Steam Days – Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

Our group enjoyed stepping back and riding an 80 year old steam train. Scattered from the open cars, the caboose, and the air conditioned lounge cars we relived the olden days of steam trains – well for a short time. The AC’d car I was in had plenty of room to strech out and talk. What a neat way to have travelled back in the day.

I counted 17 folks and finding an offbeat place for lunch was a chore. The lady conductor helped us out. The Tin Top BBQ south of town. It seats only 18 so we filled the place. But if you are ever that way, the food is great. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Quaint, friendly, and they chop the meat straight from the coals in front of you. Just the way a BBQ spot should be.

Flagg Coal #75, an operating coal-fired 0-4-0 steam locomotive built by Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes Barre, PA in 1930. This 40-ton saddle tank locomotive was used as a switch engine until 1935 when it was sold and used to push 4-wheel hopper cars from the steam shovel to the crusher at the rock quarry until 1953. The locomotive sat untouched in a museum until 1991, when John and Byron Gramling purchased it and spent 10 years painstakingly restoring it to service.

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