Historical Equipment Roster
WATX 6219
Watauga Valley is thrilled to announce another addition to our passenger car fleet. Pictured is ex-Seaboard Air Line car 6019, built in June 1947 as a 52-seat stainless steel coach, and operated on the line's Silver Meteor, Star and Comet trains.
After the merger with the Atlantic Coast Line, it became SCL 5204. It was subsequently purchased by AMTRAK where it was renumbered AMTK 6017 and converted to a 60-seat coach. The fabric scheme on the seats appears to reflect AMTRAK ownership. Watauga Valley plans to restore it to the original SAL period as a 60-seat coach. Vandalized graffiti received over the years will be removed easily; a new interior along with new replacement windows will be installed; restrooms will be remodeled; a new vinyl floor will be installed; and complete electrical and plumbing upgrades will be performed. Head End Power will be installed as well.
We have one of the best mechanical teams to maintain and restore passenger cars in the field. Working from our yard in Jonesborough, they know their business in keeping our passenger cars on the road. With six cars in our fleet now, it takes a lot of manpower to keep our cars operating. This is accomplished by an all-volunteer team. If you’re interested in joining them and learning the trade of working with historical railroad passenger cars, the Watauga Valley Railroad Museum would like you to join our mechanical team.
Whether you're young, old, working or retired, if you want to get involved in this unique and rewarding project, email us at wataugavalley@gmail.com and we will contact you. You do not have to be specialized in any field, we’ll have a job for you.
Other Historic Railroad Cars
CLINCHFIELD #5586
This box car was built April, 1954 for the Clinchfield Railroad. It was in road service on the Clinchfield until 1978 till it became a grocery salvage car for a food distributor in Johnson City, TN for cross town switching. #5586 was retired in 1986 and was headed to the scrap line by CSXT. In 1988 the Watauga Valley Chapter NRHS contacted the railroad about the possibility of purchasing the box car. The railroad agreed and the car was sandblasted and repainted by Corbin Rail Service in Erwin, TN to its original Clinchfield levy before its trip back to Jonesborough in 1988. The #5586 services as our work shop at the Spring St. Coach Yard today.
Clinchfield #5586 Photo Gallery
C&O #903103
This caboose was built in 1968 for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and used system wide on all kinds of different trains. In 1978, the #903103 was selected to be part of nine cabooses selected to be repainted as an orange "HANDLE WITH CARE" caboose to remind employees to handle their freight in a careful matter. In 1986 the caboose was put in the storage line in Louisville, KY awaiting disposition by CSXT. The railroad sold the #903103 to Watauga Valley Chapter NRHS in 1989; it services as the Spring Street Coach Yard Office.
C&O #903103 Photo Gallery
SOUTHERN #X450
The #X450 was built in 1970 by Garant Corp in Spartanburg, SC, for the Southern Railway which placed it in service all over its system. In 1990 the Norfolk Southern, which inherited the caboose, decided to retire it. It was donated to the Morristown, TN Waste Treatment Center, which planned to use it as a classroom focusing on environmental issues. The classroom was never established and the caboose sat for years, subject to vandalism. The Watauga Valley Chapter NRHS purchased the #X450 from the Morristown Waste Management Center in 2005 and moved it to Jonesborough via flatbed trailer. Restoration of the caboose was completed in Summer 2016 and it now sits proudly on display next to the Chuckey Depot and Museum in Jonesborough, TN.
SOUTHERN #X450 Photo Gallery
MOTOR CARS
CRR
N&W