One of my brother-in-laws has come into a model steam engine built by his grandfather. It is/was an actual operating steam engine. It was on display at the old railroad station in Beaufort, N.C. for many years and returned to the family not long ago.
There is little or no information on what line or locomotive the model represents. It is not known if the color is even representative. I asume the loco is from the late 19th or early 20th century.
I was thinking it might be a Norfolk and Western or Virginian locomotive. But that is only a guess.
Does anyone know what railroad lines would have been in the Norfolk area or the Beaufort, N.Cl area at the beginning of the last century?
Beaufort, NC was served by the Norfolk Southern. This is the OLD Norfolk Southern, not to be confused with the modern conglomorate that was formed in 1981. The “original” Norfolk Southern ran from Norfolk, VA, south and west to Charlotte until it was acquired by the Southern in 1974. The Beaufort end of the Norfolk Southern later was acquired by the Beaufort & Morehead Railway (short line) in 1937.
The model appears to be quite generic, and it may be difficult to attribute it to a specific line, especially since the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement was the “American standard” and was found on most early railroads. The extreme shortness of the tender, the arch bar style trucks on the tender, and the slide valves would imply a locomotive built 1880 or even before (IMHO).
Very nice model you have there! I live not too far from Beaufort and have done some research about this line in order to determine its potential to be modeled. The Norfolk Southern did operate trains on the line until the mid 1930’s, however the track was owned by a company called the Atlantic and North Carolina. They owned the line that went from Greenville, NC, Through New Bern to Morehead City and Beaufort. The Norfolk and southern connected with this line in New Bern, coming in from the north on the line from Washington, NC. When the NS stopped running the line, the Atlantic and North Carolina formed their own railroad company, the Atlantic and East Carolina Railroad, to run this line. I believe it did so until being taken over by the Southern in the 1970’s or 80’s. The Beaufort and Morehead Short line was formed to handle the industrial switching at these towns at the south end of the line. If you search around online you can find several photos of A&EC as well as B&M locomotives. I believe I have also seen a locomotive similar to your model photographed on the trestle into Beaufort in the early 1900’s. If you’re interested in any more info, send me a message.
