During World War II, the J3s hauled heavy freight and troop trains. After the war, they were used in freight and passenger service until the early 1950s, when dwindling traffic and the onset of dieselization led to their retirement and scrapping by early 1952. No. 576, the only surviving mainline NC&StL steam locomotive, was donated to the City of Nashville, Tennessee, and put on display at the Centennial Park.
During World War II, the NC&StL found itself unable to order more diesel locomotives to handle the increased passenger traffic.[2] Officials decided to go for steam power; they accepted a proposal by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for a streamlined 4-8-4 J3 locomotive similar to the Norfolk and WesternJ class locomotives, (a design rejected by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) as too expensive).[2]
The NC&StL's Superintendent of Machinery, Clarence M. Darden, designed ten J3 (Nos. 570-579) locomotives delivered between July and August 1942 from ALCO in a non-streamlined design with yellow skirting panels, a bullet nose cone, boxpokdrivers, and a large semi-Vanderbilt tender holding 16 tonnes (16,000 kg) of coal and 15,000 US gallons (57,000 L) of water.[2][4] Although other railroads called their 4-8-4s the Northerns, the J3s were nicknamed Dixies.[2] They each consumed 4 short tons (8,000 lb) of coal and 7,000 US gallons (26,000 L) of water per hour.[1]
The NC&StL locomotive crews nicknamed the J3s as the Yellow Jackets after to their yellow skirting.[2] In 1943, ALCO built ten more J3s (Nos. 580-589); wartime restrictions prevented the yellow skirting, so their running board edges were painted yellow and these locomotives were dubbed Stripes.[4][5] In 1947, the skirting was removed from the 1942 J3 locomotives for easier maintenance, and the bullet nose cones were removed on all of the J3s.[2]
Revenue service and retirement
No. 576 was built at a cost of $166,500 and delivered to the NC&StL Railway, which put it into revenue service on August 18, 1942.[1] Along with the other J3s, No. 576 helped move arms, materiel, and troops during the rapid buildup and mobilization of the American war effort during World War II.[2] They initially ran only between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, because at 100 feet long, they could not fit on the 90-foot turntables in Atlanta, Georgia[4] until 110-foot ones were installed.[2]
When the war ended in 1945, the J3s were reassigned to dual freight and passenger service, in which they ran between Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, via Bruceton and Martin.[4][6] They also worked in Cowan, Tennessee, banking trains up in the Cumberland Mountains.[4][7] The J3s ran up to 11,000 miles (18,000 km) per month.[2] As the NC&StL began to dieselize, the J3s were retired and scrapped between 1951 and 1952. The lone exception was No. 576, which was chosen for preservation and donated to the City of Nashville, where it was put on outdoor display at the Centennial Park on September 20, 1953.[1][8][9] The locomotive subsequently slowly deteriorated from constant exposure to outdoor weather.[10][11]
Restoration
Attempts to restore No. 576 to operating condition were first made in late 1978, when the Clinchfield Railroad (CRR) hosted a steam excursion program, using 4-6-0 No. 1, and they were in search of a larger locomotive to expand the program at the request of the Family Lines.[12][13] The CRR's general manager, Thomas D. Moore Jr., and L&N executive Colonel Philip Hooper negotiated with the Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation to lease and restore No. 576, but the board decided against their proposal.[12][13][14] In late May 1979, the Nashville board members changed their minds, and they re-entered negotiations with the CRR to lease and restore No. 576, but to no avail; by that time, the Family Lines had cancelled the steam program after Thomas Moore was accused of participating in a scandal.[13][15]
In February 2001, the Tennessee Central Railway Museum (TCRM) proposed to obtain ownership of No. 576 and to restore it for excursion service, citing them doing so would end the locomotive's exposure to the weather.[10][11] The director of the Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation at the time, Jim Fyke, was reluctant to relinquish ownership of the locomotive to the museum without additional knowledge of their plans, and the board quickly denied the proposal.[1][10][11] In 2004, a shelter shed was built over the No. 576 locomotive to protect it from the weather.[16]
In April 2016, the new Nashville Steam Preservation Society (NSPS) made their own proposal to restore No. 576 and run it on the shortline Nashville and Eastern Railroad (NERR), pulling the Tennessee Central Railway Museum's excursions.[1][17] Two months later, the Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation approved the lease of No. 576 to NSPS.[18] In April 2017, the NSPS volunteers inspected No. 576's boiler and found it to be in good condition.[19] By October 2018, the NSPS had raised $500,000 to move No. 576 to the TCRM's restoration facility[20] and begin a restoration effort projected to cost a total of $2.5 million.[21]
On January 13, 2019, the No. 576 locomotive was moved from Centennial Park on a flatbed truck. It was placed on the Nashville & Western rails on February 6, where it was prepared to be moved to CSX trackage.[22][23] The No. 576 locomotive made its final public appearance at the former Nashville Union Station on March 9, 2019, and the next day, moved to the TCRM's workshop where restoration work began.[24][25] In June 2019, the NSPS received two boxcars from CSX to store restoration equipment and materials.[26] During the work, a new cab was fabricated from scratch to replace the deteriorated original.[27][a]
On March 25, 2021, a storm damaged the TCRM restoration facility, but No. 576 was found to be undamaged.[29][30] The workshop was quickly rebuilt, and the restoration work resumed.[31] On April 15, Trains magazine donated $600,000 to the NSPS to renovate No. 576's driving wheels and trucks. The boiler required hydrostatic testing.[32] On June 17, 2021, No. 576's boiler and frame were removed from its wheels and running gear.[33][34] The driving wheels were repaired at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[33] On July 12, 2023, the reassembly of No. 576 began.[35] In October 2023, TVRM donated a former NC&STL tender to NSPS, which would restore and convert to an auxiliary water tender for use behind No. 576.[36] The restoration of No. 576 is expected to be completed around 2025.[37]
Gallery
September 16, 2016: No. 576 is repainted at its Centennial Park display site by the Nashville Steam Preservation Society.
October 14, 2016: No. 576 on display with light and smoke effects during an event mounted by the Nashville Steam Preservation Society to fund its restoration.
^Bryan, Joey (November 2021). "Nashville Steam Preservation Society NSPS - 576 Update"(PDF). The Order Board. Vol. 41, no. 11. Tennessee Central Railway Museum & Model Railroad Club Nashville Chapter NRHS. p. 11. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 17, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
