NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Steam Preservation Society’s fall 2021 open house will be this Saturday, Nov. 13, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Steam locomotive No. 576, formerly on display in Nashville’s Centennial Park for more than 60 years, has been undergoing a complete mechanical overhaul at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum since March 2019.
Nashville Steam has new activities for the open house. “This year in addition to seeing the progress on the locomotive, our volunteers will be doing a demonstration on the riveting process on the firebox,” says society spokesman Joey Bryan. Riveting is a forging process where metal rivets are heated, installed, and pounded to fasten two pieces of metal together. There will be demonstrations at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., weather permitting. A whistle simulator will also be available, where guests can sit in the brand-new locomotive cab and blow a digital version of No. 576’s whistle.
No. 576 was built in August 1942 for the Nashville, Chattanooga, & St. Louis Railway. It arrived in time for the mobilization effort of World War II and frequently hauled troop and supply trains from Nashville to Atlanta. It was retired in 1952 and placed in Centennial Park in 1953. Restoration began in 2019 with its removal from the park, and Trains adopted the project as its Preservation Partner in spring 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented public access to the locomotive restoration throughout 2020. Storm damage to the shop in March of this year further limited access. “We’ve made significant progress since our last open house in May,” Bryan says. “The last time people were here, there was still a large hole in the wall of the shop from the storm and the locomotive had wheels.” In June, Nashville Steam lifted the 220,000-pound steam engine approximately 15 feet in the air so the wheels could be removed for inspections and repairs. “This event is a unique, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to completely restore these massive machines and how we are turning a local Nashville treasure into what will be a major attraction for Middle Tennessee.”
The event is open to the public and admission is free. Volunteers will be on site to answer questions and point out what’s been done to the locomotive. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Tennessee Central Railway Museum dining car will be open for snack and lunch service. The museum is at 220 Willow Street in Nashville.
To learn more about the project or get involved with the Nashville Steam Preservation Society, please visit www.nashvillesteam.org.
I grew up seeing Number 576 sitting forlorn in Centennial Park west of Downtown Nashville near Vanderbilt University when it could be pulling ‘The Pan-American’ and ‘The Georgian’. My father and I often had lunch in front of Number 576 while listening to the Saturday afternoon broadcast of the New York Metropolitan Opera on the radio. We had pastries from a local department store Harvey’s (derived from Fred Harvey associated with the Santa Fe Railway) in which the sweet cinnamon rolls got me immersed in the opera while stirring at the locomotive.
I look forward to riding the train excursions with Number 576 in the lead.