1890 steam locomotive in line for restoration
Master mechanic has had engine in sights for 28 years
By Jessie Pounds
Friday, August 22, 2008
Almost 30 years ago, a 7-year-old visitor to Chilhowee Park took a look at an old steam locomotive and made a prediction.
"I stood at that fence, and I told my family that I was going to restore that engine someday," said Jeff Parrott, now 35 and a contracted master mechanic of steam for Three Rivers Rambler excursion train service in Knoxville.
A turn of fate has Parrott's family laughing as his long-ago boast comes a step closer to becoming a reality.
The 118-year-old steam engine No. 154 is scheduled to journey through Knoxville today aboard a flat-bed truck to Knoxville Locomotive Works off Central Street, where a two-year restoration project will begin.
Pete Claussen, CEO of Gulf and Ohio Railways and owner of the Three Rivers Rambler, recently acquired the engine free from Old Smoky Railway Museum in the hopes that Parrott and the rest of the mechanical crew could get the 1890 engine running again, just as they did with Lindy, an 83-year-old steam engine that pulls the excursion train on special occasions throughout the year.
If they succeed, No. 154 will be one of the oldest steam engines operating in the country.
Before it moved to Chilhowee Park, No. 154 had a long history as a working engine. The locomotive is a 2-8-0 consolidated steam engine, built in 1890 by American Locomotive Company at the Schenectady Plant in New York for the East Tennessee Virginia & Georgia Railroad.
Later, Southern Railway used No. 154 at the former Coster Shops off Interstate 275 and along the railroad from Knoxville to Sevierville.
In the 1950s, as diesel engines made steam trains obsolete, the railroad donated the locomotive to the city of Knoxville as an attraction for Chilhowee Park.
When the locomotive became an asbestos hazard in the 1980s, the Old Smoky Railway Museum stepped in and acquired the train from the city of Knoxville in return for a pledge to take care of the asbestos problem.
The railway museum members did so but didn't have the resources to get the locomotive running again. So it sat at Chilhowee Park until today.
For Jim Tolliver, president of the Old Smoky Railway Museum, it's hard not to feel a little protective of the engine.
"Something that old and that rare, well, it's hard to give up, but if they go through with restoration, we'll see it steam again." Tolliver said.
As for Parrott, he's excited but has a case of nerves about transporting the engine through Knoxville traffic. He said he'll sleep better when the 118-year-old steam engine is safely on the tracks and the work he dreamed about as a child can begin.
Jessie Pounds may be reached at 865-342-6414
article here:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/2 ... storation/
pics:
Jeff Parrott, master mechanic of steam for Three Rivers Rambler, left, looks on Thursday as Mark George and Stan Bostic line up the section of track that houses the 1890 steam locomotive at Chilhowee Park to a section of rail that will guide the engine to the back of a tractor-trailer.
Troy Ogle prepares to secure the 1890 steam locomotive that has been on display at Chilhowee Park for the past 54 years onto a tractortrailer Thursday for transport to a restoration site.
Workers maneuver No. 154, a 1890 steam locomotive, Thursday from the section of track it has been displayed on for the past 54 years at Chilhowee Park to the back of a tractor-trailer. The locomotive, recently acquired by the Three Rivers Rambler, will be transported today to Knoxville Locomotive Works off Central Avenue, where a two-year restoration project will begin.
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