Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it resides today for use on excursion trains.

Southern Railway 630
Southern Railway No. 630 at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in 2011
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder ALCO's Richmond Works Serial number 28446 Build date February 1904 Rebuilder Southern Railway Rebuild date 1917 1967–1968 1999–2011
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 56 in (1.422 m) Adhesive weight 192,000 lb (87,000 kg) Loco weight 214,000 lb (97,000 kg) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 16 t (16 long tons; 18 short tons) Water cap. Old tender: 7,500 US gal (28,000 l; 6,200 imp gal) New tender: 10,000 US gal (38,000 l; 8,300 imp gal) Boiler pressure 190 psi (1.31 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) Valve gear Southern (originally Stephenson)
Performance figures Tractive effort 46,700 lbf (208 kN) Factor of adh. 4.11
Career Operators Southern Railway East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Class Ks-1 Numbers SOU 630 ET&WNC 207 Retired August 1952 (SOU) December 8, 1967 (ET&WNC) November 1989 (1st excursion service) Restored February 1968 (1st restoration) March 14, 2011 (2nd restoration) Current owner Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Disposition Operational

History

Design and upgrades

Built in 1904 by the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Richmond Works as one of 32 "K" class locomotives for the Southern Railway, No. 630 was standardized with 56 in (1.422 m) driving wheels and rated at 44,100 lb (20,000 kg) of tractive effort.[1] It was originally built with Stephenson valve gear, sliding valves, alligator crossheads, and a saturated boiler.[1] In 1917, the locomotive was upgraded with Southern valve gear, piston valves, along with the boiler equipped with superheaters which reclassified No. 630 as a "Ks" type.[1] In the 1920s, it had more upgrades added such as new cylinders and valve assemblies, which allow the locomotive to develop 46,700 lb (21,200 kg) of tractive effort and reclassified again as a "Ks-1" type.[1] Sometimes during the 1940s, No. 630 was re-equipped with multiple-bearing crossheads.[2]

Revenue service

No. 630 was first assigned to local and branch line service in the Knoxville division by the Southern Railway, before it was moved to the Asheville division to run on the Murphy and Lake Toxaway branch lines, until it was retired from revenue freight service in August 1952.[3][4][5]

In November 1952, No. 630 and sister locomotive No. 722 were both sold to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) and renumbered to Nos. 207 and 208, respectively.[6][7][lower-alpha 1] Afterwards, Southern cut down the size of the two Ks-1 locomotives' tender coal bunker to give the engineer a clear view during numerous switching moves and reverse operation.[7]

First excursion service

In late 1967, Nos. 207 and 208 were both traded back to the Southern Railway for use in their steam excursion program in return for a pair of former Central of Georgia ALCO RS-3s.[8] Retrieving their old numbers, No. 630 had been given minor repairs and began excursion service in February 1968,[9] while No. 722 had its firebox repaired and returned to operating service in August 1970.[10][11]

Nos. 630 and 722 pulled many main line excursion trains for the Southern steam program until they were both loaned to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in 1978 and 1980, respectively to make way for larger superpower steam locomotives such as Canadian Pacific 2839, Texas and Pacific 610 and Chesapeake and Ohio 2716 to pull the longer and heavier excursions.[3][12]

In November 1985, No. 722 was taken out of service for its boiler ticket certificate and was moved by Southern's successor, Norfolk Southern (NS) to be on display in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1992.[12][13] In November 1989, No. 630 was taken out of service and put in storage when TVRM was restoring another 2-8-0 steam locomotive ex-U.S. Army No. 610.[14]

Second excursion service

In 1999, Norfolk Southern donated No. 630 to TVRM and two years later, the locomotive was overhauled and restored at a cost of almost $700,000.[4][14] This was one of the most extensive steam locomotive overhauls as it required massive repairs to its frame, running gear, and boiler along with the flues and superheaters replaced.[15][16] No. 630 was also given a newly welded smokebox and a new tender, which was salvaged from the frame of Southern Railway No. 4501's original tender and replaced the original tender body that was in very poor condition to be rebuilt.[16][17] The locomotive returned to operating service on March 14, 2011, and kicked off the 21st Century Steam program instituted by Norfolk Southern.[4][18]

For four years, No. 630 has pulled many public and private excursions throughout the eastern United States for the 21st Century Steam program in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.[19] It also visited the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina, two times in 2012 and 2013.[19]

By late 2015, Norfolk Southern had officially discontinued their steam program,[20] although No. 630 continues regular operations, hauling the Missionary Ridge Local excursions at TVRM on weekends and occasionally double heads with No. 4501 for the Summerville Steam Special to Summerville, Georgia.[4][19]

Gallery

• 
  No. 630 being restored to operating condition in late 2010.
• 
  No. 630 on the turntable in March 2011.
• 
  No. 630 approaching TVRM's Grand Junction Station with the Missionary Ridge Local in November 2014.

See also

• Southern Railway 4501
• W. Graham Claytor Jr.

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Drury, George H. (2015). Guide to North American Steam Locomotives (2nd ed.). Kalmbach Media. ISBN 978-1-62700-259-2.
• Ferrell, Mallory H. (1991). Tweetsie Country (2nd ed.). The Overmountain Press. ISBN 0-93280758-5.
• Schafer, Bill, ed. (2018). "First Quarter, 2018". TIES. Vol. 32, no. 1. White River Productions.
• Waite, John R. (2003). Blue Ridge Stemwinder: An Illustrated History of the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad and the Linville River Railway (1st ed.). Overmountain Press. ISBN 1-57072-272-2.
• Wrinn, Jim (2000). Steam's Camelot: Southern and Norfolk Southern Excursions in Color (1st ed.). TLC Publishing. ISBN 1-883089-56-5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Railway 630.

• Southern 630 Steam Engine