A gigantic steam engine could soon run on the railroad tracks in Nashville once again. People working to revive the train said that the breath-taking sight of a steam engine huffing and puffing along the track is a lost piece of American history.
It’s hard to think it would ever come back.
“Oh no. It’s full steam ahead,” said Shane Meador, President of the Nashville Steam Preservation Society.
The faceless steam engine that sat in Centennial Park for years has now undergone surgery, planning to move passengers again.
It may chug along around two years from now, starting in downtown Nashville and going to Lebanon, Watertown and maybe even Cookeville.
Why? Because a steady stream of volunteers think they can.
Meador said the romance of those trains is something he misses and wants to bring back. The wheels are tall, alignment dependent on Music City piano wire. It’s really all magical, said people working to get the train back on the rails.
The steam engine is being renovated by all private money. There has been $1.8 million raised, but $800,000 is still needed.