THE TEXAS (LOCOMOTIVE)

'''The Texas''' is a type 4-4-0 steam locomotive that played an important role in the Great Locomotive Chase during the American Civil War. The locomotive is preserved at the Atlanta Cyclorama building within Grant Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The ''Texas'' is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

Before the Civil War

Civil War

Postbellum

Present day

References

Before the Civil War

Built at a cost to its owners of $9,050 in 1856 by Danforth, Cooke and Company in Paterson, New Jersey, the ''Texas'' provided freight and passenger service between Atlanta, and Dalton, Georgia, before the Civil War on the Western and Atlantic Railroad (Antebellum trains were generally known by names, not numbers.)

Civil War

During early part of the Civil War, the locomotive was used primarily to haul local freight and cargo without any major incident. However, on April 12, 1862, the ''Texas'', pulling a load of 21 cars from Dalton southbound towards Atlanta, was commandeered by William Allen Fuller to chase down spies led by James J. Andrews during the "Great Locomotive Chase." Steaming in reverse after jettisoning the railcars, the ''Texas'' pursued the fleeing ''General'' over 50 miles to Ringgold, Georgia, where the raiders abandoned their stolen train two miles north of that town and fled. The ''Texas's engineer, Peter Bracken, towed the abandoned ''General'' back to Adairsville, Georgia, and then picked up his 21 cars and steamed into Atlanta, well behind schedule, but with a good reason.
The ''Texas'' and nine boxcars were loaned to the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad to haul salt and cargo from the mines at Saltville, Virginia, from 1863 through the end of the war.

Postbellum

Moved back to Georgia following the war, the ''Texas'' again served the W&ARR during the postbellum Reconstruction era. The locomotive was renumbered and renamed as the ''Cincinnati'' in 1880. It remained in service until 1903.
A campaign was successfully mounted to raise funds to preserve the old locomotive, which was deteriorating in a side yard in Atlanta. It was taken to Grant Park in 1911 and saved from the scrap pile, but was not moved indoors until 1927 when the Cyclorama building was erected, where it was stored in the basement. In 1936, Atlanta historian Wilbur G. Kurtz led efforts to restore the ''Texas'' to its wartime appearance and numbering. In 1981, it was moved upstairs to a new public viewing platform after the expansion and modernization of the Cyclorama building.

Present day

The ''Texas'' is housed in the Cyclorama Building in Grant Park in downtown Atlanta.

References

★ Andrews Raid description of the ''Texas''

★ ''Texas'' Information Page