Steam & Excursion > Southern 630 & 4501 Doubleheader

Today's doubleheader with Southern 630 and 4501 pulling the nine car train from Chattanooga, TN to Summerville, GA. The video shows the steamers pulling the train southbound up the Missionary Ridge grade out of Rossville, GA this morning.

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Excellent!   Thanks for posting.

Great action!

The crew on 4501 should have been sold tickets.  If they're not going to do any work, they should be paying for the ride... 

stevelv Wrote:
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> Excellent!   Thanks for posting.
I agree 100%, I love seeing both engines as they look and sound great.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Earlk Wrote:
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> The crew on 4501 should have been sold tickets. 
> If they're not going to do any work, they should
> be paying for the ride... 

I agree. What is the point of a "doubleheader", when only one locomotive is doing all the work?

> Earlk Wrote:
> > The crew on 4501 should have been sold
> tickets. 
> > If they're not going to do any work, they
> should
> > be paying for the ride... 
>
>HotWater Wrote:
> I agree. What is the point of a "doubleheader",
> when only one locomotive is doing all the work?

Great comments. It would appear I'm not the only one that would prefer to see a single locomotive working as intended. Perhaps having the second locomotive along "for show" increases ticket sales sufficiently to offset the expense of fuel, maintenance and crew, who knows?

In the early years of the Summerville trips they offered what felt like a reasonable approximation of a mainline steam excursion featuring a photo run by and speeds that offered a little excitement. They were far less frequent then but we rode them every chance we could and I miss them a lot. I did ride one of the early Summerville doubleheaders as I'd never seen #4501 operate. While it did "check that box" I'll only offer that the pace was very relaxed and that two locomotives were not required. I haven't been back to TVRM since but they seem to be doing just fine without me.

Of course they currently run to Summerville several times per year with the consist having grown considerably and now featuring food service. I was advised the timetable was adjusted to maximize the value of that resource which certainly makes "cents" and is likely more important to management and those who buy tickets than those who are on board primarily to enjoy observing a steam locomotive operate. Still, I hope someday they can find an excuse to promote an extra fare "Summerville Steam Track Speed Special" for those that enjoy such madness. 

How long is the trip (time and mileage)?

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> How long is the trip (time and mileage)?

Left at 9am and returned at 7pm and it's a 100 mile roundtrip

akpsteam Wrote:
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> Left at 9am and returned at 7pm and it's a 100
> mile roundtrip

and the locomotives get turned at Summerville on a proper turntable:

Welcome to City of Summerville

It's a ride that steam fans need to take at least once.

Another notable feature is operating through a pre-Civil War tunnel, but that can be done with the regular Museum trains:

Missionary Ridge Tunnel | Tennessee River Valley

Good one. The 661 needs to be painted in Nancy colors too being its a former CG NH car.

Posted from Android

The second to last car looks like a Southern dining car.  Who can enlighten us?

MEKoch Wrote:
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> The second to last car looks like a Southern
> dining car.  Who can enlighten us?

Yep! : 

Southern Railway 3164 | Tennessee Valley RR

TVRM also has the 3158 but is painted in Tuscan:

Southern Railway 3158: 'Travelers Fare' Dining Car Legacy

Another Southeasten heavyweight dining car on its roster is L&N 2728:

Cross Keys Tavern: L&N Railroad's Historic Dining Car

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/25 10:26 by ts1457.

I seem to remember that Cross Keys Tavern was at the Indiana Transportation Museum at Noblesville when the original Fairtrain first ran in August of 1983.  I think it was in the consist but used only sparingly for its intended purpose during the train's operation that first year.

Back to 630 and 4501:  I would like to see TVRM (with or without a sponsoring individual or entity) run another photo freight, either with both locomotives or just one.   

Nice video!!