A Little Paint, a Lot of Years

A steam locomotive built before World War I and a diesel locomotive built after World War II have been shopped for cosmetic restoration work prior to their display in Building One this spring.

Built in 1910, Savannah & Atlanta Light Pacific (4-6-2) #750 ran on the Key West extension of Henry M. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway until the railroad that went to sea was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935. Between 1935 and 1962, the locomotive worked the S&A, a line connecting the Georgia Railroad at Camak with Savannah.

For project crew chief Randy Minter, the locomotive "is representative of the southeastern shortline passenger train power that endured until the end of the steam era in America's rail history."

Built in 1951, Southern Railway E8 #6901 powered the line's famed Crescent between Atlanta and Washington, D.C., during the twilight years of private passenger service. The locomotive was the lead engine when operation of the train was transferred to Amtrak on February 1, 1979.

Built to replace the nation's aging steam power after the war, the E8 was designed to "look fast," as Minter puts it, in an age when speed and efficiency were characterized by a streamlined engine at the head end of gleaming stainless steel cars.

With touched up paint, lights shining, and the recorded sounds of locomotives working the main line, S&A 750 and Southern Railway 6901 will provide the motive power for safe and pleasant journeys into the past.