On Sunday, October 24, 2021 we had a train to catch. We boarded the “Local” at the Tennessee Valley Train Museum’s Grand Junction Station to East Chattanooga. It was a trip back in time.
The American Locomotive Company built Engine 630 in 1904. The steam locomotive runs on coal shoveled by hand into its massive fire box.
We road on a 3-mile stretch of track over the original Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad right of way. These historic bridges are joined by Chattanooga’s newest hiking/biking bridge.
We passed through the 984-foot-long, pre-Civil War Missionary Ridge Tunnel. The only Horseshoe Tunnel remaining in the state is too small for modern train equipment. Beware of smoke and cinders while riding in an open car.
The Museum’s backyard repair and storage facilities restores equipment and provides parts and cars for other museums and collectors, supplying a major source of operating capital.
The locomotive was uncoupled and rotated on the backyard’s 80-ton turntable. With the 130-ton engine and coal car perfectly balanced atop the turntable, it was spun by a 25-horsepower motor.
We were allowed to roam around the backyard and through the repair facility. “Pay attention when the locomotive steams off the turntable!” “RUN, KAREN, RUN!”
The Museum’s front yard is full of vintage cars and engines waiting their turn to join the classic equipment that plies the local rails. Chattanooga’s first rail line was the Western and Atlantic Railroad in 1850. The “Scenic City” by the Tennessee River quickly became a major railroad hub. Chattanooga’s history and future will be forever linked with “Choo Choos.”