Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
Southern Railway 4501, one of six steam locomotives at the museum.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is located in Tennessee
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
Location of TVRM within Tennessee
Established1960 (1960) / 1961 (1961)
Location4119 Cromwell Rd.
Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Coordinates35°04′00″N 85°12′23″W / 35.066667°N 85.206389°W / 35.066667; -85.206389
PresidentTim Andrews
Websitewww.tvrail.com

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (reporting mark TVRM)[1] is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman and Robert M. Soule, Jr., along with a group of local railway preservationists. They wanted to save steam locomotives and railway equipment for future historical display and use. Today the museum offers various tourist excursions from stations in Chattanooga and Etowah, Tennessee.

History

Founded in 1960 and incorporated in 1961, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum originally stored equipment at the Western Union pole yard, which was located adjacent to the Southern Railway classification yard on Holtzclaw Avenue in East Chattanooga. After the termination of passenger service to the Southern Railway's Terminal Station in 1971, additional cars and locomotives were stored at this facility in downtown Chattanooga.

In 1969, the TVRM received a land donation from the Southern Railway, consisting of a property located in East Chattanooga on North Chamberlain Avenue. This donation included the 986-foot (301 m)-long Whiteside Tunnel and about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) of abandoned right-of-way.

In 1970, the museum opened a new permanent facility to the public in East Chattanooga. At the time, it had no structures on site. Volunteers had constructed a railyard for the storage and repair of equipment and had rebuilt the abandoned rail line through the Whiteside Tunnel. The reconstructed line ended at Tunnel Boulevard, as the original bridge over this road had been removed some years earlier.

With the reconstructed rail line, the museum had the ability to produce a small amount of income by operating a heritage railroad. They ran passenger excursion trains through Whiteside Tunnel (commonly referred to as Missionary Ridge Tunnel, because it went through Missionary Ridge).

Additional income was derived from mainline excursions operated biannually via the Southern Railway's Steam Program. The Southern Railway's Steam Program was created by Paul Merriman and TVRM, after Merriman purchased the former Southern Railway 4501 in 1964 from the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway in Stearns, Kentucky for $5,000, equal to $47,178 today. By 1966 the 4501 had been restored during a 2-year process, conducted at Lucey Boiler Company in Chattanooga. After many volunteer hours by TVRM members as well as paid Lucey Boiler employee work, the 4501 was operated throughout the Southern Railway System.

NC&StL GP7 710 at the East Chattanooga Yard of the museum

After years of hard work and much financial discipline, in 1977 TVRM finally built the long-needed bridge over Tunnel Boulevard. The Southern Railway donated an additional mile and a half (2.4 km) of abandoned rail line. The next major task of the museum was to build the East Chattanooga Depot. This depot is a reconstruction of a typical small town depot of the 1920s.

The TVRM was named to the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 1980. That was followed during that decade by expansion of the organization, and acquiring more land donated by Southern Railway. During the 1980s, the TVRM gradually added more track and buildings. The Grand Junction Depot, the TVRM Administration Building, and the National Model Railroad Association were starting to take shape during the decade, as well. At the East Chattanooga facility, a repair shop and a turntable were added to provide facilities for locomotive repair and maintenance. Beginning in the 1990s, TVRM started running trains to the Chattanooga Choo Choo (called the Downtown Arrow, now discontinued) and excursions to Summerville, Georgia on the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway.

In 2004, TVRM and the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association partnered in acquiring part of the former L&N Hook and Eye line between Etowah (Gee Creek, Tennessee) and Copperhill. Since then, the new Hiwassee River Rail Adventures have been a popular addition to the railroad. With the success of the Hiwassee trips, TVRM created two distinct operating divisions: the Chattanooga and Hiwassee divisions. Crews and sometimes equipment are often switched between the two.

The museum celebrated 50 years during the Labor Day weekend of 2011. Norfolk Southern Railway also debuted their new steam excursion program during the event until 2015.[2][3]

Current operations

Today, TVRM continues to run trains including local freight service. Visitors can take a one-hour 6-mile (9.7 km) round-trip ride, which is often pulled by a steam locomotive. In addition, most weekends from April until November offer excursion trains, at times pulled by steam locomotives.

In 2004, TVRM began providing half-day excursion trains to the Hiwassee Loop, a corkscrew route around Bald Mountain near Farner, Tennessee. These trips run out of the station in downtown Etowah, Tennessee (about an hour's drive (63 miles (101 km)) northeast of Chattanooga). Since this is along the CSX mainline, which is heavily used for freight, a bus takes travelers on a short ride south to Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park to transfer. The 50-mile (80 km) excursion goes east along the Hiwassee River and through the Hiwassee Gorge to Farner, just short of the North Carolina state line. Full-day trips turn south, stopping at lunchtime in the twin towns of Copperhill, Tennessee and McCaysville, Georgia, and returning in the afternoon.

This route is that of the former Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railway and is also called the Hiwassee Route. The remainder of the AK&N (later L&N and then CSX) line in Georgia is operated by the Georgia Northeastern Railroad, with subsidiary Blue Ridge Scenic Railway operating another heritage railroad from McCaysville to Blue Ridge, Georgia, and GNRR freight running south of there.

