![]() Thomas, president of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. ![]() Warren Clark, a professional photographer, discovered the engine in Vinings, and approached John W. The General was retired from service in 1891 and stored on a siding in Vinings, GA where it awaited its final fate. After a change to the northern states gauge was mandated by June 1, 1886, The General was converted to be compatible with the U.S. The locomotive was originally built to the southern states standard rail gauge of 60. During this time, the W&A had a locomotive surplus after buying several more modern engines, so they leased the General to the A&F from 1887 to 1888 to assist in construction. In the mid-1880s, the Atlanta and Florida Railroad began construction. The engine continues to carry this number today. At this time, the General was given the number "3," being the third oldest engine that the railroad had at the time. Locomotives came and went as years progressed, and by 1880, a renumbering was necessary. When the railroad began numbering engines after the war, the General was the 39th engine to be acquired by the road, and was numbered accordingly. Rather, they were simply named, such as the General. Indeed, the rebuilt engine had little resemblance to its original form.īefore the Civil War, most railways in the south, including the W&A, did not give their engines numbers. Most notably, its three dome configuration was reduced to two domes, and its Radley-Hunter style balloon stack was replaced with a diamond stack, as the engine had been converted to burn coal. In the 1870s, the General was completely rebuilt, it had received a new pilot, boiler, and other components. The USMRR had often left the damaged equipment of a captured railroad undisturbed, and its records, having listed the General as "captured and returned," further suggest such was the case of the General.Īfter the war ended, the General was repaired and continued service on the Western and Atlantic. The United States Military Railroad Service had many new or like-new engines, so they had no need to restore captured ones such as the General. The Union army had based its repair shops in Nashville, and there is no evidence to suggest the engine was moved there. However, many historians believe that the engine was left untouched for the remainder of the war. It had been speculated by some that, after the General had been damaged, the invading Union army restored the engine and operated it. This was done deliberately so as to render the engine unusable for the approaching Union forces. However, the engine was severely damaged by being run into boxcars of ammunition and the Missouri locomotive. Later, the General narrowly escaped destruction when General John Bell Hood ordered the ordnance depot destroyed as he left Atlanta on September 1, 1864. Low on water and wood, the General eventually lost steam pressure and speed, and slowed to a halt two miles north of Ringgold, where Andrews and his raiders abandoned the locomotive and tried to flee. Andrews at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw, Georgia), and abandoned north of Ringgold, after being pursued by William Allen Fuller and the Texas. ![]() It was arguably the first train ever hijacked.ĭuring the Civil War on April 12, 1862, The General was commandeered by Northerners led by James J. The locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The General is a type 4-4-0 steam locomotive that was the subject of the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War. Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History Louis Railway, Louisville and Nashville Railroad ![]() Western and Atlantic Railroad, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. The General on display in Chattanooga, Tennessee circa 1907
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