Here's a relic new to RP: Little River Shay 2147, distant cousin of the much more famous LRR 4-6-2 #110 now operating in MI. The 2147 is a 70 ton model built in 1909 and is the centerpiece of this great little museum which features numerous artifacts and photos housed in a restored depot telling the story of the LRR. What a find to stumble upon unexpectedly as we headed to the Great Smokies. Admission is free but donations are of course welcome...visit there website at www.littleriverrailroad.org.
From the website: "The Little River Railroad and Lumber Company is a non-profit corporation founded in 1982 to preserve the heritage of the the Little River Lumber Company and the Little River Railroad. We operate a museum in Townsend, Tennessee, collecting, preserving and exhibiting the history of these companies, and of the people in this region.
Townsend was the site of the sawmill, and headquarters of this operation, which logged huge portions of what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from 1901 until 1939.
The Little River became famous far beyond its remote mountain origins, due in large part to its innovations in railroad motive power, which included invention of the first 2-4-4-2 articulated Mallet, and the smallest 4-6-2 Pacific ever built for North American standard gauge."
