Southern Railway 4501
| Southern Railway 4501 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Southern Railway No. 4501 idling at Summerville, Georgia, during an excursion layover, November 3, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mikado Locomotive No. 4501 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 2202 N. Chamberlain Ave., Chattanooga, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°3′43″N 85°15′1″W / 35.06194°N 85.25028°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1911 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Built by | Baldwin Locomotive Works | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 79002440 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | March 28, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved 2-8-2 "Mikado"-type steam locomotive. Built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, No. 4501 was the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In July 1948, the locomotive was retired from revenue service in favor of dieselization and was subsequently sold to the shortline Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) in Stearns, Kentucky, to haul coal trains.
When the K&T was dieselized in 1964, No. 4501 was purchased by a railfan named Paul Merriman for $5,000 of his own money, and he brought it to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Shortly thereafter, it was returned to service for main line excursion service on the Southern's steam program started by the company's president, W. Graham Claytor Jr. in 1966 through Merriman's 4501 Corporation.
Repainted in SOU's passenger Virginian green and gold paint scheme, No. 4501 operated as the primary excursion attraction of Southern's steam program, until it was replaced with larger locomotives in 1985. In 1990, the locomotive returned to mainline excursion service, but in 1994, it was removed again when the SOU's successor, Norfolk Southern (NS), discontinued the steam program due to rising insurance costs and decreasing rail network availability.
No. 4501 then continued to operate for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga. Merriman was a founding member of the TVRM, and had donated No. 4501 from his personal property to the museum in 1975. Repainted into its original freight black livery in 1996, the locomotive was retired when its boiler ticket certificate expired in 1998.
In 2012, following the start of Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam Program and the success of the TVRM's Southern Railway 630's return to service, restoration work on No. 4501 began, with upgrades such as a feedwater heater and mechanical stoker. No. 4501's restoration was completed in 2014. As of 2025, the locomotive operates in tourist excursion service at the TVRM, particularly on longer trips to Summerville, Georgia and the TVRM's Missionary Ridge Local and Evening Ridge Runner excursions as needed.