We arrived at the station and detrained then Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum 2-8-0 610 was cut off from the train.
The two RSD1s share a space out in the sun.
Coming out onto the 80 foot East Chattanooga turntable built by the American Bridge and Iron Company of Ambridge, Pennsylvania in 1916 for the Central of Georgia Roundhouse in Macon, Georgia. As steam locomotives grew in size, however, it became too small for the railroad's needs and it was moved to Cedartown, Georgia. With the arrival of diesel power, there was no longer any need for a turntable and it was donated to the TVRRM. The museum transported it the ninety miles from Cedartown to East Chattanooga and spent $105,000 repairing it for use. It was placed into service on 4th July 1982.
The steam engine was making a 360 degree turn.
TVRM 610 left the turntable to return to its train. Chris would be getting on that train to return to Grand Junction station.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum RSD-1 8669, nee United States Army 8669 built by American Locomotive Company in 1945. After its tenure with the Army, the locomotive found its next mission with the United States Air Force at Eglin Air Force Base. By the end of 1978, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum became its proud custodian. As a seasoned diesel-electric locomotive, the 8669 has played a pivotal role in powering TVRM’s passenger trains, notably the Missionary Ridge Local and several extended excursion trains.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum RSD-1 8677, nee United States Army 8677 built by American Locomotive Company in 1945.
Italian rail bus built by Fiat in 1938 and rebuilt in 1990.
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway car 2 built by Southern Coach Manufacturing in 1949, which operated as bus builder from 1941 to 1961, building trolley buses as well as regular buses.
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway is a one-mile inclined railway on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, running from St. Elmo's Station at the base to Point Park at the mountain summit with a maximum grade of 72.7% percent. It is single track except for a short two-track stretch at midway to allow ascending and descending cars to pass each other. The Incline Railway opened on 16th November 1895, the second of two inclines on Lookout Mountain. The first was the Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain Railway, which operated from 1886 to 1898.
Lookout Mountain Incline was run as a private corporation by various different owners until 28th January 1973 when it became part of the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, the area's public transit agency. The Incline cars were periodically replaced. The original cars were replaced in 1911 by Kuhlman-built cars from Cleveland, Ohio. In December 1949, these were replaced with streamlined cars, although they never exceeded eight miles per hour mph on the incline and used the Kuhlman car under-bodies.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum F7B 919, ex. Western Maryland 66B, exx. CSX Transportation 417, exxx. CSX Transportation 117, exxxx. Seaboard System 117, exxxxx. Clinchfield Railroad 869, exxxxxx. Louisville and Nashville 1918, nee Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis 918 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum F7A 814, nee Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis 814, ex. Clinchfield 821, nee Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis 814 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum GP7 1824, nee United States Army 1824 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951. One of seven purchased, 1824 switched freight cars at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant in Kingsport, Tennessee and was later transferred to the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the early 1990s, the TVA donated the locomotive to the museum.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum RS-3 109, ex. East Tennessee and Western North Carolina 210, nee Central of Georgia 109 built by American Locomotive Company in 1950. It was one of two RS-3's that the Southern traded with the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad in exchange for former Southern 2-8-0s 630 and 722.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum VO-1000 36, nee United States Navy 7467 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1943. It worked at various times at the US Navy Holabird Depot in Baltimore, Maryland, Fort Mason in San Francisco, the Oakland Army Base and the Arnold Research Facility in Tullahoma, Tennessee. It was bought by the TVRRM in 1982 and is liveried as Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis 36, although that railroad never actually owned it.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum NW2 117, ex. Central Soya plant in Chattanooga, exx. Chevron 117, exxx. United States Navy 65-00117, nee United States Navy 4 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1942. It was one of only five EMD NW2s delivered to the military and served at the Naval Weapons Station in Fallbrook, California.
The rear of an unidenitifed steam engine, possibly one the museum was rebuilding for another organization.
Haysi Railroad F7B 1, nee Clinchfield Railroad F3B 852 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949 and rebuilt to an F7B in 1952. When acquired by Haysi in 1970, it was equipped with radio controls and a makeshift cab in 1972.
The Haysi Railroad was a terminal/switching railroad that owned and operated seven miles of track serving coal mines in and around Haysi, Virginia. It was controlled by the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville & Nashville Railroads. In 1983, the Seaboard Coast Line merged the Haysi Railroad, ending its existence as an independent entity, but the Haysi's track continues to be operated today by CSX Transportation.
