Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (reporting mark TVRM) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman and Robert M. Soule, Jr., along with a group of local railway preservationists. They wanted to save steam locomotives and railway equipment for future historical display and use. Today the museum offers various tourist excursions from stations in Chattanooga and Etowah, Tennessee.

History[]

The railroad was founded in 1960 and incorporated in 1961, it was originally stored equipment at the Western Union pole yard, which was located adjacent to the Southern Railway classification yard on Holtzclaw Avenue in East Chattanooga. After the termination of passenger service to the Southern Railway's Terminal Station in 1971, additional cars and locomotives were stored at this facility in downtown Chattanooga.

In 1969, the TVRM received a land donation from the Southern Railway, consisting of a property located in East Chattanooga on North Chamberlain Avenue. This donation included the 986-foot (301 m)-long Whiteside Tunnel and about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) of abandoned right-of-way.

In 1970, the museum opened a new permanent facility to the public in East Chattanooga. At the time, it had no structures on site. Volunteers had constructed a railyard for the storage and repair of equipment and had rebuilt the abandoned rail line through the Whiteside Tunnel. The reconstructed line ended at Tunnel Boulevard, as the original bridge over this road had been removed some years earlier.

With the reconstructed rail line, the museum had the ability to produce a small amount of income by operating a heritage railroad. They ran passenger excursion trains through Whiteside Tunnel (commonly referred to as Missionary Ridge Tunnel, because it went through Missionary Ridge). In Railfest 2013. From TVRM Railfest 2013. Southern railway locomotives are 630 steam. And diesels FP7 6133 and GP30 2594

Additional income was derived from mainline excursions operated biannually via the Southern Railway's Steam Program. The Southern Railway's Steam Program was created by Paul Merriman and TVRM, after Merriman purchased the former Southern Railway 4501 in 1964 from the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway in Stearns, Kentucky for $5,000. By 1966 the 4501 had been restored during a 2-year process, conducted at Lucey Boiler Company in Chattanooga. After many volunteer hours by TVRM members as well as paid Lucey Boiler employee work, the 4501 was operated throughout the Southern Railway System.

Today, TVRM continues to run trains. It has also started local freight service. Visitors can take a one-hour 6-mile (9.7 km) round-trip ride, which is often pulled by a steam locomotive. In addition, most weekends from April until November offer excursion trains, at times pulled by steam locomotives.

Equipment[]

Locomotives[]

Number	Heritage	Type	Builder	Built	Status	Notes
4501	Southern Railway	2-8-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1911	Operational
610	U.S. Army Railroad	2-8-0	Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation	1952	Display; awaiting restoration
630	Southern Railway	2-8-0	American Locomotive Company	1904	Operational
349	Central of Georgia Railway	4-4-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1891	Static Display
6910	Kentucky & Tennessee	2-8-2	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1920	Stored
8669	Tennessee Valley Railroad	ALCO RSD-1	American Locomotive Company	1945	Display
1824	Tennessee Valley Railroad	EMD GP7L	Electro-Motive Diesel	1951	Stored, out of service
1829	Tennessee Valley Railroad	EMD GP7L	Electro-Motive Diesel	1951	Operational
8677	Tennessee Valley Railroad	ALCO RSD-1	American Locomotive Company	1945	In Storage
913	Hartford and Slocomb	ALCO RS-1	American Locomotive Company	1950	Static Display
710	Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway	EMD GP7	Electro-Motive Diesel	1950	Operational
7476	USN Baldwin	Baldwin VO-1000	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1943	Stored	It was bought by the TVRRM and is liveried as NC&StL #36.
2	Lookout Mountain's Incline Railroad				Stored
5000	Southern Railway	EMD GP38-2	Electro-Motive Diesel	1972	Operational
3170	Southern Railway	EMD SD40	Electro-Motive Diesel	1971	Display
80	Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia	EMD GP38	Electro-Motive Diesel	1968	Operational
606	Milwaukee Road	EMD SW1200	Electro Motive Divison	1954	Operational
5044	Southern Railway	EMD GP38-2	Electro Motive Divison	1973	Operational
5109	Southern Railway	EMD GP38-2	Electro Motive Divison	1974	Operational
576	Chicago & North Western	EMD F7	Electro-Motive Diesel	1949	Stored
578	Chicago & North Western	EMD F7	Electro-Motive Diesel	1949	Stored
F3060	Gallatin Plant	FM H-16-66	Fairbanks-Morse	1958	Display
6914	Southern Railway	EMD E8A	Electro-Motive Diesel	1953	Undergoing restoration
109	Central of Georgia Railway	ALCO RS-3	American Locomotive Company	September 1950	Stored
200	St. Louis–San Francisco Railway (Frisco)	Baldwin VO-1000	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1941	Stored
7100	U.S. Army	ALCO S-2	American Locomotive Company	1943	Stored

Former Locomotives[]

Number	Heritage	Type	Builder	Built	Status	Notes
3	Southern Wood Preserving	0-4-0	American Locomotive Company	1926	Currently at the Age of Steam Roundhouse
35			Lima Locomotive Works	1910	It was sent to a heritage railway in Australia in 2014.
36			Lima Locomotive Works	1916
203	Gainesville Midland	2-10-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1928	Currently at the Southeastern Railway Museum
509	Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad	4-6-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1913	At the Cookeville Depot Museum.
611	U.S. Army Railroad	2-8-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1943	Stored
722	Southern Railway	2-8-0	Baldwin Locomotive Works	1904	Stored while awaiting restoration	Leased and operated at TVRM from 1980 – 1985, put on static display due to a cracked firebox. Now at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in storage while currently awaiting restoration.
1026	Georgia Railroad	EMD GP7	Electro Motive Divison	1950	Currently at the Southeastern Railway Museum
5288	Canadian National Railway	4-6-2	Montreal Locomotive Works	1919	Currently being restored to operating condition.	Acquired by the Colebrookdale Railroad in Boyertown, PA in 2023.
7745 Flying Duchess	Meaford Power Company	0-6-0	Robert Stephenson and Company	1953	Sold to the Ohio Valley Railroad Historical Society in 2000. Currently undergoing cosmetic restoration.