Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

Last updated
Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
HODRRM
Locale Calera, Shelby County, Alabama, USA
Coordinates 33°05′56″N86°45′03″W / 33.09898°N 86.750777°W / 33.09898; -86.750777
Commercial operations
Built by Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Original gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Owned byHeart of Dixie Railroad Museum
Operated byHeart of Dixie Railroad Museum
Reporting mark CSMX
Length5.5 mi (8.9 km)
Preserved gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm);
2 ft (610 mm)
Commercial history
Opened1962
Preservation history
PresentIn operation
HeadquartersCalera, AL
Website
http://www.hodrrm.org

The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum (initialised HOD, reporting mark CSMX) is the official state railroad museum of Alabama. Dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and operation of historically significant railway equipment, the museum is located at 1919 Ninth Street, Calera, Alabama, on I-65 approximately 30 miles (48 km) south of Birmingham. [1]

Contents

The museum features a wide range of locomotives, cars and other railroad equipment that dates from the 19th century to the 1950s and operates regularly scheduled excursions with museum equipment over the museum's track. It also features two depots that are approximately 100 years old.

Overview

The museum operates a heritage railroad that offers two excursion trains every Saturday from March to December. It also operates excursions on special dates such as Halloween and Christmas. The standard gauge train operates with a diesel locomotive on a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) section of the former Alabama Mineral Railroad, a division of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. The museum offers visitors the opportunity to ride in the cab of the locomotive and in a caboose in addition to the enclosed and open-air passenger cars. [1]

Additionally, the museum operates a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge live steam engine locomotive and passenger cars on a one-quarter-mile (0.4 km) long loop. This train served the nearby Birmingham Zoo for many years before being placed into operation at the museum.

Locomotives

The museum maintains three operating first generation diesel-electric locomotives for powering excursion trains and shop switching. Six additional diesel-electric locomotives are presented as static displays as well as two electric shop locomotives. Builders represented include GM Electro-Motive Division, Whitcomb, Baldwin, Alco, and Fairbanks-Morse.

Though none are in service, the museum also has four steam locomotives on display. While lacking much of its original operating equipment and gauges, the cab of the 1924 Woodward Iron Baldwin 2-8-0 locomotive is open to the public and is equipped with wooden stairs for visitors. Two other steam locomotives have also been cosmetically restored for display, including a unique 1953 fireless steam powered switching locomotive operated by Alabama Power Company which did not have a firebox, but instead received steam from the plant's boilers and used that stored steam to operate for about four hours a charge. Builders displayed include Baldwin, Alco, Lima, and Davenport. [1] [2]

Rolling stock

The museum displays over forty pieces of rolling stock, spanning the early-to-late 20th century including passenger, railway post office, and freight cars. Numerous passenger cars have been restored and are now used on the museum's excursions. Birthday parties are hosted in a restored dining car adjacent to the visitors center. [1] Many of the freight and passenger cars are awaiting restoration from damage previously incurred while stored in an unsecured location

Specialty equipment

Strategic Air Command rail car SAC railcar Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum.JPG
Strategic Air Command rail car

Among the museum's collection are two heavy-duty rail mounted cranes used in construction and wreck-clearing duty. Additionally, the museum has several railcars that once belonged to the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command which were to be used as part of the Peacekeeper Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program which planned the rail-based deployment of such missiles.

Stations

The museum includes two former community railway stations in its collection. The former Wilton, Alabama depot, now signed for Calera, houses many railroad artifact displays and serves as the station for excursion trains. The former Woodlawn, Alabama depot houses the Boone Library of railroad books, slides, photographs and other research materials. [1]

Signals

A signal garden continues to be developed between the Calera depot and the main museum visitor center which features working crossing signals, a semaphore, and other railroad signals.

Interior displays

The Calera depot houses a collection of railroad artifact displays focusing on the history of railroads in Alabama. Exhibits include railway lanterns, locomotive headlights, rail cross sections, and passenger train china and silver ware. The Boone Library in the Woodlawn depot and adjacent railcar contains print and other media as well as an extensive collection of old maps, track diagrams, timetables, technical manuals, etc. for public research use. [1]

History

Calera, Alabama (formerly Wilton, Alabama) depot and excursion train at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. HODIMG 3015.JPG
Calera, Alabama (formerly Wilton, Alabama) depot and excursion train at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davenport Locomotive Works</span>

The Davenport Locomotive Works, of Davenport, Iowa, USA was formed as the W W Whitehead Company in 1901. In 1902 the company commenced building light locomotives. The Company was renamed the Davenport Locomotive Works in 1904.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Railroad Museum</span> Railroad museum in Sacramento, California

The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the California State Parks system that interprets the role of railroads in the West. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway</span> Defunct railway company in the southeastern United States (1851-1957)

The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company that operated in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville on December 11, 1845, built to 5 ft gauge and was the first railway to operate in the state of Tennessee. By the turn of the twentieth century, the NC&StL grew into one of the most important railway systems in the southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisville and Nashville Railroad</span> Defunct American Class I railway

The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis–San Francisco Railway</span> Former American railroad

The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to November 21, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated 4,547 miles (7,318 km) of road on 6,574 miles (10,580 km) of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; that year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. It was purchased and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad</span> Heritage railroad in Colorado, US

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally-designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Railway Museum</span> Railroad museum in French Lick, Indiana, U.S.

