OK, here's the story
Hey Jumbo, thanks of the link. It's great to see the "General" is still around!
I did some more surfing and found a lot of interesting info on that old engine:
It was built in December 1855 and cost $8850. It was put into service on the Atlantic & Western RR which ran between Atlanta and Chattanooga.
April 12, 1862 the Chase occurred.
May 2, 1862: The captured Andrews Raiders were loaded on a train to be taken from Chattanooga to Atlanta. In a real twist of irony it was the General that pulled this train to Atlanta!
June 27, 1864: The General comes under heavy fire and has a close call with bombshells
Sept. 1, 1864: The General is intentionally rammed into another locomotive just before the Union troops overtook Atlanta
The war ends and the RR resumes normal operations. After sitting 2 years the General is repaired for $2887. 45 and resumes normal service.
1866-1870: The General continues regular service. Records show the engine pulling about 1200 empties and 1200 loaded cars per year, racking up about 23,000 miles a year and fuel economy averaged 33-39 MPCW (miles per cord of wood)
June 1, 1886: Engine is converted from 5 foot gauge to Standard Gauge (4'8. 5") by moving the wheels in 1. 5" on the axles. It was set for 4'9" which was "close enough. "
1887: The General is now aging and outclassed but has a reputation for being a speedy locomotive. It saves the day twice that year by rescuing a broken down train and by making up a late departure time by whipping its train along at 60+ mph. It is recognized as a famous locomotive.
1888: The General takes a long road trip! It powers its way all the way to Ohio for a big Andrews raiders reunion. The Southern engineer who ran the General that day, Mr Fuller, also attended. On the way home a speeding General rounded a bend and destroyed a handcar that 12 RR maintenance crew were riding. They jumped clear just in time and the pieces went flying.
1890: Records show the General has racked up 127,886 miles since Dec. 1870. [at this time a rough estimate would put the total mileage on the engine at around 330,000 miles]
1891: The General is condemned and retired. It is valued at $1500.
1892: The General is refurbished. Over the next several decades the General is moved around to various places for display at World fairs and other events. It made a total of 4 trips to Chicago as well as Ohio, New York and Maryland. None of these trips were made under its own power. Over the years Mr Fuller as well as surviving Andrews raiders saw the engine and were photographed with the General.
1914: The General runs under its own steam for the last time.
Between 1939 and the 1960s there were "custody battles" for the General between the states of Georgia and Tennesse and the railroad that owned the General.
1961: Several people working for the RR which owns the General get a wild hair and think it would be fun to restore the General. They decide to go for it and actually swipe the engine without permission from display in Chattanooga. They break into the place at night, lay down some track on the street and wheel it out of there to the RR yard close by. It is then loaded onto a flatcar and covered, then taken to Kentucky for restoration.
March 28, 1962: The General steams again!! They take it on an 80-mile trial run, lots of things go wrong, but it runs! A few weeks later it was returned to Chattanooga.
April 14, 1962: On that Saturday the General retraces its steps of the raid that occured 100 years and 2 days before. It covers the 138 miles easily and runs perfectly. It was a big event and brought out more than 100,000 people.
May-Dec 1962: The General takes a big tour all over the East. Incredibly, most of the 12 states the General traveled to it did under its own power! It racked up over 9,000 miles without the aid of any diesels and ran great.
1963: The General travels to the NE again but this year it only racks up 2200 miles under its own power. After this the General was not operated much more.
1966: The General steams up again and goes to Kentucky to chauffeur southern dignitaries (governors) on a short sightseeing tour of the dams near Kentucky Dam Village. On Sept 21, 1966 the 110 year old engine travels under its own power for the last time ever.
1972: The General is brought to Kennesaw GA where it is placed in a museum that was built for it. And that is where it has been sitting for the last 30 years now. This is the longest period in its life it has not been moved anywhere. It hasn't been fired up for 35 years now, but the longest time period it was not fired up was 48 years (between 1914 and 1962).
So that is the rest of the story on one remarkable and very historic locomotive. There is a lot more interesting info here:
http://www.andrewsraid.com/engines.html
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