Vignettes of the Southern

We get a look at the Southern through two of her own promotional films: “Piggyback Southern Style”, made in the early 1960s, and “Via Sevier” a film that follows two box cars through the system in the 1950s.

“Piggyback Southern Style” is a look at then state-of-the-art intermodal piggyback and container service on the Southern, and why it makes sense to combine truck and rail. This film features great behind-the-scenes shots of loading/unloading intermodal equipment and shots of old semi-trucks and automobiles.

“Via Sevier” highlights improvements being made around the Southern Railway. It follows two boxcars as from Memphis to Columbia, South Carolina passing through the Alabama countryside, Chattanooga’s yard which was being modernized at the time, Knoxville’s Sevier Yard which had just been modernized and is the focus of the program, and on east over North Carolina’s Saluda Hill. This film features great behind the scenes footage and operations on a hump yard.