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	Images 	Heritage 	Type 	Builder 	Built 	Status 	Notes
4501 	 	Southern Railway 	2-8-2 	Baldwin Locomotive Works 	1911 	Operational 	
610 	frameless	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 	Images	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.	
== Visiting Locomotives ==
Image	Locomotive 	Type 	Wheel Arrangement	Manufacturer 	Build Date
 	Lehigh Valley Coal No. 126	 	0-6-0ST 	Vulcan Iron Works 	May 1931
 	Southern Railway No. 2594 	EMD GP30	B-B 	Electro Motive Divison	1962
==External links==
* Official Website
Category:Heritage Railways
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Category:Tourist Railways
Category:Tourist Attractions
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Category:Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum