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Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Inc.
CHATTANOOGA, TN
4.8· 19,275 Google reviews
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About Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Inc.
A one‑hour, 6‑mile round‑trip excursion departs from the East Chattanooga depot, winding through the historic Whiteside (Missionary Ridge) Tunnel and along restored Southern Railway right‑of‑way. From the Etowah station, a separate 50‑mile Hiwassee Loop traverses the Hiwassee River gorge, climbs Bald Mountain and continues to Copperhill, Tennessee, with bus transfers to the scenic river park. Both rides showcase restored steam and diesel locomotives amid the Appalachian foothills of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
📍 CHATTANOOGA, TN 37421
History
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is founded in 1960 as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society by DuPont engineer Paul H. Merriman and General Railway Signal Company representative Robert M. Soule Jr., and it incorporates the following year. In 1969 the museum receives a land donation from Southern Railway that includes the 986‑foot Whiteside Tunnel and about 1½ miles of abandoned right‑of‑way. A permanent East Chattanooga facility opens to the public on May 7 1972, when volunteers have already rebuilt the tunnel line and created a railyard for storage and repair. The museum constructs a bridge over Tunnel Boulevard in 1977 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 6 1980, the first heritage railroad in the region to receive that designation. Expansion continues through the 1990s with the addition of the Downtown Arrow service, and in 2004 the museum partners with the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association to acquire former L&N track, establishing the Chattanooga and Hiwassee operating divisions. The organization celebrates its 50th anniversary during Labor Day weekend 2011, when Norfolk Southern launches a new steam‑excursion program that runs through 2015.
The Trains
The museum’s active roster includes Southern Railway Ks‑1 class 2‑8‑0 No. 630, Southern Railway Ms‑class 2‑8‑2 No. 4501, and the 1953 EMD E8 passenger locomotive Southern Railway 6914, all maintained in the Soule Shops alongside a fleet of historic passenger cars such as former Chessie/D&RGW dome‑lounge‑observation car No. 1877, Baltimore & Ohio office car No. 98, and Budd‑built Southern Railway coach No. 832. TVRM runs a one‑hour, 6‑mile (9.7 km) round‑trip excursion between its East Chattanooga station and the tunnel‑loop terminus, and operates a 50‑mile (80 km) Hiwassee Loop route that begins at the Etowah station, follows the former Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railway through the Hiwassee Gorge to Farner, and can extend southward to Copperhill, Tennessee and McCaysville, Georgia.
Nearby
Set in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, Inc. pairs naturally with two nearby rail stops: the Chattanooga Choo Choo about 6 mi off, and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway roughly 8 mi away.
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Most heritage railroads sit well off the interstate. Picking up a rental at the nearest airport is usually the easiest way in.
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