40
COMMUNITY
A CSX train carrying another locomotive
prompted double-takes from passing motorists
as it snaked through the curvy hollows along
U.S. Highway 280 on the 20-mile trek from
Gaston Steam Plant to Calera.
The No. 107, which pulled coal
cars at Gaston, will get a new
lease on life pulling passengers
at the Heart of Dixie Railroad
Museum (HDRM), which is
Alabama's official rail museum.
"It was definitely a unique
sight," said Jeremy Cole, of
Southern Company Services
Fuel Services, who supported
Plant Gaston employees
arranging transfer of the 100-ton engine.
Alabama Power donated the 59-year-old
locomotive used for decades to pull rail cars
to strategic points at the plant. Over the
years, plant processes changed such that the
locomotive was no longer used
enough to be an asset.
HDRM will refurbish the
engine, with plans to put it in
service this summer pulling
visitors in vintage rail cars
through the countryside on the
museum's 5.7-mile excursions
on the Calera and Shelby
Railroad line.
"It will certainly be a great
Old Gaston locomotive finds new home at state museum
By gilbert nicholson • photos by Jeremy cole
BACK
ON TRACK
No. 97 was crucial at Plant Gaston for years.
