TVRM 4501 at East Chattanooga

Ex SR 4501 brings her train into the East Chattanooga depot at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and rides the turntable in May, 1993.

SEE NS NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT:

http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/Media/News%20Releases/2010/steam-to-ri...

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• TVRM
• 4501
• Chattanooga
• turntable
• train
• museum
• adventure
• cityscape
• travel
• log

[WearybottomAssociate]

SEE NS NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT LINK IN UPDATED DESCRIPTION.

[FreeFallin1976]

This is a priceless video!!

[WearybottomAssociate]

Thank you so much. I hope to have her in my viewfinder again soon.

[NWPowhatanArrow611]

Great video!! I can't believe the 4501 has been out of service for almost 10 years (will be exactly in September). This is the longest period of time it has gone unserviceable since Paul Merriman purchased it from the K&T in 1966. This is a rather unusual move as the TVRM crews did not use 4501 often on the Missionary Ridge local as supposedly 4501 was rather heavy and stalled out the turntable a few times because of the engine and tender weight combined.

[WearybottomAssociate]

I apologize for the starburst filter. I went through an unfortunate fascination there for a short time. For the opening scene I placed the camcorder on a short tripod about ten inches above the platform and just outside the yellow line.

[nicholasbreeden]

but they wouldn't do that because everyone would see how much better steam really is. I mean they lasted this long. They adapted to all these boiler regulations and all that other crap. and some of them are way over 150 years old. my point being...STEAM IS BETTER THAN DIESEL!!

[SouthernRR4501]

Can you ride in the cab? I think it's a complete and utter waste of time to restore an old diesel. You can see those every day, and they're so boring to watch. I should have changed my screen name to Dieselsuckbigtime. I'd rather hear a musical whistle play out though the mountains than some ugly horn. Diesels have no SOUL, period.

[TVRM610]

Work has been progressing well on #4501 since official restoration began in March, 2011. And 21st Century Steam had it's kickoff on Saturday, September 3, 2011 when Southern 2-8-0 #630 made 2 runs that day and 2 the next day on the NS Mainline.

[hollywood1340]

@SouthernRR4501 Your comment is telling of the sad state of affairs. HISTORY deserves to be saved, be it old or "modern". The history of the railroads did not end with steam. I love steam too but let's work on preserving RAILROAD history for all generations.

[FreeFallin1976]

I wish I could hit the LIKE button 1000 times, but it won't let me! Any updates on the 2011 restore completion?

[FreeFallin1976]

Update on 4501! The guy who sold us tickets to ride 610 on the Missionary Ridge excursion said that 4501 is planned to have excursions with NS beginning in 2011. When we saw her at East Chattanooga backshop, she was outside the shop with a black cab, red primer on the boiler, and the front of the boiler was off.  So, hopefully that means they've been working on her. Here's hopin!!! :-) I wish I could post pics of how she looks right now.

[FreeFallin1976]

So here's the scoop! We were at East Chattanooga this past weekend and rode Missionary Ridge with 610. The guy who sold us tickets said that hopefully in 2011, NS will be adding more excursions, including 4501!! He also said the boiler survey went very well. When we got to the back shop, we saw 4501 outside the shop. No rails were attached to the wheels. Her cab was painted black, the boiler had some kind of reddish primer, and the front of the boiler was still off. Let's hope this comes true!

[Chris9017]

The TVR hopes to have 4501 back in steam in time for her 100th birthday celebration next year. To bring her back, it'll be a quarter of a million dollars to a fix her, they might have some tricks up their sleeves to bring her back.

[coolbreeze4501]

You must have saw 4501 old tender, it is still green. The tender she has now is painted black, just like the rest of the engine. To tell the difference the old tender has rivets on the side where as the new one is smooth sided.

[tvrmjunkie]

nice vid we are not exactly restorin her just yet not enough money 610 is going out of service around june 2010 and 630 should be out around september or so 4501 not at the top of the list we also have a 2-8-0 611 in the back of the yard

[FreeFallin1976]

We were at the museum a few months ago, and the tender is still green and has 4501 on the sides. Then, we saw the engine inside the repair shop getting worked on. So, I truly hope she'll be up and running again. Not only that, I hope they get her as gorgeous as she was before. It's only right!