masthead_steam
Featured Steam

herald_friscoMississippian #77

egyptian_m ississippian #77 was one half of a pair of well-known shortline Consolidations that rambled northeast Mississippi rails for nearly two decades. Built by Baldwin in 1920, her resume' would turn out to be a long one: shortline service on Arkansas' Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern, then mainline running on the Frisco, then back to shortline power for the Mississippian ... followed by various excursion and tourist hires in the years that followed. When the Mississippian gave up steam in the late 1960s, #77 was saved from the scrapyard by the North Alabama Railroad Club. The club secured a loan and purchased the little 2-8-0 and ran a few trips around north Alabama from 1969 to 1971. A broken axle eventually sidelined the steamer from further excursion work, and she was held in storage until the early 1980s. Magnolia State Railway would lease her for tourist operation on her home rails in the mid 1980s, before a brief stop at the Huntsville, Alabama, depot museum ... and then on to a stay at the Central Western Railway. Currently she lives north of the border in Canada, stored out of service by current owner and tourist hauler Alberta Prairie Rail.

Mississippian #77

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:2-8-0 "Consolidation"
  • built:Dec 1920, Baldwin #54266
  • fuel:soft coal / water
  • notes:
  • 19x24" cylinders, 48" drivers
  • blt Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern #41
    to St Louis - San Francisco #77, 1926
    to Mississippian, 1947
    to North Alabama Railroad Club, 1967
    to Magnolia State Railway, 1984
    to Central Western Railway #9, 1989
    to Alberta Prairie Rail #41
  • builder
    tag_jump

    See also our complete Mississippian Railway scrapbook in Shortlines

    North Alabama Railroad Club

    tag_jump

    See also our North Alabama Railroad Club scrapbook in Preservation

    The Charlie Smith Special

    In 1967, the North Alabama Railroad Club (for a time called the Muscle Shoals Railroad Club) secured a loan to purchase Consolidation #77 from the Mississippian Railway. The shortline was ready to dieselize, and both steamers would be sold to interested railfan groups. #77 was moved to Sheffield, Alabama, where overhaul work was conducted by Club members for several years in anticipation of excursion service in the region. By the spring of 1971, #77 was ready for a pair of weekend runs between her new home base in Sheffield and the historic depot in Huntsville, and return — a roundtrip of 140 miles. Although not official Southern Steam Program trips, Southern officials involved with excursion steam were onboard to offer assistance and oversee the runs. Both trips went off without major incident, but a later a broken axle prevented future 77 excursions by the Club. It would be the mid 1980s before she would haul passengers again (see below).

    excursion_clipping1
    excursion_clipping2

    from Huntsville News
    newspaper - May 1971 / collection

    excursion_clipping3a
    excursion_clipping3b
    excursion_clipping4

    from Huntsville Times
    newspaper - May 1971 / collection

    excursion1971_map

    1971 excursion route map / RWH

    excursion_handout2

    collection

    excursion_handout1
    sou_guide1948

    1948 Official Guide ad / collection

    bellemina_postcard

    postcard / collection

    huntsville11 huntsville13 huntsville14 huntsville10

    Huntsville, Al / May 1971 / JCH

    huntsville6 huntsville7 huntsville8 huntsville9

    Huntsville, Al / May 1971 / JCH

    excursion_clipping5

    from Huntsville Times
    newspaper - May 1971 / collection

    excursion_clipping6
    excursion_clipping7
    muscle_handout

    collection

    morgan_letter1971

    collection

    oscale_clipping1972a

    from O Scale Railroading
    magazine - Jan 1972 / collection

    oscale_clipping1972b

    Magnolia State Railway

    From 1984 to 1987, #77 was leased from the North Alabama Railroad Club and returned to her home rails in Amory, Mississippi. The Mississippian Railway hosted a tourist operation dubbed the Magnolia State Railway, with #77 as the featured motive power.

    msr_flyer1

    collection

    msr_flyer2

    Central Western Railway

    Alberta Prairie Railway

    apxx_locos

    Alberta Prairie Railway website

    Links / Sources

    This page was updated on 2021-11-03