Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

For many of us, our first job is one related to fast food. The phrase “would you like fries with that?” perpetually on our lips as we deal with belligerent customers demanding not too much ice in their soda. But for a select few near Chattanooga, their job is more suited to the early 1900s. Located just a few hours north of Atlanta, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a place in the modern world, but not of it. Steam locomotives chuff and pant and vintage diesels grumble and hoot as they traverse three miles of track in Tennessee, a little lost world keeping the past alive.

Begun in 1959 and formally chartered in 1961, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum started small and continued to expand over the years. In 1969 museum volunteers repaired and reconstructed donated track. The 1980s brought the addition of a turntable and the Grand Junction Depot. Now home to a number of locomotives and coaches, a repair shop, the depot, and more, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a slice of 1930s America just waiting to be explored.

For Travis Gordon, 17, a resident of Tunnel Hill, GA, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is his place of employment. He's been interested in trains since the age of 2, crediting his grandfather's time with the N.C. & St. L. Railroad as a major force. Gordon originally wanted to be in engine service and work with the steam locomotive TVRM runs, but after passing his observation hours and brakeman training he was instead placed as a conductor. He plans to start on engineer training once he turns 18. As a conductor in training Gordon's duties include assisting the conductor with train operations, operating the turntable, punching tickets, giving tours, and detailing the history of the railroad and the area during the train ride. His time working with the TVRM has been full of sights and sounds that the majority of Americans no longer get to participate in.

“One that tends to stand out, was the time when I was a regular worker on the dining car to Chickamauga. Even though it is not amusing so to speak, I had a peaked [sic] interest in the old Santa Fe Railroad CF-7 Locomotives that they had home built from the old passenger engines that used to pull the Super Chief since seeing one operate in New Haven, Kentucky at their railroad museum. We were in Chickamauga, GA., and both of the runaround tracks were full of freight cars. Engine #2594, an EMD GP30, which pulled us down there, moved to an empty stub siding. Conductor Jeff Eblen let me up in the cab of Chatooga and Chickamauga Railway CF-7 #103 while the C&C Pilot, Tom Foden, used it and GP11 #1804 to move our 3 car train so that the TVRM engine could get on the other end for the return trip, and I have always remembered that day.”

The Museum's steam locomotives and rolling stock have been used in a number of movies and television shows over the years including “October Sky”, “Leatherheads”, and “Water for Elephants” as well as “FDR” and “The Last Days of Frank Jesse James.” The railroad also made an appearance on “Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy” on the History Channel. One of the most picturesque portions of the line, and the reason for its abandonment by Southern Railway, is Whiteside Tunnel, a horseshoe tunnel piercing Missionary Ridge, under construction from 1856 to 1858.

While beautiful to the eye and of significant historical interest, the one track tunnel created a significant bottleneck for commercial traffic on the line as the decades rolled by. A new line was constructed and the old tracks abandoned, eventually being donated to the TVRM in 1969.

Kyle Shannon, 18, from Daisy Hill, TN, has always been around the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Shannon spends his time working with the steam locomotive at TVRM. His favorite experience?
“Favorite experience was probably my first time in the steam locomotive going to Georgia, I was the coal cutter, but never actually fired, but to see how hot and much they fired was very neat. To hear the locomotive working up the grade was also amazing. There's not much that can beat hearing the locomotive work up the grade and see what it takes to keep it working at that pace.”

Locomotive #610, a 2-8-0 Consolidation locomotive originally built for the United States Army, is currently the only operational steam locomotive at TVRM while #630 undergoes restoration. The locomotive pulls the Missionary Ridge Local three times daily during the season, traveling from the Grand Depot Junction to the turntable three miles away at the repair shop and back again. A GP7 diesel electric locomotive built in 1951 for the United States Army shares the load, especially in colder weather.

For Alex Morrow, 18, originally from Athens, TN but now a resident in Chattanooga, the job is rewarding. He's in training to be fireman on the steam locomotive, and currently works in the repair shop.
“There's a lot of stories to choose from so it's hard to pick just one but one of my favorite things is when people come up to the locomotive for a cab tour and they say I have an awesome job and that I'm lucky to get to do this kind of stuff. It's a good feeling when people tell you that.”

The TVRM repair shop is currently finishing the restoration of steam locomotive #630, and has the capacity to repair and maintain all locomotives and rolling stock used by the railroad as well as provide services to other railroads. Although a museum railroad the TVRM does handle freight operations for Allied Metals, and performs switching operations for the new Volkswagen plant.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Do yourself a favor and visit. Take a short ride on the Missionary Ridge Local, or a six hour trip on the Chickamauga Turn. And if you see Gordon, Shannon, or Morrow, try not to be too jealous. After all, somebody still has to flip the burgers.