Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

Southern Railway 4501, one of six steam locomotives at the museum.
Location of TVRM within Tennessee
Established	1960 (1960) / 1961 (1961)
Location	4119 Cromwell Rd. Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Coordinates	35°04′00″N 85°12′23″W / 35.066667°N 85.206389°W / 35.066667; -85.206389
President	Tim Andrews
Website	www.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[edit]

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 $49,120 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.

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Locomotives[edit]

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]
F3060		Fairbanks-Morse	FM H-16-66	1958	Display	Unknown

Passenger cars[edit]

Former units[edit]

Number	Images	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[edit]

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]

• Fool's Parade (1971) (Southern 4501 as B&O 4501)^[13]
• Eleanor & Franklin (1976), starring Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann^[14]
• The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James (1986)^[15]
• Fled (1996) (shot on the TVRM mainline)^[16]
• Mama Flora's Family (1998)^[17]
• October Sky (1999) (Southern 4501 appearing as N&W 4501 with O. Winston Link being the engineer)^[18]
• The Adventures of Ociee Nash (2003)^[19]
• Warm Springs (2005) (shot in Summerville, Georgia, using TVRM equipment)^[20]
• Heaven's Fall (2007)^[21]
• Leatherheads (2008), starring George Clooney and Renée Zellweger (TVRM 610 disguised as a Chicago and North Western Railway locomotive)^[22]
• Water for Elephants (2011), starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson (TVRM 610 disguised as a Southern Pacific locomotive)^[23]
• The music video for Josh Turner's 2003 country music hit single "Long Black Train" was shot on TVRM property as well.^[12]
• The music video for Eric Church song "Creepin'" (2012) was filmed on TVRM property.
• 42 (film) (2013), starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford Jackie Robinson leaves for the Montreal Royals, a minor league single-A division club under the ownership of the Brooklyn Dodgers, from the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum's main station. Southern 630 also made an appearance in this movie but with a different number.

See also[edit]

• List of heritage railroads in the United States

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
• Additional information about TVRM and co-founder Robert M. Soule
• The 21st Century Steam Project by Norfolk Southern and TVRM