Nashville Tennessean, August
22, 2003
Reprinted with permission
By Megan Moriarty, mmoriarty@nashvillecitypaper.com
August 22, 2003
Engine No. 576, the only surviving example of its class, approaches
its
50th anniversary. Photo by M.J. Masotti Jr.
A train shed will soon protect the steam locomotive
in Centennial Park, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary
Sept. 13.
Engine No. 576, the only surviving example of a mainline NC&StL
steam, J3-57 class locomotive, was given as a gift
to the citizens of Nashville from the Nashville, Chattanooga
and St. Louis Railway following the 1952 retirement of all its steam engines.
Interim Metro Parks Director Curt Garrigan said the department
has appropriated $75,000 toward constructing a shed,
which will protect the train from the elements.
He said the cover would be similar to the old train shed at Union Station,
which was razed in early 2001, and will be put in place before the end of the year.
"The locomotive will from that point on be protected from
the elements," Garrigan said.
The American Locomotive Co. built engine No. 576. Following a
decline in train traffic after World War II, J3s were
bumped from prime service spots to lesser passenger
and freight trains. With the exception of the locomotive
in Centennial Park, all of the J3s were scrapped after being withdrawn from service.
Native Nashvillian Tom Knowles, who said he was privileged to
have spent
many hours getting to know the engine as a young child, said since
the train was only 10 years old at the time and still
in beautiful condition, it was spared from demolition and given to the city.
Knowles, as well as several others, is concerned the steam engine
has and will continue to suffer damage from sitting
outside unprotected.
Knowles is a charter member of a RR-oriented society known as
the Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Preservation Society.
He said the nonprofit group, which has been interested in the stabilization
of No. 576 and has made a number of trips to Nashville, would return for the anniversary.
For more information on the train, visit www.ncps-576.org.
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