TVRM also handles freight. On TVRM's Chattanooga Division, there is one industry, Allied Metals. TVRM handles switching operations, under the wholly owned subsidiary Tyner Terminal Railway Company,[4] at Enterprise South Industrial Park (ESIP), location of the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant. Even though there are no major industries along the Hiwassee Division, TVRM has the capability to store several hundred cars at the Copperhill yard for other railroads.

Restoration work

TVRM has a working locomotive and car repair shop complex, Soule Shops, named after co-founder, Robert M. Soule, Jr. In March 2011, TVRM completed restoring Southern Railway Ks-1 class 2-8-0 630 to operational status. In September 2014, TVRM completed the second restoration of Southern Railway Ms class 2-8-2 4501 for another excursion career with Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam Excursion Program. At present, 3 passenger cars are undergoing restoration. One is No. 1877, a former Chessie / Chesapeake and Ohio, later Denver & Rio Grande Western round end dome-lounge-observation, being restored from long static condition. Another is 1917 Pullman built office car No 98. The 98 was built for Baltimore & Ohio President Daniel Willard and after leaving B&O ownership in the 1960s came to TVRM in 1977, having been a fixture ever since, hence the need for a thorough restoration after decades of service. Next is Southern Railway 832, a 52-seat passenger coach built in 1949 by the Budd Company. Along with the 3 passenger cars, 1953 built EMD E8, Southern Railway 6914, is undergoing restoration as well. Other projects move in and out of the shop as needed as well as routine inspections on the museum's steam locomotives. 630's 10-year-long restoration was the most extensive restoration ever performed at TVRM, as well as one of the most extensive steam locomotive repairs in the United States since the end of steam on the railroads.

Equipment

Locomotives

Number Images Builder Type Build date Status Serial Number Notes
4501 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1911 Operational 37085 [5][6]
630 American Locomotive Company Steam 1904 Operational 28446 [6][7]
610 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1952 Stored, awaiting overhaul 75503 [6]
10 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1920 Stored, awaiting cosmetic restoration 53182 [6]
349 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1891 Display 11994 [8]
80 Electro-Motive Division EMD GP38 1968 Operational Unknown [6]
109 American Locomotive Company ALCO RS-3 1950 Stored Unknown [6]
606 General Motors Diesel EMD SW1200 1954 Operational Unknown [6]
710 Electro-Motive Division GP7 1950 Operational 10551 [6]
814 Electro-Motive Division EMD F7A 1949 Stored, privately owned Unknown [6]
913 American Locomotive Company ALCO RS-1 1950 Display Unknown [6]
200 Baldwin Locomotive Works EMD 567C 1941 Stored, out of service Unknown [6]
1824 Electro-Motive Division EMD GP7L 1951 Stored, out of service 15694 [6]
1829 Electro-Motive Division EMD GP7 1951 Operational 15699 [6]
2594 Electro-Motive Division EMD GP30 1962 Operational 28564 On loan from the Southeastern Railway Museum.[6]
3170 Electro-Motive Division EMD SD40 1971 Display Unknown [6]
5000 Electro-Motive Diesel GP38-2 1972 Operational Unknown [6]
5044 General Motors GP38-2 1973 Operational 7362-35 [6]
5109 General Motors GP38-2 1974 Operational 73752-2 [6]
6914 Electro-Motive Division EMD E8 1953 Undergoing restoration Unknown [6]
7100 American Locomotive Company Diesel 1943 Stored, out of service Unknown [6]
8669 American Locomotive Company ALCO RSD-1 1945 Display Unknown [6]
8677 American Locomotive Company ALCO RSD-1 1945 Stored Unknown [6]

Passenger cars

Railroad CompanyOperating NumberCar NameCar TypeStatus
Baltimore & Ohio98Eden IsleBusinessUnder restoration
Central of Georgia390CombineOperational
Central of Georgia661CoachOperational
Central of Georgia662CoachOperational
Central of Georgia906CoachOperational
Central of Georgia907CoachOperational
Southern829CoachLeased Operational
Southern832CoachRestoration
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac857CoachOperational
Missouri Pacific873CoachOperational
Grand Trunk Western899Silver LakeDiningOperational
Pullman Co.Clover ColonySleeperOperational
Southern1000CoachOperational
Southern1037CoachOperational
Norfolk & Western1486Randolph-Macon CollegeCoachOperational
Norfolk & Western1488Emory and Henry CollegeCoachOperational
Canadian Pacific15401Algonquin ParkObservation/DomeOperational
Southern1683CoachStored
Louisville & Nashville2728Cross Keys TavernDiningOperational
Louisville & Nashville3103CoachOperational
Southern3158Travelers FareDiningOperational
Southern3164DiningOperational
Great Northern9410DomeOperational

