Visit to Tennessee Valley

 

 Last week we visited the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga.  The museum has two main sites, about five miles apart on opposite sides of Missionary Ridge, connected by the main line which goes through a tunnel under the ridge.  That's certainly a unique setup.  We'll start at the east end, called Grand Junction, where much of the equipment is on display.

CofG 349 is a 4-4-0, built in 1891 by Baldwin for a predecessor road.

 CN 5288 is a heavy Pacific built by Montreal in 1919.

There are many nice passenger cars on display, many of them repainted in TVRM's own paint scheme and lettering.

The displayed equipment is in remarkably good shape, considering the lack of indoor storage.

The brick station building is quite impressive.

At the west end of the line is East Chattanooga, where the shop facilities are located.  Luckily, I was able to wander around early in the morning, before revenue service started.  

 This is the revenue service train, being readied at the loading platform.  Unfortunately, the round trip didn't fit in with our schedule.

 The 610 was built in 1952 by Baldwin for the U.S. Army. 

 This must be K&T #10, a 1920 Baldwin 2-8-2.

(R) I think this must be the famous 4501, currently being worked on.








At the blacksmith shop, guys were already at work on pounding iron into shape.

The crane is of interest, and in front of it is a frame with a blower that can be conveniently placed over the stack for firing up. 

Finally, we even have an early car from the Incline (which runs up Lookout Mountain) in the back of the property, although it's evidently no longer on public display.  The wooden platform is inaccessible.

Anyway, the museum itself is well worth visiting, and one of these days I've got to allow enough time for one of the longer excursion rides.