Atlanta and West Point 290

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Atlanta and West Point 290
A&wp290-serm-front.jpg
A&WP No. 290 at the Southeastern Railway Museum shops, awaiting for a cosmetic restoration in December 2009
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderLima Locomotive Works
Serial number7008
Build dateMarch 1926
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 �� Whyte4-6-2
 • UIC2′C1′ h2
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia.33 in (0.838 m)
Driver dia.74 in (1.880 m)
Trailing dia.43 in (1.092 m)
Length72 ft 5 in (22.07 m)
Adhesive weight192,500 lb (87.3 t)
Loco weight303,500 lb (137.7 t)
Total weight504,000 lb (228.6 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacityOld tender: 15 t (15 long tons; 17 short tons)
New tender: 20 t (20 long tons; 22 short tons)
Water cap.Old tender: 11,000 US gal (42,000 l; 9,200 imp gal)
New tender: 9,500 US gal (36,000 l; 7,900 imp gal)
Boiler pressure200 lbf/in2 (1.38 MPa)
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size27 in × 28 in (686 mm × 711 mm)
Valve gearBaker
Performance figures
Tractive effort46,892 lbf (208.6 kN)
Factor of adh.4.11
Career
OperatorsAtlanta and West Point Railroad
ClassP-74
Number in class1st of 2
Numbers290
Retired1954 (revenue service)
1992 (excursion service)
RestoredOctober 1989
Current ownerAtlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society
DispositionIn storage, awaiting cosmetic restoration at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia

Atlanta and West Point 290 is a P-74 steam locomotive built in March 1926 by the Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio for the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. No. 290 is a 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive, which was remarkably similar to the Southern Railway's Ps-4 class. With sister locomotive, No. 190 built for the Western Railway of Alabama, the 290 ferried the Southern Railway's Crescent passenger train from Atlanta, Georgia to Montgomery, Alabama until its retirement from revenue service in 1954. The No. 290 locomotive was saved by a group called the "290 Club" and was placed on static display at the city of Atlanta's Lakewood Park.

In 1961, No. 290 was donated to the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). Between 1986 and 1989, the locomotive was restored to operating condition for the New Georgia Railroad (NGRX) program, running excursion trips all across the Georgia state until late 1992 when it was retired due to running gear issues.

The No. 290 locomotive was currently dissembled at the Southeastern Railway Museum (SRM) in Duluth, Georgia. With no plans to be restored back to operating condition, the locomotive was stored inside the SRM's backshop, awaiting for a full cosmetic restoration.

History[]

Revenue service and retirement (1926-1954, 1961-1986)[]

No. 290 along with sister locomotive No. 190 were both heavy P-74 Pacific steam locomotives built in March 1926 by the Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio.[1] They were based on the USRA Heavy Pacific design and a very similar appearance to the Southern Railway Ps-4 class.[2] No. 290 was assigned to the Atlanta and West Point Route (A&WP), while No. 190 served the Western Railway of Alabama (WRA).[3] No. 290's job was to ferry the Southern Railway's Crescent passenger train from Atlanta, Georgia to West Point, Georgia, where No. 190 would take it from here to Montgomery, Alabama, where the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) would complete the final leg of the train's journey to New Orleans, Louisiana.[2]

In 1954, the No. 190 locomotive was retired and scrapped, however No. 290 was rescued by a group called the "290 Club" who persuade the Atlanta and West Point Railroad to rescue the latter locomotive for preservation.[4] No. 290 was put on static display at the City of Atlanta's Lakewood Park before it was donated to the Atlanta Chapter NRHS in 1961.[4]

New Georgia Railroad excursion career (1989-1992)[]

In 1986, the New Georgia Railroad (NGRX), a sponsored tourist excursion railroad in Atlanta, restored No. 290 to operating condition in 1989, running excursion trips on Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX trackage out of Atlanta to Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, Macon, and Savannah, Georgia.[5]

In early 1991, No. 290 was sent to the Norfolk Southern's Norris Yard Steam Shop in Irondale, Alabama to have its crown sheet inspected.[5] Shortly thereafter, the NGRX made an agreement with NS to borrow No. 290 as a substitute to Norfolk and Western 611 and 1218, which were both under maintenance at that time.[5] On April 6 and 7, No. 290 hauled two round trip excursions from Birmingham, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Heart of Dixie Chapter NRHS and the following weekend round trips out of Jacksonville, Florida to Valdosta, Georgia for the North Florida Chapter NRHS.[5][6] Afterwards, the locomotive returned to the NGRX to continue to haul more excursion trips in Georgia.[5]

On Friday, August 21, 1992, No. 290 ran the highly anticipated excursion trip from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama for the Atlanta Chapter NRHS on ex-A&WP home rails, via CSX.[7][8] On the next day, No. 290 ran five round-trip excursions out of Montgomery to Dothan, Alabama before returning to Atlanta on August 23.[8] By the end of 1992, No. 290 was taken out of service for extensive repair work to its running gear.[4]

There were originally plans to have the No. 290 locomotive be ready in time for the 1994 Atlanta Chapter NRHS convention, but the NGRX program was shut down when its sponsorship with the Georgia state government was discontinued.[4] Additionally, the NS and CSX railroads banned main line steam excursion trips on their trackage the following year due to liability insurance.[4][9]

As of 2022, the No. 290 locomotive was currently disassembled inside the Southeastern Railway Museum's backshop in Duluth, Georgia, awaiting for a full cosmetic restoration.[4] There have been no legitimate opportunities to operate the locomotive in such a manner that justifies restoring it to operating condition.[4] Therefore, it will be put back on display once the restoration work is finished.[4]

In popular culture[]

No. 290 made two cameo appearances, first in the motion picture Fried Green Tomatoes, and in the 1995 HBO television film The Tuskegee Airmen when Laurence Fishburne as Hannibal "Iowa" Lee Jr., took the train to enlist in WWII with the titular army pilots; in both films it ran on the fictional railroad Tallahassee & Albany with the same road number, which was its real number.

References[]

  1. ^ Llanso, Steve; Duley, Richard. "Western Railway of Alabama / Georgia Railroad / Atlanta & West Point / West Point Route 4-6-2 "Pacific" Type Locomotives". SteamLocomotive.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  2. ^ a b Hanson (2007), p. 82.
  3. ^ Wrinn (2000), pp. 100–102.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Keefe, Kevin (April 10, 2017). "Getting wistful about Atlanta & West Point 290". Classic Trains. Kalmbach Media. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e Wrinn (2000), p. 89.
  6. ^ Wrinn (2000), p. 118.
  7. ^ Craft, John (1992). "1992 US Excursion Schedules". SteamCentral. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Ingles, J. David (November 1992). "A Happy Homecoming for A&WP 290". Trains. Vol. 52, no. 11. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 30–31.
  9. ^ Wrinn (2000), pp. 100–102.

Bibliography[]

  • Hanson, Robert (2007). The West Point Route: The Atlanta & West Point Rail Road and The Western Railway of Alabama. TLC Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9766201-4-3.
  • Wrinn, Jim (2000). Steam's Camelot: Southern and Norfolk Southern Excursions in Color (1st ed.). TLC Publishing. ISBN 1-883089-56-5.

Further reading[]

  • Keefe, Kevin P. (December 1989). "Big, Bold, Beautiful". Trains. Vol. 50, no. 2. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 31–36.
  • Prince, Richard E. (1962). Steam Locomotives and History: Georgia Railroad and West Point Route (1st ed.). Wheelwright Lithographing Company. ISBN 0-9600088-6-1.

External links[]

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