September 21, 2019 – The John A. Chambliss “TAG 80” sits next to L&N 1593 (Southern 4501) during a photo charter to the depot in Chickamauga, Georgia. Southern 4501, was all dressed up as L&N 1593, during the L&N Historical Society weekend at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) at Chattanooga, TN.
September 21, 2019 – The John A. Chambliss “TAG 80” passes through and industrial section of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as it returns from a photo charter run to Chickamauga, Georgian, with Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593 trailing, during the L&N Historical Society weekend at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM). Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
According to the TVRM Website it was built for the Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railway in 1968, TAG 80 was the last and most powerful engine purchased by that railroad. The engine was named “The John A. Chambliss” in honor of the railroad’s vice president, and dedicated on his 80th birthday.
The 80 was later sold to the Southern Railway, and later became the property of Norfolk Southern, who sold it at auction to the Chambliss family in 2001, who then donated the locomotive to TVRM. The locomotive was restored mechanically, electrically and cosmetically between 2015 and 2016, returning to service in March 2017. It is a model GP38, developing 2,000 horsepower.
September 20, 2019 – Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593, sits on the turntable at the shops in East Chattanooga, during the Annual L&N Convention night shoot, at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
September 21, 2019 – The conductor stands ready to throw the switch after Southern Railway 630 departs from East Chattanooga, Tennessee on one of its several runs for the day. Southern 630 is a 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the Richmond Works of the American Locomotive Company for the Southern Railway as a member of the KS-1 Consolidation class. Today, it operates at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
September 21, 2019 – Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593, heads into a curve at Chattanooga, Tennessee as it heads south to Chickamauga, GA, during the 2019 L&N Convention.
September 21, 2019 – Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593, passes the old Peerless Woolen Mills at Chattanooga, Tennessee as it heads south on the Chattanooga & Chickamauga Railroad during the 2019 L&N Convention.
September 20, 2019 – Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593, sits next to Southern 630, during the Annual L&N Convention night shoot, at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
September 21, 2019 – Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593, approaches the Hwy 27 overpass on the Chattanooga & Chickamauga Railroad, as it heads south into Chickamauga, Georgia, during the 2019 L&N Convention, at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
September 20, 2019 – Southern 4501, all dressed up as L&N 1593, as it sits next to Southern 630, for the Annual L&N Convention, at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee during a night photo shoot.
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 heads for the East Chattanooga shops and station with a loaded passenger train during the 2017 Railfest at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, at Chattanooga, Tennessee.Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 heads for the East Chattanooga shops
September 9, 2017 – The conductor on one of the passenger train movements during Railfest 2017 at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum keeps a watchful eye from the vestibule of one of the cars, as the train backs up.
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 enters the west end of Missionary Ridge Tunnel, with a loaded passenger train, during the 2017 Railfest at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, as it heads for the station at East Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Completed in 1858 the tunnel is the primary reason TVRM runs on the three-mile section of the former Southern Railway. As railroad equipment grew too large to pass through and the single-track tunnel became a traffic jam for an otherwise double-track railroad, Southern Railway abandoned the three mile portion of the line and built a new section around the end of Missionary Ridge, avoiding the tunnel altogether.
The museum restored rails through the tunnel in 1971 and continues to use the pre-Civil War Tunnel on a daily basis.
September 9, 2017 – Disrupting the quietness of the early morning with it’s huffing and puffing as Southern Railways steam locomotive 630 pulls through a tunnel of trees with a loaded passenger train heading west, on a return trip to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum at Chattanooga, TN during 2017 Railfest.630 heading for Chattanooga, TN
September 9, 2017 – POWER! There’s nothing like a living, breathing, moving steam locomotive and when you put two together it’s amazing sight to see and witness! Here we have Southern steam locomotives 630 and 4501 after exiting Missionary Ridge Tunnel on their way back to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum shops, at East Chattanooga, TN, after a full day of passenger runs during the museum’s recent 2017 Railfest.
September 9, 2017 – Southern steam locomotive 4501 rounds a curve, with it’s passenger train, as it heads west to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN, from their East Chattanooga Shops, during 2017 Railfest. #jimstrainphotos
September 9, 2017 – Planes, Trains, and …. Southern steam locomotives 630 and 4501 sit at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN as they prepare for the first run of the day at their 2017 Railfest, as a plane takes off over them to parts unknown, as early railfans work to get their “perfect shots” of the newly arrived locomotives.
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway steam locomotive 630 bursts from the east end of Missionary Ridge Tunnel with a loaded passenger train during the 2017 Railfest at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, as it heads for the station at East Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Completed in 1858 the tunnel is the primary reason TVRM runs on the three-mile section of the former Southern Railway. As railroad equipment grew too large to pass through and the single-track tunnel became a traffic jam for an otherwise double-track railroad, Southern Railway abandoned the three mile portion of the line and built a new section around the end of Missionary Ridge, avoiding the tunnel altogether.
The museum restored rails through the tunnel in 1971 and continues to use the pre-Civil War Tunnel on a daily basis.
September 9, 2017 – Southern Railway diesel locomotives 5000, 3170, 2594, with a freight train, sits on the Chickamauga Creek bridge at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum during the museum’s 2017 Railfest night photo shoot.
September 9, 2017 – In the quietness of the early morning the sound of the approaching steam locomotive is heard before it can be seen. Anticipation builds as Southern Railways 4501 pulls into view with a loaded passenger train west, around a sweeping curve, on the return trip to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum at Chattanooga, TN during 2017 Railfest.
2017 Railfest, Chattanooga, TN – I’m often torn when I decide to shoot video trackside, because I invariably hate “missing” a good photograph, but Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s Railfest lended itself so well to video that I made an effort to get some footage using my iPhone 7 Plus. The below, slightly over 13 minute, video is a bit longer than I normally do, but I think it flows pretty good and I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse into the event.
It’s a selection of videos from the 2017 Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Railfest Operations, Chattanooga, Tennessee of Steam and Diesel operations around the museum and between Chattanooga and East Chattanooga.
September 9, 2017 – I was thinking that this scene would make for a nice shot if only I had a central subject, other than the platform and passenger cars, when I heard the patter of little feet running up behind me and this little boy ran past me, at the East Chattanooga, TN Depot sign at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, into the scene and looked back! The fact that he was dressed as an engineer made it even better!
How many of us can recall what it was like to be a child this enthused by a steam train or any train for that matter! I hope the child in all of us never goes away when it comes to our passion for photographing, riding, watching, observing or anything else that has to do with trains!
When out shooting your rail photography don’t forget to record the people and not just the trains! One without the other won’t exist, especially when it comes to historic preservation!