Southern Railway 630
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Southern Railway 630, in operation, posing at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum's Grand Junction Station. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Southern Railway 630 (commonly referred to as Southern 630) is a 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotive built in 1904 by the Richmond Works of the American Locomotive Company for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 Consolidation class. After being retired from revenue freight service in 1952, the 630 served as member of the Southern Railway's excursion program from 1967 to 1983. Today she is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, where she operates as part of Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam excursion program.
History
630 was used on the Southern Railway in regular freight service until it was retired on June 6, 1952. In December of that year, 630 and 722 were purchased by the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad and numbered 207 and 208 respectively. In December 1967, both locomotives were traded back to the Southern for use in their steam excursion program and restored to their former identities in return for a pair of former Central of Georgia Alco RS3s.
The steam locomotives headed main line excursion trains over the entire Southern system until 1983 when both were retired again from the Southern in favor of larger power. They both were leased to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. 722 was later loaned by Southern's successor Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) to the Asheville Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society of Asheville, North Carolina. TVRM ran 630 until 1989 when it was yet again retired. 630 was donated to TVRM in 1999 by NS.
1999-Present
Shortly thereafter, 630 entered the TVRM's restoration shop (now Soule Shops) and underwent a thorough ten-year restoration — one of the most thorough restorations performed on a steam locomotive in the U.S. in recent years, including frame work and complete running gear overhaul. 630 returned to regular service on TVRM in March 2011 and is participating in the 21st Century Steam program instituted by Norfolk Southern.
The locomotive has toured several eastern states between 2012 and 2014 for this program, including Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia.
References
- Ferrell, Mallory Hope (1991). Tweetsie Country. Johnson City, TN: The Overmountain Press. ISBN 0-932807-58-5.
- Tillotson, Curt, Jr. (2005). Southern Railway Steam Trains, Volume 2 - Freight. Forest, VA: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 0-9766201-5-4.
External links
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