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C&O 1309 Progress


The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad shop crews are now focused on reassembly of C&O 2-6-6-2 No. 1309. To assist with the rebuild, a small group of employees visited the Collis P. Huntington Chapter NRHS in Huntington, W.Va., to take measurements and photograph C&O No. 1308, in order to document and record items missing from 1309. The locomotive tender is nearing completion and is expected to be painted soon. Work on the cab will be started shortly thereafter, and will be built new due to the condition of the original. Boiler work continues at a steady pace. WMSR anticipates a return to service this summer. You can contribute to the restoration fund at www.movingfullsteamahead.com/1309.


PHOTO BY JOE GOODRICH


STEAM AND PRESERVATION JEFFREY D. TERRY


Western & Atlantic 4-4-0 Restored for Exhibit Some 153 years after participating in


the “Great Locomotive Chase,” Western & Atlantic 4-4-0 No. 49, the Texas, is being restored as a centerpiece exhibit for the Atlanta History Center’s new 23,000-square-foot Lloyd and Mary Ann Whitaker Cyclorama Building, scheduled to open in 2016 on the Center’s 33-acre campus in Buckhead, a north Atlanta suburb. The Texas, which turns 160 years old this year, was removed from its longtime home at the Cyclorama building in Atlanta’s Grant Park on December 21 and is now at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, where it will undergo a $500,000 stabilization and cosmetic restoration. The work is being performed by Scott Lindsay’s Steam Operations Corp., the contractor responsible for bringing N&W 611 back to life last year. The Texas is one of the oldest locomotives in existence. It was constructed in 1856 by Danforth & Cooke of Paterson, N.J., for the Western & Atlantic Railroad. On April 12, 1862, it was commandeered by Capt. William A. Fuller, whose Confederate locomotive General had been stolen earlier in the day at Big Shanty Station. Fuller pursued the General with the Texas, eventually capturing the locomotive and some of the Union spies near Ringgold, Ga. Although the “Andrews Raid” was ultimately unsuccessful, the story captivated the American public and has spawned numerous books and movies. After the war, the Texas was returned to W&A, which numbered it 49. In later


years, it was converted to a coal burner, fitted with a new boiler, and renamed Cincinnati. Thanks to the efforts of historian Wilbur Kurtz, in 1908 the retired 4-4-0 was donated to the City of Atlanta and in 1911 was placed on outdoor on display in Grant Park. In 1927 it was moved to the basement of the Cyclorama building, which was erected within Grant Park during 1921 to house the famous Battle of Atlanta painting. In 2014, it was decided that both the Cyclorama painting and the Texas would be relocated to a new facility at the Atlanta History Center. On December 21, 2015, the Texas was carefully extracted from the Cyclorama building through a temporary hole in the basement wall. Both the locomotive and tender were shipped to Spencer the following day, and are now undergoing restoration in NCTM’s 1905 back shop. “What it is going to look like is the easy


part,” said History Center Vice President of Properties Jackson McQuigg. “We can debate that but it’s just paint. We want to address the rust and structural issues, the things that have been ignored over the years in favor of cosmetic restoration.” Those structural issues include significant corrosion under the boiler jacket and in the tender and smokebox, as well as broken springs. For more about the Texas restoration,


visit www.atlantahistorycenter.com and the NCTM website at www.nctrans.com.


Maine Two-Footer Back in Steam


Last operating under steam 82


years ago, Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway No. 9 is back among the living. On December 5 the


two-foot-gauge 0-4-4 moved under its own power at Alna, Maine, culminating a decade-long restoration effort by owner WW&F Railway Museum, which was founded in 1989 to restore and rebuild a section of the original railroad. Every piece of the 125-year-old locomotive was reconditioned and the work also included major wheel and running gear repairs along with the installation of a new boiler. No. 9, a 20-ton Forney-type, was built


in 1891 by the Portland Company of Portland, Maine, for the Sandy River Railroad as its No. 5. The Sandy River was founded in 1879 and was the first narrow gauge common carrier in Maine. It had connections with two other Maine narrow gauge roads, the Phillips & Rangeley and the Franklin & Megantic. In 1908, the three railroads were combined to form the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes, and SRR No. 5 became SR&RL No. 6. Due to a decline in business, No. 6 was


sold in 1924 to the Kennebec Central and renumbered 4; it was used to haul coal over KCRR’s five-mile line until 1928 when the road lost its coal contract and closed. The engine was stored until January 1933 when it was sold to the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington to replace a locomotive damaged in an engine house fire. Renumbered 9, it was briefly put into operation on WW&F’s line between Wiscasset and Albion until a cracked frame member was discovered in June 1933, taking it out of service. A derailment two days later shut down the WW&F for good. No. 9 was preserved in 1937, the


same year the WW&F was scrapped, by Frank Ramsdell, who moved it to his farm near Putnam, Conn., where he hoped to build a backyard railroad. This


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