner". Mike Condren's Railroad Pages. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
• "The "City Of Memphis" Stream-Lined Passenger Train". TheWatchers.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.