As far as Chattanooga it lost service on A Day when the Louisville & Nashville's unnamed local was dropped. This train had previously been known as the Georgian and operated St. Louis, MO to Atlanta, GA.
I don't think you are all together correct in all the other parts of your other stuff, but I don't have the time or info at hand to check right now. However, here are a couple thoughts to expand information on the Georgian:
The Georgian was for many years the premier Chicago-Atlanta overnight train of the C&EI-L&N-NC&StL. In its later years realities began to result in a somewhat slower schedule, but even to the mid 60's it would normally have 2 to 3 sleepers, 4 or more coaches and through dining car service. In its later years it was combined between Chicago and Nashville with the Humming Bird which ran on a similar schedule north of Nashville but went to Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. Yes the schedule went to New Orleans, but the Cincinatti originating portion carried the cars that went through to New Orleans. In something like 1966 the C&EI got permission to discontinue their portion of the train, which was the Chicago-Evansville part. Why they were allowed to do so is beyond me, because it was still carrying respectable passenger loadings up to its last day. For both these trains, the St. Louis to Evansville part was somewhat of an afterthought as the majority of the ridership from points south thereof was aimed toward Chicago. This part though was the part kept running until the last gasp of L&N (ex NC&StL portion) service into Atlanta.
Up until the early 1960's there were three trains between Nashville and Atlanta: The Dixie Flyer which ran daytime, with a late night departure / early morning arrival in Chicago, and an overnight local mail train. At one time, ending sometime in the 1950's this train carried a through sleeper Nashville to Knoxville that was put into the Tennessean at Chattanooga. Yes, this meant in some manner hauling it between the two stations. As a college student I made this transition between trains once in the 1960's, but that meant a 3:00 am walk between stations.
that's a mighty big "pend"
