Southern Appalachia Railway Museum

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum is a railway museum headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum
An Alco RS-1 of the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum.
Overview
HeadquartersKnoxville
Reporting markSARM
LocaleKnoxville, Tennessee
Dates of operation1990 (1990)–present (present)
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Other
Websitewww.sarmrail.org

History

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The Southern Appalachia Railway Museum was founded in 1990.[1] The museum collects antique locomotives and rolling stock to run on their 7 miles of track from the K-25 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to an interchange with Norfolk Southern at Blair, Tennessee and back. The museum formerly ran an excursion train along this route using their rolling stock.[2] The ride runs over former Southern Railway trackage. The excursion train's name was the Secret City Scenic using Oak Ridge's nickname the "Secret City". The museum does an annual trip and railfan weekend. The excursion train typically ran on the first and third weekend of each month with the exception of special trains. A freight railroad still uses the tracks with the Scenic sometimes using some of the engines. The museum is currently restoring a Southern EMD E8 #6913 among other projects. The museum's ticket office is an old guard station that has been restored.

In 2000, the reuse committee of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee approved a lease of land to the museum for a visitor center, train depot and repair shop.[3]

In 2016 the museum ceased passenger excursion train operations but continues the restoration and preservation missions while seeking out a new home for excursions.

Rolling stock

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Units

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Passenger Cars

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  • Central of Georgia coach no. 663 1947 ACF Coach
  • Central of Georgia coach no. 664 1947 Budd Coach "Fort Oglethorpe"
  • Central of Georgia coach no. 665 1947 Budd Coach "Fort McPherson"
  • Southern Railway no. 34 1928 ACF RPO
  • Southern Railway no. 543 1942 St.LCC Baggage Car
  • Southern Railway no. 2206 1949 Pullman sleeper "Roanoke Valley"
  • Southern Railway no. 3164 1926 Pullman dining car (on loan)

Freight Cars

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  • Kansas City Southern no. 3763 1938 ACF Bulkhead Flatcar
  • Louisville & Nashville no. 6487 Caboose
  • Oneida & Western no. 9990 Caboose (on loan)
  • Savannah & Atlanta no. X253 Caboose
  • Southern Railway no. X261 1973 Gantt Manuf. Caboose
  • Speno no. SRBX-24 Boxcar, former Boston & Maine
  • Tennessee Valley Authority Flatcar

References

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  1. ^ "Southern Appalachia Railway Museum to Restore CofG's Man o' War Train". Railfan & Railroad Magazine. August 7, 2021.
  2. ^ "Rail Museum offers cool rides for summer". The Oak Ridger. June 28, 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  3. ^ Brass, Larisa (February 21, 2000). "CROET reuse committee approves three leases". The Oak Ridger. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  4. ^ "Seaboard Coast Line SD45 being restored for museum". Trains. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015. (subscription required)
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