Georgia Northern Railway

Until the coming of Diesel, Georgia, more than any other region of the Deep South, was a the stronghold of a feudal barony of short lines which ran in florid and wonderful profusion through its scrub pine to lend character and meaning to travel. From its earliest beginnings, railroading in the Deep South reflected the character of the region it served in that it was archaic, feudal, individualistic, and at times eccentric.

Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg - The Age of Steam - 1957

The Georgia Northern began in the early 1890s as a logging railroad running north from Pidcock, a logging community east of Boston owned by the Pidcock family. At about the same time, a group of area business men organized the Boston and Albany Railroad to build a common carrier line along the route of the logging tracks. Their company soon entered receivership and its assets were sold in 1894 to the Pidcocks, who renamed the line Georgia Northern.

Steve Storey - Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage

Some time in the 1950s, #102 was sold to the Norton Coal Co., and worked at Ilsley, KY. It operated into the early 1960s, after which it was simply stored at the Ilsey property until bought by Richard Jensen in 1965. In 1984, the locomotive was sitting on a flatcar on the south side of Chicago, IL, waiting to be scrapped. Fortunately, #102 was spotted by an individual involved with the Illinois Railway Museum. Having located the owner, David Jensen’s daughter, the museum negotiated donation of the engine, where it remained until 1993 when it was sold to the End-O-Line.

Robert Grant - rgusrail.com