Is this the same 300 that was built for the Virginia Central, then later worked on both the Arkansas and Augusta RRs in Arkansas and is now at a shopping center in Grand Rapids, Michigan? If so, at what point did it work at Stone Mountain and is this the same Stone Mountain as the one in Georgia?

http://cgi.ebay.com/2562AA-RAILROAD-PHO ... otohosting

I don't know if it's the same locomotive, but it's definitely the Stone Mountain that's in Georgia. The Stone Mountain Granite Company line was built on the same roadbed that the current Stone Mountain Scenic is built on. The line didn't go all the way around the mountain as the SMSRR does, the rest was added when the mountain became a tourist attraction. As you can see, the SMGC lead came off of the GA RR near the Stone Mountain depot, but diverged to the west, instead of to the east like the spur that was built in the 1980's for the New Georgia Railroad trains.

Andrew Durden
Atlanta, GA

While this is an interesting question, the ephemeral nature of ebay listings renders all these photo links not very helpful. Anyone looking at an old thread or doing a search on rypn will have no idea what is being discussed.

For those few who might have access to back issues of "The Short Line", hunt up #46, July-August 1980. The dean of industrial steam locomotives, Tom Lawson, Jr., offered his comments on this photo, which he identifies as having been taken by W. J. Rivers on August 29, 1934, at Stone Mountain, GA. This is one of the light "Cuban" Moguls that ended up being sold domestically. Beyond the photo, Tom Lawson was not able to further document the engine's tenure at Stone Mountain. All published rosters show it going directly from the Virginia Central to the Arkansas Railroad, so it would seem it took up residence in Georgia only briefly.

Alan Maples

I'd say it's the same locomotive.

http://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomo ... splay=1510

Obviously, someone left out the time frame when it operated on Stone Mountain.