Southern Appalachia Railway Museum reunites ‘Man o’ War’ equipment

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A 31-year effort by the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum has reached fruition with the acquisition of Central of Georgia combine car Fort Mitchell, giving the museum the complete four-car streamlined, stainless-steel Man o’ War trainset built by Budd Co. in 1945. When restoration efforts are complete, the museum believes it will be the only non-articulated trainset in the U.S. to be fully reunited and restored to its original configuration.

“We never thought this project would be feasible, said Charles Poling, museum director and president, East Tennessee Rail Car Services, Inc. “Especially in the early years we’d sit and discuss or daydream about how fun it might be to do it one day, but never once believing it could be pulled off or we could pull it off.

“Chris Williams, who passed away unexpectedly in 2016, kept us passively focused on the project for years and always pushed the agenda when the opportunity arose. I think he’d be thrilled right now.”

Acquisition of the Fort Mitchell comes through an arrangement with the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. It rejoins coaches Fort McPherson and Fort Oglethorpe, and round-end tavern-lounge-observation Fort Benning. Coach Fort Oglethorpe has already been restored to operating condition, with Fort McPherson actively being restored.

The Fort Oglethorpe was the first passenger car acquired by the museum, in 1990 from railroad engineering and maintenance company Pandrol Jackson. The Fort McPherson, which had roamed as far as Alaska, was acquired in 1999, with the Fort Benning acquired by East Tennessee Rail Car in 2013. The company invested its own resources to return the observation car from Yakima, Wash., where it was part of a shopping mall.

The Man o’War service, named for a famous racehorse with cars named after military installations along the Central of Georgia, was inaugurated in 1947, running from Atlanta to Columbus, Ga., twice daily. Dwindling ridership led to the train’s discontinuance by the Southern Railway (into which the Central of Georgia had merged in 1963) in 1970. The equipment continued to see service on Southern trains until 1979, when Southern finally joined Amtrak and the equipment was sold off.

More information on the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum, a 501(c)3 corporation founded in 1990, is available on the museum website and Facebook page. East Tennessee Rail Car Services, Inc. provides rail freight car, passenger car, and locomotive maintenance as well as switching services and equipment leasing; its Facebook page offers more information.