[3] By the turn of the twentieth century, the NC&StL grew into one of the most important railway systems in the southern United States.

It took nine years to complete the 150 miles (240 km) of line between Nashville and Chattanooga,[3] made difficult by the steep elevations of the Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau between them.

The Tennessee campaigns of 1862 and 1863 saw Union troops force the Confederates from Nashville all the way to Chattanooga, down the line of the railroad.

In 1885, the railroad successfully defended itself before the Supreme Court in Nashville, C. & St. L. R. Co. v. United States from repaying postage payments for mail in 1861 that was not delivered because of the war.

By 1888 the shops had become obsolete and inadequate, so they were moved to a larger tract of land two miles west, below Charlotte Avenue.

After the 1880 takeover, the NC&StL acquired branch lines in Kentucky and Alabama, and expanded from Nashville to Memphis.

[4]: List of Branches in Order of Their Acquisition In 1902, the L&N was acquired by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in a takeover similar to that of the NC&StL, but continued to operate as a separate company.

After several other mergers, in 1986 the Seaboard System was renamed CSX Transportation, which continues to use the original NC&StL route between Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta.

Another part of the train split at Chattanooga and continued as a Southern Railway operation through eastern Tennessee, and onward to Washington and the Northeast Corridor.

[11] Two 4-4-0 locomotives from the NC&StL's predecessor road, the Western and Atlantic are on display in museums: The General and The Texas are in the Atlanta suburbs of Kennesaw and Buckhead.

The locomotive is currently at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum under restoration to working order and use for weekend excursion runs from downtown Nashville east to Watertown.

The TVRM also has the tail car from the city of Memphis on display at its Grand Junction Yard in Chattanooga.