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Saturday, February
19, 1972 was a cold, raw day in Kennesaw with a wind chill factor of about
zero. It began with clouds and snow flurries which, by mid afternoon,
gave way to sunshine. At 9:00 AM work began on the movement of the General
from the house track at Kennesaw to the Big Shanty Museum, some 150 yards
away. W. Albert Rice, Superintendent of Locomotive Operations for the
L&NRR, and who had traveled many miles with the General while
on tour in 1962 and 1963, was on hand to supervise the operation. Normally,
the General was unloaded from its special flat car by use of the
portable ramp designed for that purpose and with a switch engine and an
idler car. This time it would not be so easy. A tractor was used to pull
the General off the special flat car. The decision had been made
to haul the locomotive and tender by truck from the house track to the
rails of the Museum. The only rails available were those on the special
flat car on which the General had arrived. They had to be taken
off and installed on the low bed truck-trailer. After this was done, the
ramp was used to run the General up onto the trailer, and the tractor
provided the power. First the tender and then the engine were moved to
the Museum building. Thus the old engine went to its final resting place
in a very undignified way. At 5:00 PM the General was safely in
the Big Shanty Museum, and Mayor Louis E. Watts had a crew on hand immediately
to cut the rails and begin closing the north wall of the building. The
north end of the building had been left open for this purpose. The General
was safely and securely home at last!
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