World War II Army Consolidations rarely get much love, but one back home in North Carolina is attracting a lot of attention. Great Smoky Mountains Railroad No. 1702 is set to return to service Friday after 12 years of inactivity. An agreement with Swain County to devote a portion of its hotel / motel occupancy tax funded the restoration project, which also includes installation of a turntable in Bryson City, N.C. American Heritage Railways, which also owns the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado and Washington State’s Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, also owns Great Smoky.
No. 1702 is a well-known mutt. She was built in 1942, worked for an Arkansas short line after her Army career and became famous as the big engine at Arkansas’ Reader Railroad in the 1960s, which hauled mixed trains behind steam. It was there that she got a big ex-Rock Island tender that is a bit overwhelming for a Army brat, but whose extra capacity surely must be the delight of every crew that fires her. I first became aware of the engine as a young Trains reader and her antics on the Reader. I envied those who had the chance to see and ride her. Little did I know that one day I would play a small role in the engine’s history.
With the locomotive’s arrival at Great Smoky Mountains Railway in late 1991, No. 1702 got an overhaul and a facelift that included a taller cab and stack in an effort to make her look more at home on the former Southern Railway Murphy Branch. I asked the railroad for the chance to operate the first steam-powered length-of-the-railroad charter that would go from Dillsboro, N.C. to the end at Murphy, N.C., a grand total of 67 miles. The trip would benefit my place of volunteerism, the North Carolina Transportation Museum and its non-profit. So, we picked a date in June, scheduled an overnight trip to Murphy, and started selling tickets.
With about 200 tickets sold, we didn’t exactly have a huge train — two cabooses, one open car, and two coaches, but it was enough to make the trip worthwhile. The opportunity to return steam to the branch after an absence of more than 40 years was reward enough. We stopped often for photos and water, and after lunch and a considerable fanfare, we reached the bottom of the steepest grade on the line at Nantahala. Ahead lay 4 miles of 4-plus percent grade. I wisely elected to find a spot on top of the tender, a perch where I could both watch the show ahead and occasionally glace into the cab. Grant Geist was the engineer, and he made the engine bark as GP9 No. 711 worked hard as the helper up Red Marble Gap. I recall that from the bottom of the grade to the top, the steam pressure dropped a total of 50 pounds – a remarkable reduction for such a short stretch, and one that left the fireman working hard to keep up. Nevertheless, steam had once again conquered the mountain and all was right with the world.
We turned No. 1702 on the wye at Murphy and for the next year, she ran pointing eastbound. The following year, we chartered another trip to Murphy and the railroad decided the excursion would be the perfect way to turn the engine to have it facing west once more. So we ran tender first for two days in a row. That delighted none of the chasers, and it made things awkward for the riders: We had to uncouple to make photo runbys with the engine facing forward. But that big tender being shoved along was a great perch for riders to enjoy beautiful mountain scenery from atop the water tank.
I last photographed No. 1702 on a trip to Murphy in spring 2002. I look forward to adding her our roster of operating locomotives. If you see No. 1702 this weekend or later on this year, tell her Jim says hello.
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