Kentucky & Tennessee 2-8-2 10 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1920. The Kentucky and Tennessee was formed in 1902 to haul the timber and coal of the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company. The twenty-five mile line ran from Bell Farm to Stearns, where it interchanged with the Southern. They operated three 2-8-2's and during the late 1950's, began operating occasional fan trips as steam became increasingly rare on mainlines. The railroad finally dieselized in 1963, when it bought three Alco S-2s from the Denver and Rio Grande Western. 10 was sold to the museum in 1965. Renumbered as Southern 6910, the locomotive ran a single excursion out of Chattanooga in 1965 before retiring.
Museum yard scene.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum 10-6 sleeper 3403 "Holston River, built by Pullman-Standard in 1949 for the Southern Railway subsidiary Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway.
Southern Railway 4501 through the shop's doorway.
Undergoing restoration was Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum E8A 6914, ex. New Jersey Transit 4330, exx. Southern 6914, nee Alabama Great Southern 6914 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1953. Until Amtrak took over in 1979, the E8s hauled Southern's crack passenger trains, including the Royal Palm, the Southern Crescent, Southerner and Tennesseean.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum GP30 2594, ex. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum 102, exx. Hartwell Railroad 2594, exxx. Norfolk Southern 2594, nee Southern Railway 2594, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1962. It was donated to the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia, by Norfolk Southern in 1993 and is currently on loan to the TVRRM.
Scenes around the TVRM Shop.
Southern Railway 2-8-0 630, ex. East Tennessee and Western Northern Carolina 207 1952, nee Southern Railway 630 built by American Locomotive Company in 1904. Most had been retired and sold or scrapped by the end of the 1930's, although a few hung on until the early 1950's. When on East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad, 630 was used to switch cars in and around Johnson City, until traded back to the Southern in 1967 in exchange for two former Central of Georgia Alco RS-3s.
630 and another 2-8-0, 722, then led mainline excursions over the entire Southern system as part of the railroad's Steam Program until 1983 when both were retired and leased to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. TVRRM ran 630 until 1989 when it was again retired and it was donated to the museum in 1999 by the Norfolk Southern. Soon after began one of the most thorough restorations performed on a steam locomotive in the United States at the time.
Southern Railway 2-8-2 4501, ex. Kentucky and Tennessee 12, nee Southern Railway 4501 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1911. It served the Southern until 1948, when it was sold to the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway, where it hauled coal trains from the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company mines in Oz to the Southern Railway interchange at Stearns, Tennessee. The three K&T Mikados (10-12) began hauling occasional fantrips during the late 1950's as steam became increasingly rare on mainlines. The K&T dieselised in 1963 and 12 was sold to TVRRM's first President, Paul Merriman, in 1964. It hauled excursions on lease to Southern's Steam Program from 1966 to 1987, but ended service in 1999 due to rising maintenance costs.
Another yard view back in the heat!
The East Chattanooga station.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum caboose 41, ex. Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis 41 1935, nee Florida East Coast Railroad 8xx series, built by Mount Vernon Car Works in 1927. During 1935-1936, the caboose was one of the nine NE-3 class cars transformed for branchline passenger services, specific to the journey between Cowan and Tracy City, Tennessee, within the NC&StL network. This conversion involved extensive interior modifications. The original design, which consisted of three steel bunks for the crew, a table and chairs, was replaced with a layout providing seats for up to 16 passengers, making the car more suited for passenger use.
It was gifted to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum by the Louisville & Nashville Railway in 1964, still adorned with the NC&StL colors. This caboose stands as a rare relic of history, as the last existing NE-3 class member, with the others being scrapped in 1968.
Yard view.
One last view of Southern Railway wreck crane 903008.
A single bus came to take two busloads of passengers back to the Chattanooga Choo Choo. We all wanted to go the direct route back to the hotel after being out on the hottest day in history in Chattanooga. However, the bus driver and the Civil War tour guide gave us a tour of Chattanooga that no one wanted. We finally returned to the hotel, where Chris Parker and I drove to the Mount Vernon Restaurant and after an excellent meal, we returned to the hotel where I ended a long hot day with a nice shower. Tomorrow, we are going down into Georgia, but that is another story.
