The Nashville Steam Preservation Society announced recently that former Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway 4-8-4 No. 576 will return to Nashville’s Union Station March 9 for an event at the station. The event, “Next Stop: Union Station,” is being billed as “A reunion 67 years in the making,” and is being executed through cooperation with CSX Transportation.
“This is the first time the Stripe has been to Union Station since 1952,” says Nashville Steam Communications Manager Joey Bryan. “We want to celebrate this grand reunion of two local landmarks that helped build Nashville into the city it is today.”
At the March 9 event, CSX will tow No. 576 into Union Station and stage the locomotive for a public photo session from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. During that time, the whistle will be blown and information about the preservation process will be shared with those in attendance. The event is being executed as part of the locomotive’s move from the Nashville & Western Railroad to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum where the restoration process will eventually be completed. The public will be allowed to view No. 576 from behind trackside fences. Only authorized personnel will be allowed beyond those fences.
According to a Facebook post, restoration crews recently finished installation of the drawbar on No. 576 in anticipation of the March 9 move, and once the buffer pocket is fully repaired, 576 and its tender will be reconnected.
The locomotive, a “Dixie”-type locomotive built by American Locomotive Corp. in 1942, was donated to the city of Nashville in 1953 and sat displayed in the city’s Centennial Park for six-and-a-half decades. No. 576 was moved from the park in January and relocated to the Nashville & Western Railroad, where restoration efforts began.
A Nashville Steam social media post says the event is “the last stop on No. 576’s road to restoration” to operational status for use on steam excursions. Nashville Steam says the “Next Stop: Union Station” event will be similar to open house-style events previously held by the group prior No. 576’s move from Centennial Park.
