Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

In 1969, the search for a permanent location for TVRM ended successfully when the Southern Railway System (now Norfolk Southern) gave TVRM a 4-acre tract in East Chattanooga located adjacent to the original circa 1856 Southern main line. This rail line had been abandoned upon completion of Citico Yard in 1954 (now renamed Debutts Yard) and an alternate double-tracked route around the base of Missionary Ridge which bypassed the single-track tunnel and its operational bottleneck.

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum website

Chartered in 1961, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) was organized by Chattanooga area railfans as a means of preserving steam locomotive operation and donated railway equipment. The current site sits on former Southern Railway property, and features a three mile mainline that penetrates Chattanooga's Missionary Ridge through a 979-foot tunnel. Over the years, TVRM has been home to a number of well known steam locomotives -- including Southern Rwy #4501, #630, and #722. The museum features regularly scheduled passenger trains, often under steam power.

TVRM track diagram / collection

Motive Power

Tennessee Valley Railway Museum #610

Chattanooga, Tn / JCH

Tennessee Valley Railway Museum #610

builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
arrangement:2-8-0 Consolidation
built:Mar 1952, Baldwin #75503
fuel:coal/water
notes:
blt U.S. Army Transportation Corps #610
one of the last domestic Baldwin orders

Southern Railway #630

Chattanooga, Tn / Aug 1986 / JCH

Southern Railway #630

builder:ALCO - Richmond
arrangement:2-8-0 Consolidation
built:Feb 1904, ALCO #28446
fuel:coal/water
notes:
blt at Southern Railway #630, Class Ks-1
sold to ET&WNC as #207 in 1952
sold again as Southern #630 in 1968
now at Tennessee Valley Railway Museum