Atlanta History Center prepares to move locomotive for restoration
December 21, 2015

ATLANTA - The 1856 Texas locomotive, one of the most treasured objects in Atlanta's history, is on the move again. The 4-4-0 is beginning its journey on Monday from the The Atlanta History Center, which assumed responsibility for the Texas in 2014 as part of a 75-year license agreement with the City of Atlanta, to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer for cosmetic restoration. There, Steam Operations Corp. will conduct the first major restoration ever of the 159-year-old Texas.

Visitors to the North Carolina museum will be able to view the project's progression, too.

Famed for its role along with the locomotive General in the Civil War's Great Locomotive Chase in 1862, the Texas is expected to return to the Atlanta History Center in late 2016. It will be permanently featured in a custom-built glass-walled enclosure that will put the prized artifact of Atlanta's rich railroading past on prominent display, where it will be illuminated at night and clearly visible from West Paces Ferry Road at all hours. The glass enclosure housing the Texas will connect the Atlanta History Museum to the new Lloyd and Mary Ann Whitaker Cyclorama Building, which will house The Battle of Atlanta painting, which is estimated to open late 2017.

"After many years of limited view in the basement of the Cyclorama building in Grant Park, we are putting the Texas in a place where it is going to be front and center," History Center Vice President of Properties Jackson McQuigg says. "This engine that has been at times forgotten in its long lifetime is going to become a focal point."

The Texas and the General, the star attraction at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw are the sole surviving locomotives that once served the Western & Atlantic Railroad.

"As railroads are Atlanta's reason for being, this steam engine is an icon of Atlanta's founding and growth as the Gate City of the South - the commercial center of the Southeast," Atlanta History Center President and CEO Sheffield Hale says. "The Texas locomotive symbolizes Atlanta's longtime relationship with railroads and the city's importance as a hub for people, commerce, and ideas. No artifact can be more important for telling the story of Atlanta's beginnings than this Western & Atlantic locomotive."

Hundreds of locomotives serviced the W&A RR and its successors, yet all but the Texas and General were scrapped over the decades. Both engines were saved because of their roles in the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase, when Union Army loyalists commandeered the General from the town of Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) and took it north toward Chattanooga, wreaking destruction to the W&A line, until finally being caught by Confederate forces who had pursued aboard the Texas.

Though the Great Locomotive Chase became the subject of a popular 1956 movie of the same name and books, Atlanta History Center historians believe the Texas has even greater importance as an artifact that speaks eloquently and authentically of Atlanta's beginnings.

As for its appearance, it will undergo historical paint research at Spencer by the restoration team before any decisions are made about color, numbering and other matters of appearance.

"What it is going to look like is the easy part," McQuigg said. "We can debate that but it's just paint. We want to address the rust and structural issues, the things that have been ignored over the years in favor of cosmetic restoration."

The History Center has dedicated $500,000 to Texas conservation.

For more information about the Atlanta History Center, go to www.atlantahistorycenter.com<http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com>.

I don't think the Texas should be restored. What the museum has is the remains of a civil war locomotive that was greatly modified and updated throughout it's working career. A "restoration" would most likely be a "replication" with few original parts used. Very few modified civil war steam locomotives are still around. What the museum should do is clean up the original Texas and leave it in it's current condition. Then use the $500,000 to have David Kloke build a replica of the Texas as it appeared during the Great Locomotive Chase.
Jut my thoughts on the subject.

Murphy Jenkins

Since it is not known what the details of the restoration are, its premature to pass judgement.

The Texas was hardly in a place that provided only "limited view". As I remember it, you could walk all around the locomotive, and could also look down upon it from a higher level. There was no glass between it and the visitors.

Hi,

The Texas (the last time I saw it in the 1990s) had had the basement it was in widdened and photos were easy to get. A G scale train was running aound the Texas on the ties of the big engine's track.

It is not being restored to operating condition. The Cyclorama (which was above the Texas) and the Texas are being moved to another building. The City of Atlanta owns the locomotive. They want it fixed up to look good, they have no desire to operate it.

I do not recall exactly where the Cyclorama and the Texas is being moved, but they felt Grant Park needed more facilities to meet the neighborhood's needs.