The Indiana Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in French Lick, Indiana, United States, dedicated to preserving and displaying artifacts related to the history of railroads in Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fireless locomotive</span> Locomotive powered by a reservoir of superheated steam or compressed air.

A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which is filled at intervals from an external source. They offer advantages over conventional steam locomotives of lower cost per unit, cleanliness, and decreased risk from fire or boiler explosion; these are counterbalanced by the need for a source to refill the locomotive, and by the limited range afforded by the reservoir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FM H-12-44</span> American diesel locomotive

The FM H-12-44 was a switcher locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse from May 1950 until March 1961. The units had a 1,200-horsepower (890 kW), six-cylinder opposed piston engine prime mover, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type-A switcher trucks, with all axles powered and geared for a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas and Pacific 610</span> Preserved American 2-10-4 locomotive

Texas and Pacific 610, also known as "Will Rogers", is a preserved class I-1AR 2-10-4 "Texas" type steam locomotive that was originally operated by the Texas and Pacific Railway (T&P). No. 610 and its class were based on Lima Locomotive Works' prototype "Super Power" 2-8-4 design, and the T&P rostered them to pull fast and heavy freight trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Railway 4501</span> Preserved American Ms class 2-8-2 steam locomotive

Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 1948, the locomotive was retired from the Southern Railway in favor of dieselization and was subsequently sold to the shortline Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) in Stearns, Kentucky, to haul coal trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Transportation Museum</span> Railroad museum in Logansport, Indiana, U.S.

The Indiana Transportation Museum is a railroad museum that was formerly located in the Forest Park neighborhood of Noblesville, Indiana, United States. It owns a variety of preserved railroad equipment, some of which still operate today. ITM is currently Located in Logansport, Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monticello Railway Museum</span>

The Monticello Railway Museum is a non-profit railroad museum located in Monticello, Illinois, about 18 miles west of Champaign, IL. It is home to over 100 pieces of railroad equipment, including several restored diesel locomotives and cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk and Western 1218</span> Preserved N&W class A locomotive

Norfolk and Western 1218 is a preserved four-cylinder simple articulated 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive, built in June 1943 by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight locomotives. It was retired from regular revenue service in July 1959, and was later restored by Norfolk Southern for excursion service for their steam program, pulling excursions throughout the eastern United States from 1987 to 1991. It is currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eureka Springs and North Arkansas Railway</span>

The Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway is a for-profit passenger tourist railway established by the late Robert Dortch, Jr. and his wife Mary Jane in 1981 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The railway offers one-hour excursion tours, a catered luncheon train and a catered dinner train - each lasting a little more than one hour, from April through October. It operates along 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of restored track right-of-way formerly belonging to the defunct Arkansas & Ozarks Railway Co - the last incarnation of the North Arkansas Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis–San Francisco 4018</span> Preserved American 2-8-2 locomotive

St. Louis–San Francisco 4018 is a class USRA Light 2-8-2 "Mikado" steam locomotive which operated for three decades hauling freight between Bessemer and Birmingham, Alabama, on the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway. It went on display at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in 1952 and is one of only a few locomotives of its type that survive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Alabama Railroad Museum</span> Tourist railroad and museum in Huntsville, Alabama

The North Alabama Railroad Museum, Inc. is a railroad museum in Huntsville, Alabama. The museum, incorporated in 1966, is an all volunteer organization. The museum has a collection of rolling stock, a small train station, and a small heritage railroad called the Mercury and Chase Railroad which operates between April and December. The mission of the NARM is to "preserve railroad history in North Alabama and South Central Tennessee." It is run entirely by its 100-plus volunteers. The museum is open to the public daily, volunteers are usually available on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission to the museum is free, however there is a charge for riding the trains. A schedule of rides is available at the museum's website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad</span>

The Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad (SMRR) is a standard gauge railroad that circles the perimeter of Stone Mountain Park in a loop, and provides views of the mountain en route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern California Railway Museum</span> Railroad museum in Perris, California

The Southern California Railway Museum, formerly known as the Orange Empire Railway Museum, is a railroad museum in Perris, California, United States. It was founded in 1956 at Griffith Park in Los Angeles before moving to the former Pinacate Station as the "Orange Empire Trolley Museum" in 1958. It was renamed "Orange Empire Railway Museum" in 1975 after merging with a museum then known as the California Southern Railroad Museum, and adopted its current name in 2019. The museum also operates a heritage railroad on the museum grounds.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 http://www.hodrrm.org/ Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
  2. ↑ Steam Engine No. 40 Interpretative Sign; Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum
  3. ↑ Steamlocomotive.info - Shelby & Southern RR No. 3
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.