Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad

Climb aboard our train with a full-size locomotive from the 1940s. Enjoy a lively five-mile excursion around the mountain in open-air cars while you marvel at beautiful views of Stone Mountain and the surrounding landscape. The train can be boarded and de-boarded from Marketplace Depot in Crossroads.

Stone Mountain Park

The Purgatory of Steam

Had Dante encountered steam locomotives in his Inferno, they would probably have arrived via Georgia's Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, a few miles east of Atlanta in a state park. The promoters of Stone Mountain purchased the historically rare pair of 4-4-0's from the condemned Paulson Spence collection in 1962, rebuilding them to run on the road which bills itself as the "Route of the Great Locomotive Chase," an allusion to the daring seizure, in 1862, of the locomotive General by a band of Union raiders. A comparison of Stone Mountain's "General II" with the actual General will further illustrate the futility of taking a perfectly proportioned little engine such as No. 1, circa 1920, and attempting to give it the appearance of an engine over sixty years older. Just as hideous was the transformation of her sister, No. 2, [below], from Spence's Louisiana Eastern into Stone Mountain's "Texas II" [above] shown at the terminal. Even the references to the Great Locomotive Chase are misleading, for the usual shoot-'em-up's and Indians are the order of the day on this exercise in debauchery.

Ron Ziel & George Foster - Steam in the Sixties - 1967

The Purgatory of Steam

Had Dante encountered steam locomotives in his Inferno, they would probably have arrived via Georgia's Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, a few miles east of Atlanta in a state park. The promoters of Stone Mountain purchased the historically rare pair of 4-4-0's from the condemned Paulson Spence collection in 1962, rebuilding them to run on the road which bills itself as the "Route of the Great Locomotive Chase," an allusion to the daring seizure, in 1862, of the locomotive General by a band of Union raiders. A comparison of Stone Mountain's "General II" [above] with the actual General will further illustrate the futility of taking a perfectly proportioned little engine such as No. 1 [below] circa 1920, and attempting to give it the appearance of an engine over sixty years older. Just as hideous was the transformation of her sister, No. 2, from Spence's Louisiana Eastern into Stone Mountain's "Texas II" shown at the terminal. Even the references to the Great Locomotive Chase are misleading, for the usual shoot-'em-up's and Indians are the order of the day on this exercise in debauchery.

Ron Ziel & George Foster - Steam in the Sixties - 1967

No. 6143 was a common sight pulling No. 16 and 13. The FP-7A was purchased by the Southern in November of 1950. This particular unit had a most "colorful" career. When the Southern joined Amtrak in February of 1979, all but four FP-7A's were retired. Then, in May of 1976, #6143, along with FP-7A's #6138, #6141, and #6147, were painted green, white and gold and all four were used in excursion service. They were very beautiful and became very popular among the fans. In 1982, when the Southern and N&W merged to form the current Norfolk Southern, the four FP-7A's had to be renumbered since four of the N&W's SD-40-2 series had their numbers. As a result, #6143 became #3498, #6138 became #3496, #6141 to #3497 and #6147 received the number #3499. In April of 1988 — still painted green and gold — the four FP-7A's were retired after serving the railroad(s) for 38 years!

Curt Tillotson Jr. - Southern Railway: Diesel Locomotives and Trains - Volume One