Walking Horse Railroad #345

Walking Horse Railroad is a short line railroad which connects a CSX Branch from Wartrace to Shelbyville, TN. The short line is named in honor of the Tennessee Walking Horse which is prominent in the area.

The line was abandoned by Seaboard in 1985. The Bedford (County) Railroad Authority then created the Walking Horse & Eastern (WHOE) line. In 2019, it was purchase by Ironhorse which operates other short lines such as the nearby Caney Fork & Western. The line was renamed to Walking Horse Railroad (WHRR).

CN IC #9613 Locomotive at the Memphis Pyramid

Before this picture taken in 2015, I had never photographed a CN train before, even though I had been around West Tennessee and the former IC mainline several times. So, imagine my joy when I get to Memphis and see this as soon as I get there. Canadian National #9613 is formerly Illinois Central #9613 It is an EMD-GP38-2 built in 1974.

L&N 796 - Bowling Green, KY

While Bowling Green is a great place to see a Corvette, there's also a great locomotive to see. Louisville & Nashville #796 is at Bowling Green's Historic Railpark & Train Museum. Built in May 1951, this is one of about 450 General Motors EMD E8A models ever built.

Norfolk & Western #675 - Bluegrass Railway

Seen at the Bluegrass Railway Museum in Versailles, KY is the N&W Diesel Locomotive #675 which is now used for most of their excursion trains. The Class GP-9 Engine was built by E.M.D. of General Motors. It was donated by Consolidated Coal Corporation of Pittsburgh PA. She was restored at the Mid-America Locomotive Works in Evansville, Indiana, painted in N&W freight black and placed back in operational service in 2007. 675 is equipped with dual control stands, both of which are still operational. This allows the engineer to run the locomotive from either side of the cab.

When I was in the process of lining up this photo, a museum employee asked me to hold my pose so he could photograph me photographing the train. I guess I ought to ask them if I can get that picture from them. :)

Cowan, TN Train Depot and Steam Locomotive

The Cowan Depot is wood frame and built in 1904 for the NC&StL railway. When in use, it was originally on the other side of the still-in-use-by-CSX tracks but moved further away to its current location in 1976. It's built in a railroad Gothic style architecture and has been repainted to the original green and yellow colors. The building is in the process of renovation. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Every year, the town has a Summer Weekend festival called Cowan Depot Days with the goal of raising money to further restore the station.

Cowan is located on the historic line that runs from Nashville to Chattanooga and is perhaps best known by railfans as the last stop before ascending Cumberland Mountain and the picturesque but almost inaccessible Cumberland Mountain Tunnel entrance. CSX keeps pusher cars on hand to help trains make the incline to the top.

Steam Locomotive #1 has been the highlight of the Cowan Railroad Museum for many years. It's a Columbia Type 2-4-2. It was built by Porter in 1920 as a tenderless Tank style locomotive and converted with a small homemade tender and had the saddle tank removed. The cab used to contain a small coal bunker. The Engine was functional around Charleston, SC until 1964 when it was sold to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Then, was sold to the Cowan museum in 1979.

To see my other photos from the Depot Museum, look here:
www.flickr.com/photos/brent_nashville/tags/cowanrailroadm...

Hartford & Slocomb Railroad #913

Hartford & Slocomb was a shortline that operated 22 miles of track near Dothan, AL until 1992. Now, this engine is seen at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga. This Alco RS-1 was built in 1950 and was one of ten built originally for the Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad.

Southern #630 Ready to Depart - Railfest 2013

Railfest is the annual celebration at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN. This year as part of the celebration, they offered Southern Railway 2-8-0 #630 as an excursion round trip to Cleveland, TN. .

This locomotive was built in 1904 by the American Locomotive Company Richmond Works. It was restored to operation at TVRM in 2011 and is now part of Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam program.

You can see quite a thorough collection of photos of #630, the Missionary Ridge Local with Southern FP7 #6133, and other rolling stock on the grounds. This gallery is on my website here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frailfe...

