Old locomotive engine may be restored for tourist trips

For 52 years, Steam Locomotive 509 has been at rest. The century-old locomotive and its coal car are on display in Central City Park.

An adjacent plaque says it’s there to honor Benny A. Scott, whose 42 years of railroad work -- including as fireman on the last run of Engine 509 -- complemented many years of community service efforts in Macon.

Now, the Hartwell Railroad Co. of Bowersville wants to put the old steam engine back in service, promising in exchange excursion trips for Macon residents at least twice a year.

“We’d offer an extremely discounted ticket on those trips,” Joey McCollough, a representative of Hartwell, told Macon City Council members Tuesday.

A resolution to lease the locomotive and coal car for 30 years, at $1 per year, cleared the Public Properties Committee. It will likely come before council for a final vote May 3.

If it’s approved, Hartwell would commit to fully restoring the engine, including removal of asbestos. That’s a task which could cost up to $450,000, though probably less, according to Jason Sobczynski, also speaking for Hartwell.

Hartwell operates on about 140 miles of short-line track, mostly in north Georgia, but has been “scouring the country” for a steam engine to restore as an excursion train, McCollough said. Some of Hartwell’s track is former Southern (Railway) of Georgia track, so Engine 509 could be running again on familiar rails, he said.

The restored locomotive would operate most of the year on those lines, but Hartwell wants to negotiate with railroads including Norfolk Southern and Genessee & Wyoming to allow returns to Macon a couple of times a year, for excursion trips -- maybe to Savannah, maybe elsewhere, McCollough said.

Sobczynski said the state owns a rail line from Macon to Atlanta, so that trip might be possible, too. In addition to discounts for city residents, the city government would get 50 free tickets for each trip, he said.

According to the contract, if nothing else can be worked out, Macon residents could at least get the same deal on steam engine trips between Madison and Athens on Hartwell’s lines.

According to documents attached to the resolution, the engine was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1906.

In an e-mail to Assistant City Attorney Beth Duncan, Sobczynski estimates that disassembly, asbestos removal and reassembly would cost $80,000, plus another $20,000 to $25,000 for cosmetic restoration if the city just planned to put the engine back on display. Its scrap value is only $17,780, he said.

Once the contract is signed and the locomotive moved, it’ll probably take three weeks or so to break down and clean, McCollough said.

Restoring it to running condition might take up to two years, Sobczynski said.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into, entirely,” he said; but from looking the engine over, he thinks it might take half that time.

With an added suggestion from Councilwoman Beverly Blake that the contract stipulate Harwell will be responsible for maintenance costs, which Sobczynski said will probably run $15,000 to $20,000 per year, the resolution passed unanimously.

To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.

This story was originally published April 27, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Old locomotive engine may be restored for tourist trips."