Southern Railway 630 On The Mainline To Cleveland Without Diesels

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum held its annual Rail Fest the weekend of September 7th and 8th, 2013. As part of the festivities, restored Southern Railway 2-8-0 #630 took to the former Southern line to Knoxville with a series of round trips to Cleveland, Tennessee. The four 42 mile round trips featured the locomotive running pulling the trains without any diesels in the consist. We were on hand for the weekend, covering the four trips and some of the other movements at the museum. Three photographers covered the action in widescreen format. The 630 put on a heck of a show pulling her water canteen and eight cars on Saturday; six cars on Sunday. Riders on board with GPS clocked the train at speeds up to 43 miles per hour, and the line’s roller coaster profile resulted in plenty of loud stack talk that at times resembled a jet at takeoff. We also take a look at the 630 in service on the Tennessee Valley’s regular Missionary Ridge Local trains on the museum trackage, including scenes in the cab. Along with the DVD program, this two disc set includes a 16 track CD of sounds of Southern 630 in operation. These sounds were digitally recorded, with the first seven tracks recorded on museum trackage and the last nine recorded during the mainline trips. Turn up the volume on a good sound system, and the 1904 Alco will rearrange furniture and annoy the neighbors!