Tennessee Valley Railroad News

DAY OUT WITH THOMAS™: THE COLOR TOUR IS HEADING TO TENNESSEE VALLEY RAILROAD MUSEUM FOR A COLORFUL TRAIN RIDE ADVENTURE All Aboard! Thomas the Tank Engine, everyone’s favorite #1 blue engine is coming to town and bringing a colorful new spin to Day Out With Thomas events. For the first time ever Thomas &…

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum transfers ownership of Steam Locomotive 5288 to Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust Chattanooga, TN and Boyertown, PA.: The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (“TVRM”) and the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust are pleased to announce a partnership that will return to Pennsylvania a historic steam passenger locomotive. Locomotive 5288, a 4-6-2 Pacific-type locomotive built…

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum family is heartbroken by the passing of long time employee George Walker. He was involved in a tragic accident at the shop. At this time no other details are available.  Please keep Mary, Andrew, Aaron and Charlie in your prayers as they deal with this tragic loss. Please direct all inquiries…

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has hosted the first ever joint Southern Railway Historical Association (SRHA), Louisville and Nashville Historical Society (LNHS) Conventions and Railroad Prototype Modelers (RPM) meet at their Cromwell Rd Campus Sept 29-Oct 1. The convention combined seminars, modeling clinics, exploring prototype equipment, a charter dinner train and special speakers.   The SRHA and LNHS are sharing the archives building on the TVRM campus with “The Center for Southeastern  Railroad Research” at TVRM, with their respective collection of historical materials. A special dedication was held for the photo collection room in the Joint Archives Building. The room was dedicated in honor of Jim Wrinn, an SRHA founder, writer and former editor of Trains magazine.   Models shown at the RPM meet are intricately and accurately constructed scale models of railroad equipment and structures typically requiring hundreds of hours to…

The National Park Service (NPS) in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services announced on Friday September 9, 2022, $24.25 million in Save America’s Treasures grants to fund 80 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia. The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN has been awarded $200,000 toward restoration to display and operation of historic Pullman sleeping car The Maitland. The Maitland, built in 1925 with twelve open sleeping sections and one drawing room, is a true time capsule of the famed Pullman sleeping car fleet.  Southern Railway donated the car to TVRM in March of 1965, when it was retired, having formerly carried passengers in peacetime as well as wartime service on the WWII home front.  Though they were once a mainstay of travel by rail,…

The Chattanooga Tourism Co. is pleased to announce the awarding of $605.5K to 28 local culture, heritage, and arts partners through the second round of the Cultural Tourism Advancement (CTA) Grant. This year’s process was highly competitive, with 39 applicants requesting $1.3 million in assistance for events, enhancements, exhibits, and more. “We are proud to help elevate our tourism community through the CTA Grant. This program is a great collaborative opportunity for us to support our partners in enhancing their offerings for our community’s economic and social prosperity,” said Barry White, CEO and President. “The travel and tourism industry is a vital economic driver for Hamiton County, welcoming 15.6 million visitors annually, and we strive to ensure a constant pulse of positive and diverse experiences to excite the traveler’s imagination in finding their way to Chattanooga.” The 2022 CTA Grant…

October 8, 2021 Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Celebrates 60 Years of Preserving Railroad History Chattanooga, TN — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) has been preserving railroad history since 1961, and this month, it is kicking off a year-long celebration that will highlight the museum’s 60-year heritage with two weekends of special events and displays….

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum announced the donation of a significant railroad locomotive from the Tennessee Valley Authority to the Railroad Museum’s collection, a Fairbanks-Morse model H16-66 #F3060.  Built in 1958 and known as the “Baby” Trainmaster, the locomotive was a 1600 horsepower version of the 2400 H24-66 Trainmaster, at that time the most powerful…

2020, Certainly Not The Year We Planned To our members, annual pass holders, supporters and friends – It’s hard to write a newsletter that spans from the end of the fourth quarter of 2019 (by most measurements a good year) through four quarters of 2020 that doesn’t make the Coronavirus Pandemic the central story…

DAY OUT WITH THOMAS™ IS PULLING INTO TENNESSEE VALLEY RAILROAD MUSEUM FOR AN OUTDOOR PARTY YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS! Chattanooga, TN 04.14.21 All aboard! Thomas the Tank Engine will be hosting outdoor events at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum on May 1, 2, 8, 15, & 16, 2021. With extensive health and safety…

Hiwassee River Railroad: Always an Adventure The Hiwassee District of TVRM had a banner year 2018. We set an attendance record of over 18,000 passengers, established a new ride option for schools and a new-to-us Dome Car was put in service in September. We also completed needed additions to our infrastructure at the Gee Creek…

It All Started with A Birthday Party Second of two part series The 6914’s restoration is the first, complete diesel locomotive restoration done at TVRM. Refurbishing the cab was one of our biggest hurdles. Before TVRM began work on the E8, the cab had been almost completely stripped. There was no floor, no brake equipment,…