I am pleased to announce that the Southeastern Railway Museum has acquired Stone Mountain Railroad 4-4-0 #104, the "General II." The locomotive was built by Baldwin (b/n: 52207) in 1919 for the Red River and Gulf Railroad at Long Leaf, LA. She was sold in 1950 to Paulson Spence's Gulf Sand and Gravel Co. at Amite, LA, where she became Comite Southern (later Louisiana Eastern) #1. The Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad acquired the locomotive in 1961 and backdated her appearance to resemble that of the "General" of Civil War fame. She last operated under steam in 1986.

The Museum would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association for this excellent gift.

Andrew Durden
Manager - Locomotives
Southeastern Railway Museum

Will it be restored to its original appearance? It was a good-looking locomotive when Spence owned it.

Just out of curiosity, why was Baldwin building 4-4-0s like this at such a late date?

The short answer is, 'because that's what the customer ordered'. Even in 1919 there were people who didn't like 'that new-fangled technology' like piston valves and Walschaerts Valve Gear. 'Give me somethin' SIMPLE that I understand and can fix!'

Baldwin built the last three 4-4-0's in 1927 for the Chicago & Illinois Midland, #'s 500-502. These were the last 4-4-0's built for any us railroad.

Yes, eventually. We haven't decided between RR&G and LA Eastern. It looked really sharp on BOTH of those roads.

AD

There's a second American there- any word on her?

Joshua

Congratulations on receiving the locomotive. I hope the reconfiguration includes the sawtooth stack. This was one of the prettiest "modern" 4-4-0's I've ever seen. Any idea if she can be rebuilt for operation, or as a display piece?

Baldwin built 3' gauge 4-4-0's after World War 2 for the FC Unidos de Yucatan in Mexico. Once again, because the customer wanted it.

There is an older Yucatan 4-4-0 operating in the U.S. Built in 1916 and operated for years as FC Unidos de Yucatan # 251, it is now Disney World #4.

RR&G #104 was built (with piston valves and walschaerts gear) in 1919 to pull the daily passenger train of 2-3 cars on the Red River and Gulf RR extension from Longleaf, LA to Kurthwood, LA. The 1920 employees timetable indicates that Train #1, pulled by the #104, required 3 hours and 20 minutes for the 42 mile trip, with 8 scheduled stops and 5 flag stops. When the passenger train was taken off in 1927, the engine was stored at Longleaf until it was sold to Spence in 1950.

If and when it again becomes Louisiana Eastern #1, definitely a saw toothed stack! It still has its long shotgun stack, it's simply hidden under a fake Radley-Hunter.

The locomotive will be a display piece in the short term. However, it may be evaluated for operation at some point, if some venue for operating it presents itself. The 0-6-0 tank engine that we are currently overhauling is better suited for our onsite train ride. The condition of the 4-4-0's boiler is largely unknown. It didn't have any obvious issues the last time it was operated, in fact it received a new set of superheater units a year or two before they stopped steaming it up. The powers that be at the time simply decided that running steam was no longer a worthwhile investment. A quick glance at the running gear doesn't show any notable defects, but we haven't exactly gone over it with a fine toothed comb. It was pushed around with a diesel disguised as a box car for a few years, but fortunately the pistons and valves were removed. And yes, we have located them.

It has been many years Andrew, but I have a distinct recollection of the flexible staybolts being replaced with rigid bolts through the installation of little steel donuts in the wrapper sheet to support the outer ends. Don't know how it was done or to what standard, might create a problem if operation is contemplated.

Very fine locomotive and best wishes to SERM.

dave

Here it is in better days, under steam on the Stone Mountain Scenic:



And this was the other one:

The other 4-4-0 was built by Baldwin in 1922 for the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway. It eventually passed into the hands of the Southern Pacific and was leased to the Texas & New Orleans where it carried the number 220 and then later #260. Paulsen Spence purchased it in 1954 and it eventually became Louisiana Eastern #2.

Les

The remaining 4-4-0 is larger than the RR&G engine, and possibly the last 4-4-0 operated by the Southern Pacific system. It was in steam as late as 1954 on the SP. It has around 20,000 lbs tractive effort, so would be an excellent tourist line loco. SP regularly scheduled passenger trains of two and three heavyweights out of Shreveport with these engines, and they were all over south Louisiana and east Texas on branch lines where the soil was soft and the bridges flimsy. SP ran some old and light road engines on the T&NO until quite late. I hope an operating museum like TVRM gets the 260. It would be a good engine for movie jobs and is big enough to do a little real work. I don't know the condition of the unit, but even if the engine is totally worn out, it would be a simpler rebuild than nearly anything else. Just about any steam locomotive restoration is a 100 percent rebuild nowadays.

Tim Gautreaux