History[]
Southern Railway No. 630 is a class Ks-1 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at their Richmond, Virginia shops for the Southern Railway in February 1904. As of today, it is now operational at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee alongside fellow Southern Railway 2-8-2 No. 4501.
Southern Railway #630 was used on Southern in regular freight service, originally assigned to the Asheville Division. The locomotive was retired in 1952 and bought by the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railway and was renumbered as ET&WNC 207. The ET&WNC were originally offered Ks-1's #685 (Baldwin, 1904) and #835 (Baldwin, 1906), but they were found to be in bad condition. Instead, the ET&WNC purchased #630 and her sister #722 (Baldwin, Sep. 1904) because they were in better condition. The locomotive operated on the ET&WNC hauling freight until December 8, 1967, when the Southern Railway traded in the then ET&WNC 207 and 208 for it's new steam program. ET&WNC 207 then returned to Southern 630 again and served the Southern's steam program until 1983. 630 continued to run until 1989 when it was once again retired from service. The locomotive Then was donated to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in 1999, after it was leased to them. Southern 630 Then went under a ten year restoration, with frame work, replacing or fixing parts, etc. The engine returned to service in 2011 and was used in the 21st Century Steam program along with Southern Railway No. 4501 which was also participating in the program at the time. After the 21st Century Steam program drew to a close, 630 was mainly used for TVRM's (Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum) excursions such as the Missionary Ridge Local and the Summerville Steam Special from time to time.
Trivia[]
- 630 had a very small cameo in the film 42, but was renumbered to 390.
- As of today, 630 is one of only two operational steam locomotives equipped with Southern Valve Gear, the other one being East Broad Top Railroad No. 16, which was recently restored to operating condition on February 1, 2023.
- It's whistle was used for the 2000 Disney live action film, 102 Dalmatians, but on BR Standard Class 5 No. 73082 Camelot.