Earlier this week, Historic Watertown Inc. announced that it had secured the donation of a surplus turntable from CSX. The turntable is currently located in Atlanta and will be disassembled this week for its move to Tennessee. The 110-foot turntable was installed by the NC&StL not long after it had purchased its J3 4-8-4 locomotives.
The turntable will be installed in Watertown where it will be used by the Music City Star, Tennessee Central Railway Museum, and eventually No. 576.
“Being able to both preserve this turntable and reunite it with the class of locomotive it was designed for is truly a special opportunity,” says Nashville Steam Preservation Society historian and communications manager Joey Bryan. “The 90-mile round trip from Nashville to Watertown is an ideal length for half day excursions, which will enable No. 576 to really stretch its legs and offer passengers a glimpse of what it was like to ride the rails 75 years ago.”
The funding required to remove and transport the turntable was raised in just under a month, and included contributions from TCRM, the Nashville Steam Preservation Society, R.J. Corman, Bill Drunsic, the Nashville & Eastern Rail Authority, the city of Watertown, the Candelaria Fund, and other generous donors.
The restoration of No. 576 is expected to begin in earnest in 2019. Once the locomotive is running, Nashville Steam Preservation Society hopes to run the locomotive between Nashville and Watertown.
“Operating excursions between Nashville and Watertown will be much easier thanks to the future use of this turntable,” says Terry Bebout, President of TCRM. “We have enjoyed working with Watertown over the past few decades to operate theme-based excursion trains, such as our Easter Bunny, Train Robbery and Murder Mystery trains, and it is great seeing the city and Historic Watertown Inc. continue to drive investment in support of these historic trains.”
The turntable will be installed in 2019.
Thank you E.T.H.!