Also, I took video and put it on youtube:
Just the steam train departure seen here: youtu.be/QVBCATNnTQI
That, and more footage of the steam train: youtu.be/85iljPK1TfY
All the steam footage, plus the Missionary Ridge local: youtu.be/AhCCpvO41iM

Kentucky West Tennessee (KWT) Railroad (New & Old)

Kentucky West Tennessee Railroad is a short line railroad that runs from Murray, KY through Paris, TN to Bruceton, TN where it interchanges with CSX. This photo was taken in Bruceton where there is a major CSX freight yard. KWT was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in 2005 and this locomotive is painted in their yellow and orange paint scheme. A second line also runs from Dresden to McKenzie.

Lynnville, TN Depot Museum, Locomotive & Wigwag

Lynnville is a small town in Giles County where L&N operated a Passenger depot. That depot was torn down when passenger service stopped in town. However, a few decades later, a new replica was built to be operated as a museum. Wigwags are tough to find these days and this is the only one I think I have seen in Tennessee.

The highlighted locomotive at the museum is a 1927 Prairie type 2-6-2 Baldwin Steam Locomotive. It hauled freight for the St. Louis & O'Fallon railroad at first and was retired after 37 years in use. in 1997, the museum acquired it.

Other trains cars at the museum include a 1923 Pullman Passenger Coach (which inside has a sub-museum honoring nearby Milky Way Farms), a 1950 wood deck flat car, and a 1971 caboose. To see all of the Lynnville Depot Museum pictures, Click here.

Tennessee Southern Railroad Locomotive - Loretto, TN

A few years ago, Tennessee Southern was what made me learn about Short Line railroads. I was in Columbia, TN and I saw a red and blue train coming my way, and I was perplexed to see anything other than CSX. Then I saw the name Tennessee Southern and I wondered if it was some weird holdover hybrid of the old Tennessee Central and the Southern Railway. It wasn't. It's a short line.

Tennessee Southern is today owned by Patriot Rail Corporation, and this photo was taken where the train runs through Loretto, TN - a small town in Lawrence County.

Their website explaines where they run today.
www.tennesseesouthern.com/aboutus1.htm
"The Tennessee Southern Railroad began operation in July of 1988 on former Norfolk Southern track in Florence, Alabama. On February 1, 1989, the TSR began operation on the former CSX Transportation track running from just north of Columbia, Tennessee to Pulaski, Tennessee on the old N & D (Nashville and Decatur) Main from Columbia, Tennessee to Florence, Alabama on the old NF&S (Nashville, Florence and Sheffield) Main. The TSR interchanges rail traffic with CSX Transportation at Natco, Tennessee located just north of Columbia, Tennessee. Additionally, we interchange with all inland barge lines through our Port Facility at Florence, Alabama, where we transfer freight to or from barge traffic on the Tennessee River."

Andrew's Raiders Monument - Chattanooga

Located in the Chattanooga National Cemetery is this 1890 monument to Andrew's Raiders from the Great Locomotive Chase in the Civil War. Atop the monument is a bronze scale model replica of the steam locomotive The General from the chase. Surrounding the monument, Medal of Honor recipients from the Union raid are buried here.

Tennessee Central 6902 - Watertown, TN

The Tennessee Central 6902 is a Diesel EMD E8 locomotive built in 1953. Originally, it was built for New York Central and became part of Penn Central, New Jersey transit and New Georgia railroad.

In the late 80's, the train came to Nashville to become the Broadway Dinner Train with this Crimson and Silver color scheme. When the Dinner Train closed in 1999, the train was then used by the Tennessee Central Railway Museum for many of their excursions. One of the most popular excursions is the semi-annual trip to Watertown, TN in Wilson County for the Mile Long Yard Sale. Behind it are two 1952 EMD F7B Boosters.

Armour Fertilizer Works #9 Locomotive - Columbia, TN

Armour Fertilizer Works was a phosphate mining & processing company that flourished in Maury County in the early part of the last century. This 36" Narrow Guage 0-4-0T was built in 1927 by Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre, PA. It was moved here at Maury County Park in Columbia in 1988 for the 100th anniversary of the local Phosphate Industry. The locomotive has been nicknamed the Louis J. Finney Special in honor of the local civil leader who was part of the county's park commission.

L&N #405 Locomotive - Watertown, TN

L&N #405 is part of the rolling stock of the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. This EMD GP7 was built in 1951. On this day, 405 carried an excursion to Watertown for the Mile Long Yard Sale. After this locomotive was acquired by Tennessee Central, it went under an extensive repaint back to its original colors.

