Southern Railway's touring Best Friend is now in Charleston. But wasn't there a second replica in South Carolina at a place called "World of Wheels"? IIRC "World of Wheels" also offered rides in a Ford Tri-motor plane? Where is this second "Best Friend"?

Thanks.

Wesley



National Capital Trolley Museum

See the link.

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

...was the name of the museum along RT 301 at Santee, SC. (any of it still there??). This was a large exhibit of classic / antique vehicles and aircraft. Yes, I do remember the plane rides in the Ford Tri-Motor and the "Best Friend" replica. IIRC, the replica was built around 1968. The museum had laid out some track (IIRC, a loop) to offer rides in 2 or 3 replica "Best Friend" coaches. Ahh, more memories from the distant past!

Regards,
Jim Robinson

> Southern Railway's touring Best Friend is
> now in Charleston. But wasn't there a second
> replica in South Carolina at a place called
> "World of Wheels"?

Wings and Wheels, actually. Now, I will answer your question and then some!

In 1929, the Southern's Birmingham Shops built a replica of the first North American steam locomotive in revenue service, the Best Friend of Charleston (the Stourbridge Lion and Tom Thumb predate the BFOC, but the Lion only ran once and the Thumb was expiramental and not intended for revenue operatons). The replica train was built to celebrate the centennial of the BFOC's first revenue run, on Christmas Day, 1830. Southern modified a pair of freight cars to carry the replica, numbered SOU 49 and SOU 50. One was a boxcar that held a minimal shop and the two coaches. The other was a house on a 50' flatcar that held the locomotive and "Berthen" flatcar, which has a Ford hidden inside a crate to provide air for the air brakes and also to help things along, particularly in reverse. Lots of folks call this a "tender" but it isn't -- tecinically the BFOC is an 0-4-0T. The water tank is a square box under the front part of the frame.

Southern used the BFOC replica up until about 1986, then retired it. In 1994, when the steam program was cancelled, they donated the train and its freight cars to the City of Charleston.

Meantime, the Wings and Wheels museum built a second BFOC replica in 1972 or 1974. This one was more accurate, lacking the Ford and air brakes, but like the Southern replica it was standard gauge (the original was 5' gauge). Another difference was that the Southern train had two coaches while the W&W replica had four.

Wings and Wheels closed in the late '70s or early '80s. I used to think that the Wings portion formed the core of the Florence Air & Missle Museum, but someone told me recently that that's not true, the Wings stuff went to Florida. Anyway, most of the Wheels stuff went to the SC State Museum, which was then in planning. When the old mill on Gervais Street in Columbia was finally converted into the State Museum, the BFOC replica went in there on the third floor. Only two of the four coaches would fit, however.

Enter SCRM, which had just gotten the R&R Ry. The State Museum gave us the two extra BFOC coaches, which we initially stored at the Uniroyal mill in South Winnsboro. We used one of the cars as a parade float a few times. When NS gave Charleston their replica, the city didn't want the 49 and 50. So they gave the freight cars to SCRM. By ths time, Uniroyal was grumbling a little about our coaches being in their way, so we put the coaches in the boxcar. We used one for a couple more parades, but when we slightly damaged it getting it on the track, we decided it was too big a pain and too dangerous to the cars to take them in and out so much. They haven't seen daylight in several years at this point. The plan is to eventually display them under some sort of a shed in Rion.

The State Museum also gave us some other stuff. We got a number of extra parts for the W&W replica -- a set of drivers, a BUNCH of pillow block bearings, and what looks like to me like about two and a half sets of rods. Just recently, we "discovered" some more stuff from W&W and are currently working on moving it from Columbia up to the Museum. So far, the remains of a motor car and some other assorted junk has been moved to Rion. I haven't gone down to Cola. and looked, but I'm told there's also a Plymouth and some disconnect log trucks yet to be moved.

Last I heard, Spencer had the patterns from the SOU replica -- don't know if they were used to build the W&W replica or not, but I suspect they might have been. I hope Spencer hasn't disposed of those patterns, because I've got this fanatasy of using them and our parts to build a replica of the Phoenix. After the BFOC blew up on June 17, 1830, Ezra Miller and Horatio Allen shopped the remains of the engine and rebuilt it. They renamed the rebuilt engine the Phoenix. It operated on the SCRR until just before the War of Northern Aggression. It's last assignment was around Aiken west of the Aiken Incline. Legend has it that the Phoenix was melted down to make a cannon for the Confederacy, and that the canon in question is on display in the Confederate Museum in Charleston.

BTW, I have it on good athority that the BFOC in Charleston will be out of the barn (weather permitting) on Nov. 15-16. There's a model train show at the Danny Jones Armory in North Charleston that weekend. Transportation between the show and downtown wasn't definite last I heard, but was being worked on.

If the picture shows up below, it shows the Museum's #82 switching the two BFOC cars just before we put them up for the last time.


mconrad@msmgmt.com

Apparent victims of the SR junque collector, eons ago.

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

Y'all have me confused (not a great accomplishment). Was the Best Friend that was at Chattanooga Terminal Station on display ca 1948, maybe 50, the same one that visited TVRM in 1970, 78 etc?

JWC

that other (lately neglected) Chattanooga website
mail@steamvalley.com

OK, if one of them is in the State Museum in Columbus, then does anyone know where the other one from the Wheels and Wings museum is?

Ted Miles

ted_miles@nps.gov

Orig SR Best Friend ca. 1920s is in Charleston, SC.
W&W 1972 Unit is in Columbia, SC.

Wesley

> Y'all have me confused (not a great
> accomplishment). Was the Best Friend that
> was at Chattanooga Terminal Station on
> display ca 1948, maybe 50, the same one that
> visited TVRM in 1970, 78 etc?

> JWC

The Best Friend that was displayed at Chattanooga Terminal Station was the Southern built replica. I was told that Southern wanted a place to display it and since the General was on display across town at the NC&StL Union Station, the Best Friend was displayed in Chattanooga. In 1968 Southern had the Best Friend rebuilt for a year long celebration in South Carolina. I think it was the bicentinial of the founding of the colony. Southern saw the PR value of the little train and continued operating it through the merger with NS until the major reorganization and downsizing of NS operations staff in the fall of 1987 made it unpractical to keep it operational.

tennesseans@juno.com

> The Best Friend that was displayed at
> Chattanooga Terminal Station was the
> Southern built replica. I was told that
> Southern wanted a place to display it and
> since the General was on display across town
> at the NC&StL Union Station, the Best
> Friend was displayed in Chattanooga. In 1968
> Southern had the Best Friend rebuilt for a
> year long celebration in South Carolina. I
> think it was the bicentinial of the founding
> of the colony. Southern saw the PR value of
> the little train and continued operating it
> through the merger with NS until the major
> reorganization and downsizing of NS
> operations staff in the fall of 1987 made it
> unpractical to keep it operational.

Ah, THAT'S why she's got a 1968 boiler on her. I wondered about that. The transport freight cars must have been converted at the same time?

mconrad@msmgmt.com