The story and history of the 4501 was a really fascinating recounting of some of the history of this Southern Railway locomotive.
It would be interesting to know how many readers and posters here were exposed to Rail Fan Experiences that took place around this Engine and its tours of the South in the 1970’s.
Old friends and avid railroad enthusiasts, as well as owners of a local Hobby Shop , for whom I worked after school in High School. I really got me involved in the hobby with HO trains, there, and then actual railfanning around town. The younger Brother was very involved with not only the Hobbiest community, he had contacts in many of the railroads that served our area. One of those Enterprises was to partner with the Southern Rwy on Fan Train rides. They cooperated on a number of trips between Memphis, Tn and Corinth, Ms. Of course it was the 4501 that pulled those trains I was fortunate to be in the crowd in 1972 to see 4501 run on Saluda Grade. My son took his first train rides behind 4501 on a couple of runs of the LeBonheur Hospital/ Sentimental Journey trips. between Memphis and Corinth.
Still have a soft spot for 4501. Any one else?
I don’t have any personal experiences with 4501 but still have a soft spot for her. I’ll explain.
In 1975 there was a TV special called “Riding the Rails”, hosted by Johnny Cash. As a Johnny Cash fan and steam freak I just had to watch it. As the show opened Johnny climbed up into the cab of 4501, sat in the engineers seat, and ran it down the 'road for the cameras. I’ll never forget the sight of Johnny in the cab grinning wide enough to eat a banana sideways!
I’ve got the show on video and still watch it every once in a while just to get that vicarious thrill.
I posted this story a few months ago…
In August of 1994, my son and I were returning from visiting my mother in Florida. We stopped at a rest stop and I picked up some tourist brochures. One was for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and it pointed out that you could ride a train from the North end of the museum’s track to the Museum Shops a few miles to the South and there YOU COULD TAKE A SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR OF THE SHOPS. (Pardon my emphasis there, the reason will be apparent soon). I figured the “tour” was probably just a roped off walkway along one side of the shop building, but it should be interesting to at least see the shops.
We stopped at the North Museum grounds and depot, and signage encouraged us to climb into the cabs of several different Locomotives on display there. We wandered all over them and had a lot of fun!
When the train (pulled by Steam Locomotive #610) arrived from the south, my son was invited up into the cab by the engineer (I was jealous and my son sure gloated about it!) When the train was ready to leave, my son climbed down and we boarded one of the passenger cars.
We took the train South, through Missionary Ridge Tunnel, to the Museum Shops. We watched the Loco being turned on the turntable, run around the train to couple onto the other end of the train and we watched it leave.
Then we headed for the shops to take the “tour”. I was surprised to see that we were the only people doing so.
We went down a nice walkway to the shop buildings and there in the middle of the walkway, just outside the building was a sign on a post:
Authorized Personnel
Only
No Admittance
to the Public
NO TRESPASSING!