The No. 100 Homecoming Celebration will be next Saturday, September 29, 2007, in Century, FL. This will be one of the biggest social events in a long time at Century.

Briefly, the family event is centered around the return of Alger-Sullivan Lumber Co. steam locomotive No. 100 from the White Water Valley Railroad in Indiana to Century for restoration and display at the James Houston Jones Historical Park. The locomotive was a fixture in Century for decades.

This is the same 48 ton 2-6-2 type locomotive that J.R. Phillips, Max Grice and Louis Zadnichek purchased for scrap from the Jim Walter Door Co. (successors to Alger-Sullivan) in the early 1970s and trucked to Mobile where it was restored and operated in conjunction with the BiCentennial Celebration in 1976.

The No. 100 was later sold to the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, IN. They have now sold it back to the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society in Century. There is an interesting article on the locomotive's history in the October 2007 issue of Railfan magazine beginning on page 10.

The Society is hoping to eventually restore the No. 100 to operating condition. Website < www.algersullivan.org >

Contact Person: Don Sales, vice president, Alger-Sullivan Historical Society, Century, FL. Home phone (850) 256-0473, or Museum phone (850) 256-2447.

Many West Florida state/local political dignitaries along with representatives from south Alabama and Florida museums will be in attendance. Plus, many families whose ancestors worked for Alger-Sullivan Lumber Co. and had direct involvement in operating and maintaining the No. 100 will be there, too.

Hope all went well for this event, the Century group worked very hard to make this project happen. This is a perfect example of not being discouraged when the first grant application fails. These guys kept on working to make the move happen!

David Farlow, CMO
Whitewater Valley Railroad