Steam Train Watch!

A different kind of watch today across North and Central Alabama…a steam train watch!

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum will be running excursions next weekend out of Birmingham on its ex-Southern Railway 2-8-0 steam engine #630 built in 1904 and recently restored by them.

The engine is headed to Birmingham today. It left Chattanooga at 8 a.m. CDT. It should average about 40 mph, but it is heavily dependent on how the railroad expedites its move with the normal freight traffic.

If you extrapolated that, you might think it would get to Attalla about 11 a.m. I would expect a service stop there. This might put it to Springville about 12:30 or 1 and Trussville about 1 or 1:30, then into Norris Yards I would assume. There is more uncertainty in this forecast that if we were trying to predict an inch of snow, so take it with a grain of salt and pass on any spotting reports you get.

If you see or hear of the train, post a comment! If you are going to watch it pass through your town, be respectful of railroad property (they take that trespassing stuff seriously) and BE SAFE!

I appreciate the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and the Norfolk Southern Railroad for keeping this part of our history alive.

Here’s more info on the excursions and tickets. See you on the train!

Category: Hodgepodge