The General ( locomotive ) The General is a type 4 - 4 - 0 steam locomotive that was the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War . The locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw , Georgia , and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . It was arguably the first train ever hijacked . Before the Civil War . Built in 1855 by Rogers , Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson , New Jersey , " The General " provided freight and passenger service between Atlanta , Georgia , and Chattanooga , Tennessee , before the Civil War on the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia and later , the Western and Atlantic Railroad Company . Civil War . During the Civil War on April 12 , 1862 , " The General " was commandeered by Northerners led by James J . Andrews at Big Shanty ( now Kennesaw , Georgia ) , and abandoned north of Ringgold , after being pursued by William Allen Fuller and the " Texas " . Low on water and wood , the " General " eventually lost steam pressure and speed , and slowed to a halt two miles north of Ringgold , where Andrews and his raiders abandoned the locomotive and tried to flee . Later , the " General " narrowly escaped destruction when General John Bell Hood ordered the ordnance depot destroyed as he left Atlanta on September 1 , 1864 . However , the engine was severely damaged by being run into boxcars of ammunition and the Missouri locomotive . This was done deliberately so as to render the engine unusable for the approaching Union forces . Post - war Service . It had been speculated by some that , after the General had been damaged , the invading Union army restored the engine and operated it . However , many historians believe that the engine was left untouched for the remainder of the war . The Union army had based its repair shops in Nashville , and there is no evidence to suggest the engine was moved there . The United States Military Railroad Service had many new or like - new engines , so they had no need to restore captured ones such as the " General " . The USMRR had often left the damaged equipment of a captured railroad undisturbed , and its records , having listed the " General " as " captured and returned , " further suggest such was the case of the " General " . After the war ended , the " General " was repaired and continued service on the Western and Atlantic . In the 1870s , the " General " was completely rebuilt , it had received a new pilot , boiler , and other components . Most notably , its three dome configuration was reduced to two domes , and its Radley - Hunter style balloon stack was replaced with a diamond stack , as the engine had been converted to burn coal . Indeed , the rebuilt engine had little resemblance to its original form . Before the Civil War , most railways in the south , including the W & A , did not give their engines numbers . Rather , they were simply named , such as the " General " . When the railroad began numbering engines after the war , the " General " was the 39th engine to be acquired by the road , and was numbered accordingly . Locomotives came and went as years progressed , and by 1880 , a renumbering was necessary . At this time , the " General " was given the number " 3 , " being the third oldest engine that the railroad had at the time . The engine continues to carry this number today . In the mid - 1880s , the Atlanta and Florida Railroad began construction . During this time , the W & A had a locomotive surplus after buying several more modern engines , so they leased the " General " to the A & F from 1887 to 1888 to assist in construction . The locomotive was originally built to the southern states standard rail gauge of . After a change to the northern states gauge was mandated by June 1 , 1886 , " The General " was converted to be compatible with the U . S . Standard Gauge of . Retirement and Exhibition . The " General " was retired from service in 1891 and stored on a siding in Vinings , GA where it awaited its final fate . Early the next year , E . Warren Clark , a professional photographer , discovered the engine in Vinings , and approached John W . Thomas , president of the Nashville , Chattanooga and St . Louis Railway ( which had won the lease on the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia in 1890 ) , with the proposal of restoring the " General " for exhibition at the upcoming World ' s Columbian Exposition in Chicago . Thomas accepted , and the " General " was soon taken to the NC & StL Ry Shops at West Nashville to be restored . At this time , the engine was given a Radley - Hunter style balloon stack similar to the engine ' s original , and was reverted to a wood burner . The engine soon encountered problems involved with burning wood , so it was restored back to a coal burner . The engine was given a unique new stack at this time , one that , while designed for coal burning , was styled like the original so as to give the appearance of a wood burner . While the engine ' s display in Chicago was costly , and left Warren Clark broke afterward , it had insured the " General ' s " preservation . In 1901 , the " General " was placed on display in the Chattanooga Union Depot . There , it remained on display for nearly fifty years , only being removed for short periods for exhibitions . In particular , the engine was taken to Baltimore in 1927 to participate in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ' s " Fair of the Iron Horse , " then in 1933 to Chicago ' s " Century of Progress " Exhibition , the 1939 New York World ' s Fair , and finally , the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948 . In 1959 , The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , removed the " General " from the Chattanooga Union Depot and began to restore the engine to operating condition at its South Louisville Shops , for the American Civil War Centennial . As part of the restoration , the " General " was given modern air brakes , a modern coupler ( only on the tender , the older style coupler on the engine ' s front pilot remained ) , and was converted to burn oil . Throughout the 1960s , the engine pulled Louisville and Nashville Combine Car Number 665 as travelled to various places across the eastern US , including the 1964 New York World ' s Fair under its own power . A Battle for Custody . In the mid - 1960s , the state of Georgia began to express interest in reclaiming the engine . Indeed , many proposals about the " General " had arisen since the 1930s , while it was still on display at Chattanooga , including plans to have the " General " be displayed in Underground Atlanta , Kennesaw Mountain , or at Stone Mountain Park , among others , some of which even included removing the Texas from the Cyclorama to be displayed with the engine . While much press coverage was given about these proposals , none of them had ever materialized . Even the city of Paterson , New Jersey , where the locomotive was built , expressed interest , since many engines had been built by Rogers and other firms in the city , but had none to display . Paterson eventually withdrew their proposal and sought other engines to display . The state of Georgia ' s interest in the " General " soon raised tensions with the city of Chattanooga , where the " General " was displayed . In 1967 , the city of Kennesaw , where the engine had been stolen in 1862 , requested to have the engine visit and give rides during a fundraiser . The " General " was on its way there , when it was stopped by a group led by Chattanooga ' s mayor , Ralph H . Kelley . He believed the engine belonged to the city , and a lawsuit had been filed against the L & N concerning custody of the engine . Thus began a long legal battle , eventually going to the US Supreme Court . This dispute lasted until 1970 , when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the railroad . The " General " was stored in Louisville during this time , only being publicly displayed over a weekend in November 1971 , when it was displayed in the city ' s Union Station alongside the road ' s newer diesel engine no . 1776 . Present day . After the L & N won the legal dispute concerning the engine ' s custody in 1970 , they brought the engine to Atlanta via Knoxville and Cartersville , bypassing Chattanooga . In February 1972 , a ceremony was held in Atlanta where L & N president Kendall formally presented the General to then state governor ( and later President of the United States ) Jimmy Carter . Afterwards , the engine was moved to Kennesaw where a museum site was prepared . On April 12 , 1972 , the Big Shanty Museum ( later known as the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History ) opened , and the " General " remained on display there since . References . < references >