Chris Parker and I drove south on US 27 back into Tennessee and checked out the yard in Oakridge but there were no trains, so we continued on to Harriman, with the same result then stopped in Spring City.
The Southern Railway Spring City station built in 1908 by the Queen and Crescent Railroad of Cincinnati for the purpose of extending travel and commerce to the South. It was restored in the early 1990's and houses the Chamber of Commerce.
Norfolk and Western caboose 557584, nee Nickel Plate 484 built by International Car Company in 1962.
From here, it took less than an hour to get to Chattanooga and we followed the sign to the Historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn, parked and walked into the Grand Hall where we checked in for the National Railway Historical Society convention and received our trip tickets and name badges. I then went to the front desk to see if we could check in and was given card keys to our room.
The impressive front of the Holiday Inn Chattanooga Choo Choo. Formerly known as Terminal Station, this Southern Railway building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been operating as a hotel since 1973.
The first Chattanooga Union Station was built in 1858 and demolished in the early 1900's. An initial plan for a smaller facility to handle supplies and small packages was rejected in favour of a grand station to handle passengers as well. Construction on this Terminal Station began in 1906; it was opened in 1909 at the total cost of $1.5 million. Terminal Station was the first station in the South to help open a pathway to connect the north from the south, connecting the city of Cincinnati to Chattanooga. Eventually, the Terminal Station was serving some fifty passenger trains per day plus some freight and package service. It has greeted United States presidents Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Chattanooga was no exception to the general decline in American railroad passenger traffic after World War II. In 1949, the Southern canceled its Florida Sunbeam, an express train that connected Chattanooga to Detroit, Cincinnati and Jacksonville, Florida. Traffic continued to decline amid competition from automobiles and airplanes in the 1950's and 1960's. One by one, the Southern cancelled its trains, which included the Pelican, connecting New York and New Orleans; Ponce de Leon, Cincinnati-Jacksonville; Royal Palm, Cincinnati-Miami; and Tennessean, Memphis-Washington, D.C. As passenger traffic declined, the railroad began using the station's platforms for storage. In 1970, Southern cancelled its last passenger train to Chattanooga—the Birmingham Special, from New York City to Birmingham—and closed Terminal Station. Plans were laid for its demolition.
Instead, a group of business people seeking to trade on the "Chattanooga Choo Choo" song and its enduring popularity decided to reopen the station as a hotel. They poured more than $4 million into a renovation and reopened it in April 1973 as the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hilton and Entertainment Complex. In 1989, another group of business people invested another $4 million to refurbish and renovate the hotel and to bring in and hire new management and staff. They renamed it The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. The 24-acre complex was a convention center, hotel and resort with restaurants, shops and a model railroad setup that was operated by the Chattanooga Area Model Railroad Club (now disbanded) on the second floor of the property and hotel guests could stay in restored passenger railway cars.
The Holiday Inn sign and the train sign on the roof.
The main entrance into the hotel.
The front desk.
The pinnacle of the ceiling in the lobby.
Looking around the Great Hall.
The wonderful architecture.
The north window above the front entrance.
The south window above the rear entrance. Since our car was in front of the hotel, we drove back towards Building 2.
Running around the grounds was Chattanooga Choo Choo streetcar 953, ex. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum 959 1964-1973, nee New Orleans Public Service 959 1924-1964, built by Perley Thomas in 1924. When built, it was broad gauge. We parked, walked into the hallway and found Room 188.
We walked into the room and found two beds. This bed was Chris'.
This was my bed.
This room has a large television.
There is a desk where I set up my computer.
The bathroom with toilet, sink and shower/tub.
Another sink in a vanity area. The room also had two chairs and table along with lamps and was equipped with wireless Internet. The room was large and really comfortable. Now let us explore the grounds.
Railroad passenger cars in which people can stay, featuring large and comfortable rooms.
Fountains are located in the gardens between the platforms.
The views from both sides of the center canopy.
The gardens are very beautiful.
Lines of passenger cars looking back to the Terminal Building.
The trolley is kept here between runs.
This car is "Dinner in the Diner" where I would be eating on Friday night.
Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel 2-6-0 29, ex. Silver Dollar City at Pigeon Forge, exx. Cleveland Browns Football Company 1969 at Pigeon Forge, exxx. Grover Robbins at Pigeon Forge, exxxx. Smoky Mountain Railroad 206 Sevierville, exxxxx. Tennessee and North Carolina Railway 206 1929, exxxxxx. Birmingham Rail and Equipment Company (dealer) 1929, exxxxxxx. Brooklyn Cooperage Company 8 at Sumter, South Carolina, exxxxxxxx. Southern Iron and Equpiment Company (dealer), nee Genessee and Wyoming Railroad Company 9 at Retsof, New York, built by Baldwin in 1910.
More passenger cars.
A statue of Charles Willard, a prominent businessman in Muncie, Indiana. His family had the statue carved in 1886 as a way to honour him. It stood on top of a bank in the city until the building was torn down. From the rubble, the statue went missing. But 'Charlie' ended up in Chattanooga in the early 1980's and has been here ever since. But there is something that will remain a mystery. No one knows how he got here.
The hotel from the parking structure.
Overlooking the grounds.
The morning light with a caboose and lit sign.
A fountain by the "Dinner in the Diner".
The Terminal Tower at the rear of the property.
Steam engine 29 at night.
The Garden Restaurant in the main building.
The one place I would not spend time in is the bar!
The Café Espresso.
The Gift Shop. Next let us go upstairs.
"The Chattanooga Southern Railway", the South's largest model railroad display, on the second floor. Most impressive! Now, "Dinner in the Diner".
The dining area of the railroad car.
The kitchen where all meals are prepared. Now I will show you a "Dinner in the Diner" that Chris Parker and I ate Friday night instead of the NRHS banquet. This dining car is ex. Penn Central 4546, nee New York Cenral 456, built by Budd Company in 1948.
Chris and I were seated at this table by our dining car steward.
Keith, our dining car steward.
The view of the garden outside our window.
The menu for dinner and Chris Parker looking it over.
Our excellent Chef was Wolfgang.
I had Steak Au Poivre which was fantastic!
Mr. Parker's meal.
Both of the Chris's enjoying a "Diner in the Dinner".
As it grew dark, the view truly improved. It was a magical meal in the dining car for our last meal at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
There is a lot more to this hotel than I could possibly show, so here are some features. On the grounds is the Centennial Theater, Imperial Ballroom, Finley Lecture Hall and Galleries. There are three swimming pools and restaurants on site include the Café Espresso, Dinner in the Diner, The Gardens, the Silver Diner Pizza Car and the Station House. Retail shops include the All Aboard Train Shop, Artifacts, Depot Gift Shop, Hale's Woodcrafts, Little Lace Linda, Rugina's Afrikan Village, Sweet Stop and Sweetly Southern. There is also an ATM machine, fax and Business Center. Two lounges, called the Victorian and Penn Station, are also on the grounds. Finally, let us not forget the trolley ride you can take around the grounds.
All this and more can be yours when you stay at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
