Texas Moves To Grant Park

The Texas Moves To Grant Park

A few days earlier on May 10, 1911, the Texas was moved to Grant Park in the area of Fort Walker. Movement of the engine was accomplished by towing it around the belt line railroad to South Boulevard where it was hauled over a tramway by a steamroller to Fort Walker. The tramway was laid in sections, and as soon as the locomotive was hauled over a section, the crossties and rails over which it had passed were taken up and relaid in front. It took about ten hours to make the trip from the Boulevard crossing to the park, a distance of about one half mile with a considerable grade.

Once in Grant Park, nothing was done to restore of preserve the engine, but is was saved from the scrapper's torch. It was still exposed to the elements and to souvenir hunters. Interest in the old engine continued, and the 50th anniversary of the Andrews Raid in 1912 was the occasion for several comprehensive articles in the Atlanta papers.

At this time it was strongly urged that the Texas be restored to its war time appearance. During the subsequent years many exterior changes had been made for operating reasons, and the engine did not look as it did during the Civil War period. Two of the most obvious changes were reflected in the stack and the pilot or cow catcher. The latter had been removed, and a wide step placed across the front of the engine for the benefit of railroad men, for the engine was also used in switching service. The balloon shaped stack, symbolic of the wood burning days, had been replaced with a more functional diamond stack designed for the burning of coal.

The Texas after being moved to Grant Park in 1911.

The next important date for the Texas in this part of her history was March 15, 1927. It was on this date that the engine was moved indoors to the basement of the new Cyclorama Building in Grant Park. At long last a home was provided that protected the engine from the elements and also from souvenir hunters. The final move was a relatively easy one yet a mishap did occur. The engine was involved in an accident with an automobile! The feat could hardly have happened to the Texas in her days of active service.

The Atlanta Journal or Atlanta Constitution, March 15, 1927.

In 1931, the Texas was in the news again. On October 28, 1931, the Atlanta Journal carried a news article reporting that Governor Richard B. Russell (the late Senator Richard B. Russell of Georgia) had granted the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway authority to recondition the Texas and place the locomotive on one of the tracks at the Union Station in Atlanta for display. Then the NC&StL Ry, lessee of the State-owned Western & Atlantic RR, would have the Texas on display at one end of the line, and the General on display at the other end, Chattanooga. In spite of the fact that this was a time of reduced earnings for the railroad, Mr. James B. Hill, then president of the railroad, was willing to stand the expense, estimated at $600, to remove the Texas from the Cyclorama at Grant Park to the Union Station in downtown Atlanta, and put the locomotive in good condition again. Notwithstanding Governor Russell's generosity, the Atlanta City Council refused to surrender possession of the Texas, and the locomotive remained in the basement of the Cyclorama Building.

The Texas was stored in the basement of the old Cyclorama building, but not restored to its wartime look.