Passenger Equipment

This car, the sister car to the "Fort McPherson", was built by Budd in 1947 for the Central of Georgia Railway and ran daily between Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia. The car became Southern property when it merged with the Central of Georgia on June 18, 1963. The "Fort Oglethorpe" was donated to the museum in 1990 and returned to service in 1993, when it ran for several years on special mainline excursions on Norfolk Southern and at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga.

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum

Dining Car No. 3164 was built by the Pullman Company in 1924 for the Southern Railway. It seats 44 passengers at 11 tables. The car worked both the Carolina Special (which ran through Blair, Tennessee) and the Tennessean through Knoxville. For many years 3164 was based at Knoxville working between Knoxville and Washington, D.C. On November 11, 1958, the 83-ton car was knocked into the Southern station in downtown Knoxville where it wound up inside the building. Despite damage to both the car and the building both were repaired and returned to service. Dining Car No. 3164 was retired by Southern Railway in 1970 and passed through the hands of a number of private collectors before being acquired by several members of SARM in 1996.

From 1996 to 1999 SARM volunteers worked to restore the interior (the tables and chairs are original), exterior, and running gear of 3164. The kitchen awaits future work. The car returned to service in April 1999 on the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train. It is also used by the Dinner Train at Oak Ridge for charter trips and regularly scheduled dinner trains.

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum