Southeastern Railway Museum

The day after Christmas, my parents, Emma, and I spent the afternoon at the Southeastern Railway Museum. Their large and growing collection includes a number of cosmetically restored rolling stock from railroads in the Southeast including several large steam locomotives. This post covers some of the photographs from that visit.


Savannah and Atlant #750 - This 4-6-2 "Light Pacific" built in 1910 pulled excursions all around the Southeastern U.S. including one in 1989 that I rode on. It was last operated that year and currently sits on static display, having been cosmetically restored.



Click on photos to expand them to their full version.






My darling Emma at the throttle. Her right hand is on the power reverse lever, and her legs are crossed because she is a lady.


Me in the cab. The smaller numbers [expand the photo] refer to dimensions of the running gear: 69" driver wheels, 22" diameter cylinders, 26" stroke.



This is a direct shot of the Walschaerts valve gear. A valve gear provides a linear reciprocating motion that is either 90 or 270 degrees out of phase with the main crank pin plus a small amount of lead thereby determining which side of the piston steam is admitted and for how long during the stroke. To reverse the steam locomotive, the radius rod pivot is moved to the top of the expansion link.



Attention all Boiler Makers!


S&A #750 - This photograph of #750's firebox illustrates why it is very unlikely she will ever run under steam again. The crownsheet was worn considerably and panels were cut out along the top sides of the firebox. Needless to say, a lot would have to be repaired here for #750's boiler to be certified.

Also visible in several of the large flues are the ends of superheater steam pipes. To improve the efficiency of the boiler, steam is piped down and back through the large fire tubes before it reaches the throttle valve. This increases the stagnation temperature of the working fluid yielding what is known as "dry steam" and increases the amount of work it can do in the cylinders. In effect, this applies the concept of a water tube boiler to the fire tube design used in nearly all steam locomotives in the U.S..





A&WP 290

Later in the day and being the trouble maker that I am, I gave myself a self-guided tour of the SERM's machine shop which houses an assortment of locomotives and rolling stop in various stages of disassembly.


A&WP #290 - Here, we see Atlanta and West Point #290, the [formerly] beautiful 4-6-2 "heavy Pacific" that ran with #750 in the New Georgia Railroad until steam excursions stopped entirely. #290 was featured in the film Fried Green Tomatoes [killing Buddy and severing Buddy Jr.'s arm] and has been covered in several Pentrex videos: link [YouTube].


I didn't have my tripod in the shop, and exposure times were typically between 2 and 3 seconds, so the photos are slightly blurry. Last time I was here [May 2005], #290 was in the midst of restoration to operational status. The jacketing that insulates the boiler has been removed, as seen here, and preperations were underway to lift the boiler and firebox off the chassis to have it shipped to Alabama.

There, it was planned that her boiler be thoroughly inspected and analyzed for repair and recertification, something every steam boiler must undergo every ten years. Unfortunately, funding never crystalized, and Norfolk Southern has since refused to permit steam operations on its mainlines. Lacking cash and a place to operate her, SERM has since stopped hard work on #290 though they hope to have her on static display at some point. Talking with one of the shop foremen, it seems her boiler "should" be viable and her running gear is in excellent shape. "If 4501 can cross the country, why not #290?" Why not indeed!


This is what a "good" firebox looks like.


Built in 1926, A&WP #290's valve gear is of the more modern Baker type which was adopted by all USRA "Heavy Pacifics." I find it exotic and interesting. Apparently this design has joints that are easier to lubricate and less susceptible to wear.

More photos of #290 in operation may be found on the Internets.

Georgia Power #97



SERM is more concerned with restoring their 0-6-0 Georgia Power #97. This is its boiler, primered and ready to be shipped off for analysis. Its smaller, cheaper to operate, and they can run it within the grounds of the museum to give rides and do work making it much more practical.



This is its chassis.

The End

Feel free to visit the disorganized dump of photos taken that day. Most were recorded as RAW that I hastily and automatically converted and downsampled to JPEG.