I think that Texas and Cyclorama are being moved about 10 miles away.

Doug vV

The article says "first major restoration" which is misleading. The Texas had a cosmetic restoration in 1936 under the direction of Wilbur Kurtz, an Atlanta historian and painter, to bring it from its retired 1907 appearance to its civil war appearance. 42 years of service after the war probably did all that was needed to have most of the original parts replaced if Sherman didn't do the job first.

The viewing area at the Cylcorama was small. The Texas was in the basement of the building and the support columns for the building come right up to the locomotive making it hard to walk around the display and impossible to see the entire locomotive at once. There was also very little information on the Texas giving the whole display the feeling that the locomotive was just shoved into the basement by the city because there was nowhere else to put it.

The Texas and Cyclorama are being moved to the Atlanta History Center in the Buckhead neighborhood so that Zoo Atlanta can take over the Cyclorama building.

Please remember that the locomotive was built to five foot gauge and has been repeatedly modified over its service life, to standard gauge for one thing, and more. Mr. Kurtz's images of it in its Civil War appearance were well done and it would not be possible to "restore" it to that configuration. Just what is meant by "restoration" is not at all clear now and will only be clarified over some time. And how much of the original remains is an open question that examination might clarify as well.

Hi Murphy,

As others have noted, virtually all of the extant 19th century locomotives survived because they were lucky enough to have long careers, and most were modified heavily over the years. Those that have been back-dated to their original look for display likely have relatively few of the parts they were built with. It's just a fact that we all have to live with.

With regard to building a replica, I am sure we'd all like to see that. Unfortunately, I believe that half a million dollars would only provide a starting point for such a project. The Kloke replica of the UP 119 ("York 17") that runs in PA is rumored to have cost a couple of million dollars or more and that project had the benefit of engineering drawings, patterns, castings etc. that were created by O'Connor Engineering for the two NPS engines at the Golden Spike NHS. A project to replicate the Texas would pretty much start from scratch, and have fewer (if any) photos or technical specifications to work from. As you may recall, a lot of the O'Connor specs for the NPS engines were created from historic photos. I'm not sure you could ever create a completely faithful replica of an engine that was even older and less photographed.

I think that the plans for the Texas are probably the best available option for her and I look forward to seeing her again when she gets to her new home.

/Kevin Madore

Thanks for refreshing my memory.

It is a good relocation.

Zoo Atlanta first evicted the Atlanta Zoo Train Inc that had been in place since the 1950s (G16 Minitaure Trains). At one time, the G16 diesels were painted in Southern's Green and White (or aluminum) and carried on Southern's locomotive roster.

I can not see a better group to place the Texas and Cyclorama than at the Atlanta History Center. It's a very interesting museum to visit.

Doug vV

This picture appeared on my Facebook feed a little while ago:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153700671911830&set=gm.886953538085785&type=3&theater

OK, who wants to post this picture somewhere and say this is one of the discovered Nazi gold trains?
What do you bet the story gets traction?

To bad the Mississippi , with it's history in the Battle of Vicksburg, being used by both the Confederates and the Union , built by John Erickson's company (of Monitor fame) in England couldn't have been coveted even half as much as the Texas and General are and be given its due and appropriate place in our history . Being built in the 1830's it may have been the first or among the first steam locomotive in the South. She will be missed by me.

I think this is a great opportunity to do some archaeological work on Texas as she is. She certainly doesn't appear to be an 1850s locomotive any more - and if we can discover and document the alterations it will be a very good thing for us to understand more about what steam locomotive technology changed between 1855 and 1895. I seldom get to Spencer any more, I hope I'll have an opportunity to see her personally.

Yes, I agree.

James Bogle had a really interesting article on the the Texas in R&LHS Bulletin 132 in 1975. He said that almost nothing was known of the engine's history between 1866 and about 1900, but rather amazingly, she was still in revenue service on the W&A as late as 1903, though in much altered form. The article includes a striking picture of the engine taken in the Atlanta yard in 1907 with a diamond stack and footboard pilot with Janney couplers.

Kevin, I never said operational replica. A decent static version could definitely be made for less than $500,000.

Murphy Jenkins