The Southern Railway was notoriously conservative in matters of steam, but if the road had acquired modern Lima superpower, here’s what it might have looked like. On July 29, 1977, we are alongside the French Broad River watching from U.S.25 at Wolf Creek, Tennessee, as Texas & Pacific 610 makes its way from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Salisbury, North Carolina, with an eight-car ferry move. The engine, which led the American Freedom Train through much of 1976, has been leased by the Southern for a series of excursions that will continue into 1980. In 1981 the big engine will be retired for display at the Texas State Railroad in Palestine, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is said to be in operable condition, were any railroad willing to run it on track that could take it.
