Southern 630: Missionary Ridge Local 5/18/2024 part 2

Due to my yearly membership to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum being about to expire, and the fact that they had steam running there, I decided to take a trip down to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum to both renew my membership and get a ride behind one of my personal favorite 2-8-0 steam locomotives, Southern Railway engine 630. 630 is seen in this video doing what she does best, hauling the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s Missionary Ridge Local passenger train from Jersey Pike to East Chattanooga. 630 is currently the oldest piece of equipment in TVRM’s collection, being exactly 120 years old at the time of this video’s filming.
630 is a genuine coal fired steam locomotive of the Ks-1 class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives. That 2-8-0 simply explains how the wheels are arranged, with two small wheels in the front, eight large 56-inch diameter driving wheels in the middle, and no wheels in the back.
630 was used in revenue service on the Southern Railway on their Murphy branch between 1904 and 1952. She was then sold to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina railroad and used as their engine 207. She stayed there for sixteen years before being bought back by the Southern Railway for use on their steam program. In 1980, she was acquired by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum after the Southern Railway retired her in favor of larger steam locomotives. Her fire was dropped in 1989, for what seemed like it would be the last time. Fortunately, however, she was given new life in 2001, when the Southern Railway’s successor, the Norfolk Southern Corporation, announced that they would begin a new steam program with 630 as the main engine. She was quickly given an extensive overhaul, and made her first run in 2011. She has been running since then as a testament to her class’s longevity and reliability. She may not be running with Norfolk Southern anymore, as her excursion program ended in 2015, but she still runs the railroad museum’s Missionary Ridge and Summerville trains with the same level of passion and pride as she ran her NS excursions.
These trips to TVRM mean a lot to me, so sit back, put your headphones on, turn the volume up, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Southern steam.

[@bowlinerailfan]

Looks like you got a good video here. I got to ride 4501 in the cab on my visit here last year. 630 was waiting on a part to be repaired, but I still got to see her too while she was parked outside. This video is somewhat well timed as I just posted a TH-cam Short of NC&St.L 710 on the turntable with music added.

[@Paducahandlouisville]

I got a railroad spike off the missionary ridge local and it has HCX TVRR on top it’s from 1950