Southern Railway 722

Southern Railway 722

Southern 722 backing onto the train at the Macon, Georgia terminal in the mid 1970s

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Serial number 24729 Build date September 1904

Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 56 in (1.422 m) Loco weight 214,000 lb (97,000 kg) Fuel type Coal Boiler pressure 200 psi (1.38 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) Valve gear Southern

Performance figures Tractive effort 46,700 lbf (208 kN)

Career Operators Southern Railway East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad Class Ks-1 Numbers SOU 722 ET&WNC 208 Retired 1952 (SOU) 1967 (ET&WNC) 1985 (excursion) Restored 1969 Current owner Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Disposition Awaiting for restoration

Southern Railway 722 is a steam locomotive built in September 1904 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for Southern Railway.

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 November 1952. Following the retirement, 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. The ET&WNC where originally offered Ks-1s #685 (Baldwin, 1904) and #835 (Baldwin, 1906), but they found that the 630 and the 722 were in better shape than the 685 and the 835.

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.