Steam & Excursion > A&WP Pacific type 290.

Somehow I managed to NOT see the 290 when it was running on the New Georgia Railroad.  What years was it in service and is it now kept at the Southeastern Railway Museum at Duluth, indoors?

NKP779 Wrote:
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> Somehow I managed to NOT see the 290 when it was
> running on the New Georgia Railroad.  What years
> was it in service and is it now kept at the
> Southeastern Railway Museum at Duluth, indoors?

It ran from the fall of 1989 until December of 1992 when the State of Georgia pulled the funding. It is stored in the shop area at SRM. 

In May 1990 I was visiting family in the Atlanta area and found out that the 290 was running to Brunswick Ga. on a Friday and return back on Sunday so I gave chase. I did mostly video however I did manage a couple of shots from the chase. It was a fun catch and chase. 

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That's an attractive locomotive.  Last time I saw it was in 1994 when we took 1522 to Atlanta. It was all in pieces. Is it somewhat back together now?
Didn't Graham Claytor at one time want to get her and make a PS4?
I forgot why it had problems. Tram?

I heard that same story about Graham Claytor wanting it to recreate a PS4. Powers to be didn't want it from what I understood. That would have looked pretty cool though.  

I am in my early 50's and I would be shocked if this locomotive goes on display in my lifetime. It has been out of sight about 30 years. When I aksed a volunteer about it a few years ago, he told me that they were told not to mention it. The real shame is that Bill Purdie loved this locomtive from what I can tell and 290 was key to the founding of the museum. Our only hope to have this locomotive see the light of day is if it moves to a different museum. 

srman Wrote:
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> I heard that same story about Graham Claytor
> wanting it to recreate a PS4. Powers to be didn't
> want it from what I understood. That would have
> looked pretty cool though.  

From memory, the SOU number was intended to be 1385. I recall S&A 750 had SOU number too.

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Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> That's an attractive locomotive.  Last time I saw
> it was in 1994 when we took 1522 to Atlanta. It
> was all in pieces. Is it somewhat back together
> now?
> Didn't Graham Claytor at one time want to get her
> and make a PS4?
> I forgot why it had problems. Tram?

Claytor was well on the way to acquiring it and painting it green--it's the closest thing to a Ps4 in existence, but the A&WP sued to keep it from being a painted ad for their competitor. As part of the settlement, 290's ownership was transferred from the City of Atlanta to the Atlanta NRHS. 

You are correct that the main issue in the New Georgia days was tram. Those who initially took it apart at Finnegan Railcar, the original restoration contractor, dropped the shoes and wedges--and all of the shims that the A&WP shop had holding it in tram, and didn't mark any of them. Finnegan trued the pedestal surfaces, but when they went out of business and the engine had to be towed to the New Georgia shop for completion, it was thrown back together without the shoes and wedges being machined to match the newly machined pedestals. It had all sorts of issues during the first couple of years and went through several cases of Octagon soap. They took it to the NS shop sometime in 91, and everything was remachined. It got over the road reliably after that.

It still had a tendency to eat up lead truck hub liners--two were burned up when it returned to the museum, and the tires had odd wear patterns from the bad tram in 89 and 90. It would've been due for a cap inspection after 1993, as well. Steps were taken by the museum to deal with the repairs after it returned, with the intention of running it for the 1994 NRHS convention. There was also an interest from NS in using it in 1995 had the steam program continued, as 611 was due for its 5-year. Unfortunately time, money and circumstances were not on its side. The wheels were turned and reinstalled for the 1 mile trip to the new museum site. There were one or two offers to lease the engine, but they were either not legitimate or would have put the engine in a situation from whence it might not be easily returned.

The museum has spent the intervening years developing the "new" museum site, improving its governance situation--the "hobby club" board of the NRHS no longer manages the museum, and getting itself into a better situation to raise money for large projects like 290. To the chagrin of ornery railfans, the 290 is but one piece out of a collection of around 90 pieces and has not been a priority. The buildings that were inherited from the previous inhabitant are somewhat limiting due to track curvature. Secure covered storage is at a premium until another building is built. As such, it hasn't made sense to spend on an extensive cosmetic restoration on the engine. These things take time and money, as the non-foamers understand.

I have visited this museum for over 40 years. The move to the new site was a great step toward an excellent railroad museum. However, in the last 15 or so years the have increased their scope to be a transportation museum with the inclusion of MARTA collection. If you increase the scope without more resources, you tax your current resources even more. Furthermore, based on their Facebook page, they spend a lot of money on their park train (former zoo train). The live steamers group at the old museum site seem to draw more interest back when the Atlanta area was much smaller. I wish they would see if Savannah could take at least some of their equipment. In addition to 290, they have a number of really interesting pieces including "Old Maude" and a very early diesel that will also never be put on display. I also wonder how much restoration 290 needs, given that it only ran a few years. Maybe parts have been lost. I did hear someone more involved in he steam restoration community lament that it was a shame what they let happen to that boiler. But since I am critical of the museum, I will be dismissed as a "foamer". 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/25 04:04 by e_lauterbach2.

e_lauterbach2 Wrote:
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> But since I am critical of
> the museum, I will be dismissed as a "foamer".

Even non-foamers can suffer from the Dunning-Kruger effect.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/25 13:04 by Worthington_S_A.