Here is what it looked like three years ago before the repaint was complete:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=nashville%2Ftennesse...

Green River Power Station Locomotive

This is seen at the Bluegrass Railway Museum in Versailles, KY as part of their rolling stock. This is what their website has to say about it:
Kentucky Utilities #001
Builder: General Electric
Class: 45 Ton Center Cab
Status: OPERATIONAL
Once the switcher at the Tyrone Power Station, #001 was donated to the museum by Green River Power Station of Kentucky Utilities. The museum hopes to paint her back to her original red scheme used at the Tyrone plant.

Southern #630 and the Engineer - 2013 Railfest

Railfest is the annual celebration at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN. This year as part of the celebration, they offered Southern Railway 2-8-0 #630 as an excursion round trip to Cleveland, TN. This locomotive was built in 1904 by the American Locomotive Company Richmond Works. It was restored to operation at TVRM in 2011 and is now part of Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam program.

You can see quite a thorough collection of photos of #630, the Missionary Ridge Local with Southern FP7 #6133, and other rolling stock on the grounds. This gallery is on my website here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frailfe...

Also, I took video and put it on youtube:
Just the steam train departure seen here: youtu.be/QVBCATNnTQI
That, and more footage of the steam train: youtu.be/85iljPK1TfY
All the steam footage, plus the Missionary Ridge local: youtu.be/AhCCpvO41iM

NCStL #710 - Copperhill, TN

I didn't think I'd ever see an NCStL locomotive out in the wild, but I saw this EMD GP7 parked in a train yard outside of Copperhill, TN. I'd like to think I just happened to stumble across a vintage locomotive that just happened to be sitting around. Realistically, that kind of thing doesn't happen too often.

As it turns out, this locomotive is used by the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum based out of Chattanooga. One of their excursions called the Hiwassee River Rail starts from Gee Creek near Etowah and occasionally goes all the way to Copperhill.

During the years the GP7 was made, NCStL purchased 37 of them. Before acquired by TVRM, it spent several decades with Amtrak.

Southern GP30 #2594 Locomotive

Railfest is the annual celebration at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN. In addition to the featured Southern #630 Steam Locomotive were two diesel engines, this one and Southern FP7 #6133 which pulled visitors along the Missionary Ridge local throughout the day during the 2013 Railfest.

According to the TVRM website:
"General Motors Corporation’s Electro-Motive Division built the 2594 in 1962 for the Southern Railway. On loan from the Atlanta Chapter NRHS, it is known as a GP-30 and has over 2,000 horsepower. The engine would have been used in tandem with other diesel-electric locomotives to haul long freight trains across the country. Today, the 2594 hauls TVRM’s excursion trains and wears the same historic Southern Railway paint scheme as when it was new. "

You can see quite a thorough collection of photos of #2594, Steam #630, #6133, and other rolling stock on the grounds. This gallery is on my website here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frailfe...

Santa Fe 4245 (Now NWRR)

This old Santa Fe GE B23-7 diesel locomotive is now owned by Nashville & Western Railroad (and previously Nashville & Eastern Railroad. NERR and NWRR are owned by the same people.) I originally say this train parked here from I-40 just west of downtown Nashville so on my next time in the area, I decided to get a closer look.

TVRM Railfest 2013: Southern Steam Locomotive #630 Departs

Railfest is the annual celebration at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN. This year as part of the celebration, they offered Southern Railway 2-8-0 #630 as an excursion round trip to Cleveland, TN. This photo was taken as the train departed the station.

I took a ton of photos, and as of this writing, I haven't picked my flickr-worthy favorites yet, but you can see quite a thorough collection of photos of #630, the Missionary Ridge Local with Southern FP7 #6133, and other rolling stock on the grounds. This gallery is on my website here:
seemidtn.com/gallery/index.php?album=chattanooga%2Frailfe...

Also, I took video and put it on youtube:
Just the steam train departure seen here: youtu.be/QVBCATNnTQI
That, and more footage of the steam train: youtu.be/85iljPK1TfY
All the steam footage, plus the Missionary Ridge local: youtu.be/AhCCpvO41iM