Tennessee Valley 610: Spring on Missionary Ridge 2010

As we get ready to begin another exciting year of steam-powered adventures, let's take a look back eight years ago to when US Army 610 was the main workhorse for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. In March of 2010, about a week before I started this channel, I made a brief visit to see her leading the Missionary Ridge Local between Grand Junction and East Chattanooga. A lot has changed at TVRM since then - at the conclusion of the 2010 season, 610 was retired and replaced with Southern 630, and 4501 joined three years later. At the time it was thought that 610 would be returned to service following 4501 as part of Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam program, but with the inclusion of 765 and 611 and the subsequent cancellation of mainline steam excursions, there was no need for a third steam locomotive in Chattanooga. Still, 610 is the perfect size for short-haul excursions and is in good condition - I'm sure we'll see her steamed up again someday. (Hopefully with a new, less annoying bell.)