Well, we have TEXAS and GENERAL in their altered form already. Why not build a replica of the haystack boilered, slanted cylinder, low drivered 4-4-0 YONAH? If you look at the photos of what was left of the W&A after Sherman passed through, there are some of these shown in the ruins of the roundhouse. It would be interesting to have 1840's steam as well as 1850's.

I'm curious about the building this was in.

It apparently was custom built to hold both the Texas and the Cyclorama painting. It would likely be old enough to qualify as an historic structure in its own right. What's available in the images of the Texas being withdrawn suggests a structure with classical design elements.

So, what's going to become of the building? Is there any reason for all this money to be spent moving artifacts to new quarters?

I have visited the "Texas" in the Cyclorama. Yes, relocation for better appreciation is a good idea.
Do I understand correctly, the locomotive is in the appearance in which she last operated? She's definitely in an earlier configuration than "General" appears today. Both represent classic definitions of steam locomotives that survived a dramatic episode of the nation's worst conflict. Since both were rebuilt, consigned to scrap, rescued and rebuilt again, why not keep them as such with explanations in model form of how they reached their current appearances?
I, for one, would hate to see "Texas" re-restored to yet another guess of "how we should remember her".

The Cyclorama is a 360 degree painting, with a foreground of a 3D model that blends into the painting. In the center of the room is a set of bleachers that rotate. The story of the Battle of Atlanta is told as the bleachers slowly makes the 360 degree rotation.

Apparently, not all of the painting is displayed. It should be a bit taller than it is in its current building. The new location will exhibit the painting in its full height, and some needed repairs to the painting and the 3D model layout will also take place.

When I was there last year in the middle of tourist season, about 10 people went in to see the Cyclorama, while there were three lines of families waiting to get into the zoo next door. Obviously the zoo wins out at that location, so why not move the Cyclorama and Texas to the history center where there will be more visitors who are there to learn history.

The cyclorama building is historic in its own right, and will be taken over by the zoo for reuse. I am sure they will retain the unique design elements of the building as they repurpose it.

hi,

As I recall, the manikins in the modeled forground of the battle are about 4 feet tall, a forced prespective is in the model.

The painting was made from a hill top out east of Atlanta after the war. Just the paining itself was dispayed there originally. I do not recall when the model foreground was added but it was added or when it was moved to Grant Park - about 1920 maybe.

The building in Grant park that houses the Cyclorama was built pre-Zoo Atlanta and was put in in the 1980's (not the 1880s). The basement of the original building housing the Cyclorama and Texas had a flat standing area that you walked around as the story of the battle of Atlanta was moved from direction to direction. I vaguely remember this since I was born in 1955 and Mom and Dad moved to Atlanta in 1961.

Texas was in a very narrow basement until the late 1970's at least.The basement walls had to be removed and a new basement dug around the Texas for the new building. The building was built up around the Texas.

1) comment 1
I worked for 5-6 years part time keeping the G16 Atlanta Zoo Train Inc running. This was not part of Zoo Atlanta.
On leaving one spring day in the 1990s, I had the windows in my car down and was playing a CD or audio tape of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic. I stopped at a traffic light. The fellow in the pick up next to me was looking around. It took me a moment but I finally realized he heard my CD/Tape but it was soft enough that he could not fix a direction. Where was the Steam Locomotive? <GRIN>

2) Comment
Grant Park was also the location of the first location of the Atlanta Chapter NRHS equipment display location. A&WP 290 4-6-2 was the keystone to the collection and the forming of the chapter.

Doug vV

Zoo Atlanta is in Grant Park, a 131-acre city park (wikipedia). The city park is surrounded by a historic Atlanta neighborhood, also named Grant Park, filled with Victorian homes.

Zoo Atlanta is one of only four institutions in the U.S. that has giant pandas, so it is a big regional attraction that attracts people from all over. The zoo charges admission and is expensive to visit ($22.99/adult, $17.99/child), which is understandable since the zoo is reportedly paying $1 million each year to rent the pandas from China.

The rest of Grant Park is a typical city park. There is an outdoor swimming pool, tennis pools, playground areas, picnic tables, pavilions that residents can reserve for events, etc. Neighborhood festivals are also held at the park.

Zoo Atlanta needed to expand, but taking more of the park or surrounding neighborhood was not an acceptable solution.
I agree with Doug -- the 33-acre Atlanta History Center (wikipedia) is a wonderful place. The Cyclorama and Texas really deserve to be part of it.

A 2014 story on the decision to move the painting and the TEXAS is posted here.

http://artsculture.blog.ajc.com/2014/07/23/cyclorama-to-move-from-grant-park-to-atlanta-history-center/

Wesley

If you are ever in Chattanooga, TN, you should visit the Andrews Raider memorial in the Chattanooga National Cemetery. The graves of eight of the raiders, including James Andrews, are arranged in a semi-circle around a monument with a bronze likeness of "The General". The eight raiders were hanged shortly after they were captured.



http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11575

That's an excellent photo of the Andrews Raiders grave site and memorial. I've never seen that before. So very sad they were executed for their actions.

Hi,

I agree but also recall a line from "National Treasure" concerning the signers of the Declaration of Independence. "If we had lost the war, they would have been hanged" - they were traitors to the British Crown.

I also recall a line from somewhere - basically history is written by the victors.

Another interesting point is the similarity of the defender's of the Alamo and Andrew's Raiders and it might be streached to include the "Battling Bast... of Bataan."

Oh Well.

Doug vV

Re the Atalnta Chapter and Grant Park: The Atlanta Chapter of NRHS predecessor organization was located at the Lakewood Fairgrounds south and east of Grant Park. US army Corps of Engineers transported 290 from the A&WP belt line into Lakewood in 1958. https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdcjr/21270002032

Kudos to the crew who lifted the Texas out of the pit on Monday -- in the four days since then, Atlanta received 8 inches of rain!

FWIW, below is a screenshot of the National Weather Service's "Storm Total Precipitation" radar, for the period from 2:08 AM on Monday, December 21 thru 7:43 PM on Friday, December 25, 2015.

Anybody else run across a fake news story shared on Facebook stating that there has been a train in perfect condition discovered after it was buried during the Civil War? I keep getting friends and family telling me this and the photo is clearly from this move. "No- I saw it on Facebook, it's true!"

Looks like it's at Spencer now. Sure looks close to those power lines!