CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — There’s a project underway where Blackwater Dredging Company is pulling old vehicles from the Waccamaw River and disposing of them.

They just pulled out a 1920s-era locomotive. It’s been there on the property of the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority for years.

"We just recently had, DNR had, Black Water Dredging in here doing some abandoned boat retrieval and I had the idea if they have equipment in here that can retrieve abandoned boats, maybe they could get the locomotive and we suggested that to them and they volunteered to do that and here we are today," Kevin Hardee, South Carolina Representative said.

They believe rising water levels from flooding is one of the reasons it was beginning to sink underwater into the Waccamaw, but they're not sure how it originally ended up in that spot, or why.

Historians' best guess is that it was used for logging back in the 1900's, according to SouthCarolinaETV's Youtube video "Mystery Locomotive- Myrtle Beach, SC."

That video stated that they believe the locomotive was made by the company Whitcomb, but they're not positive the exact year.

According to SouthCarolinaETV, historians believe that the locomotive was also used to help the U.S. during WWI- floating timber down to sawmills in Georgetown.

Hardee said his daughter gave him the idea to preserve the locomotive.

“My daughter mentioned it to be about a year ago, she sent me a picture of it. I’ve seen the locomotive down by the river many times. She suggested we try to retrieve it and restore it," he, said.

At 8:30 a.m., the crews started working to pull other locomotives from the river and transfer them to a welder for clean up and restoration.

The City of Conway will take possession of the 1920s locomotive and eventually put it on display for visitors.

Danny Jones, from Jones Metal Crafters, is the one who will be restoring the locomotive.

“Well right now, what I think we’re gonna do is just get it to where we can work on it, to my facility. And, we’re going to sandblast it and clean it up, then we’ll probably look at it and analyze what we’re gonna do next," he, said.

Jones said he's super excited to start working on this project and help preserve a part of history.

“It’ll be really cool to get it and fix it up; let everybody see, because a lot of people don’t even know what that is. They’re gonna look at it and be like ‘wow, I didn’t even know they made that," he, said.

Jones said he estimates the restoration project will take at least 5 months.

Hardee said once the locomotive is fixed up, it will be placed in downtown Conway with a metal plaque to showcase Horry County's history.

... other locomotives???

There are known to be one and possibly two early Shays in the swamp near Sumter, SC. It wouldn’t surprise me if they find more locomotives in the Waccamaw River.