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.