Power type Steam Build date September 1904 | Serial number 24729 Configuration 2-8-0 | |
 | ||
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
Southern Railway 722 is a steam locomotive built in September 1904 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for Southern Railway. It is a 2-8-0 Consolidation of the railroad's Ks-1 class.
Contents
History
The locomotive was used on Southern's Murphy Branch to pull logging trains between Murphy, NC and Asheville, NC until her retirement from revenue freight service in 1952. In November of that year, 722 and sister locomotive 630 were both purchased by the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) and renumbered 208 and 207 respectively.
In December 1967, the Ks-1 sisters were traded back to the Southern for use in their steam excursion program and reverted to their former identities in return for a pair of former Central of Georgia Alco RS3s. But 722 had a cracked firebox, so 630 was in better condition and had been given minor repairs. In 1969, 722 was finally restored with a new firebox and repainted in the fictitious Southern Crescent green with gold linings like the Southern Railway 4501. She made her first debut in 1970 with 630 and 4501 for the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) convention in Charleston, South Carolina.
In May 1979, Southern loaned 722 to the Wilmington and Western Railroad (WWRC) to operate on their Wilmington and Northern Branch line. In September 1980, Southern loaned the locomotive again, this time to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, TN along with 630, which had been leased in 1978 by Southern. Because they were both too slow, old, and small to pull the heavier excursions on the Southern's system.
In summer 1985, 722 was taken out of service for its boiler ticket certificate and sat on display at the museum. In 1992, the locomotive was moved from TVRM to Asheville, NC by Southern's successor Norfolk Southern (NS) to be on display at the city's Biltmore section where she had been used in revenue freight service years ago. In December 1999, NS removed the 722 from her display site and placed the locomotive in storage at the same Asheville roundhouse from which the ET&WNC purchased her and 630 back in 1952.
2000-present
In December 2000, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR) purchased the 722 and returned her to the same Murphy Branch that was used in revenue service long ago. GSMR has plans to restore the locomotive, but it remains disassembled outside their Dillsboro, North Carolina workshop area along with their other 2-8-0 steam locomotive ex-USATC S160 Class #1702 (which hadn't been operated since its retirement in 2004 until returning back to operational service in summer 2016). In addition, the cost for 722's restoration is $700,000.