Former units

Number Builder Type Build date Notes
3 American Locomotive Company Steam 1924 Built by the American Locomotive Company in 1924 for the Southern Wood Company in Chattanooga. Retired 1961 and sold to Paul Merriman. Sold to the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio in 1994. Currently on static display.
35 Lima Locomotive Works Steam 1910 Built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1910, it was sent to a heritage railway in Australia in 2014.
36 Lima Locomotive Works Steam 1916 Built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1910, it now operates at the Cass Scenic Railroad.
203 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1928 Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in January 1928 at Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad #402. Sold to the Gainesville Midland Railroad in 1946 and renumbered to 203. Retired in 1959 and later donated to the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society in 1961. Arrived at TVRM on January 8, 1964. It was to be repaired and used for excursions but paperwork supporting its transfer to TVRM was never completed.[9] It remained on static display for over 25 years until being sent back to Atlanta. It is currently on static display at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia.
509 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1913 Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in April 1913 as Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad #403, later renumbered to 509. Sold to the Louisiana Midland Railroad in 1950 where it was later involved in a collision with an L&A 2-8-2 in 1952. Sold to the Rapides Gravel Company and hauled gravel there until retirement in 1966. Sold to a railfan named John Thompson in 1968 who later sold it to the Whitewater Valley Railroad in 1974. Arrived at TVRM in 1982. Sold to the Cookeville Depot Museum in 2002. Currently on display, disguised as Tennessee Central Railway #509
611 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1943 Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1943 as U.S. Army #2628. Later renumbered to 611 in 1951. Sold to the Texas State Railroad in the 1970s. Arrived at TVRM in 1991. Sold off to Bill Miller Equipment Sales in 2010.
722 Baldwin Locomotive Works Steam 1904 Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in September 1904. Sold to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad in 1952 and renumbered to 208. Retired in December 1967 and sold to the Southern to participate in the steam program. Leased and operated at TVRM from 1980 – 1985, put on static display due to a cracked firebox. Transferred to the Asheville Chapter NRHS in 1992. Sold to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City, North Carolina in December 2000, currently under restoration to operating condition.[10]
5288 Montreal Locomotive Works Steam 1919 Initially constructed for the Grand Trunk Railway before ownership of the engine was obtained by the Canadian National Railway. In 1961, the engine was sold to F. Nelson Blount for his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection, and the engine would be put on display in Bellows Falls, Vermont before it was eventually moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 2001, 5288 was sold to the TVRM, where it was put on display near the Chattanooga depot. It would later provide parts for Southern 4501's restoration. In 2023, the engine was acquired by the Colebrookdale Railroad.[11]
Flying Duchess Robert Stephenson and Company Steam 1953 Built by Robert Stephenson and Company of England in 1953 for the Meaford Power Company in Staffordshire, England. Later sold to the Boyne City Railroad in Boyne City, Michigan 1976. Arrived at TVRM in 1981. Sold to the Ohio Valley Railroad Historical Society in 2000. Currently undergoing cosmetic restoration.

TVRM in the movies

TVRM has been a prime movie spot since the early 1970s. Several of the rail cars that TVRM owns have been used in movies, i.e. the collection holds the Pullman sleeping car "Clover Colony" that was used in the Marilyn Monroe movie Some Like It Hot, which was filmed in 1959, two years before TVRM started.

A partial list of movies and music videos shot with TVRM equipment follows:[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Railinc, Search MARKs Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, accessed September 2009
  2. ↑ "'21st Century Steam' Launches Labor Day Weekend". PR Newswire. August 19, 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Gunnoe, Chase (December 22, 2015). "NS steam operations to focus exclusively on No. 611 next season". Trains. Kalmbach Media. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  4. ↑ Smoke & Cinders, Quarterly Publication of TVRM, Vol. 52, No. 2, 2nd Qtr, 2013, Page 1 (ISSN 1083-1606)
  5. ↑ Carver, M.A. (September 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form – Mikado Locomotive No. 4501". National Park Service. Archived from the original on February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Railroad Equipment". Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  7. ↑ "News & Updates". Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum loans historic locomotive to Children's Hospital". The Cleveland Daily Banner. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Justin Roberson". www.facebook.com.
  10. ↑ Franz, Justin (May 23, 2023). "Great Smoky Mountains Railroad to Restore Southern 2-8-0". Railfan & Railroad. White River Productions. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  11. ↑ Weekly, Berks (2023-04-08). "Colebrookdale Railroad acquires steam locomotive #5288 from Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum". Berks Weekly - Local News, Entertainment, Traffic, Weather, Sports. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  12. 1 2 "In the Movies". Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Fool's Parade at IMDb
  14. ↑ Eleanor & Franklin at IMDb
  15. ↑ Last Days of Frank and Jesse James at IMDb
  16. ↑ Fled at IMDb
  17. ↑ Mama Flora's Family at IMDb
  18. ↑ October Sky at IMDb
  19. ↑ The Adventures of Ociee Nash at IMDb
  20. ↑ Warm Springs at IMDb
  21. ↑ Heaven's Fall at IMDb
  22. ↑ Leatherheads at IMDb
  23. ↑ Water for Elephants at IMDb
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