Western & Atlantic No. 49 “Texas”

One of the most famous locomotives from the American Civil War is the “Texas” of the Western & Atlantic Railroad. It is known to be one of the two locomotives which took part in the Great Locomotive Chase. It was built in 1856 by Danforth, Cooke & Co. at Paterson, New Jersey. Then it was shipped to Savannah, Georgia and used in passenger and freight service in Georgia and Tennessee.

It became famous in 1862 when it hauled a regular freight train, while the locomotive “General” of the same railroad was stolen by Union spies in an attempt to damage the Confederate rail system. The “Texas” dropped all its cars and chased the “General” northward for more than 50 miles while running backwards. After they found the abandoned “General”, they towed it back.

After this incident, it was loaned to the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad. In 1863, the U.S. Military Railroad captured it and only returned it to its original owner in 1865 after the war had ended. When the W&ARR was succeeded by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway in 1890, the locomotive was still in service and was numbered 212. After being retired for the first time in 1895, it was used for branch line service between 1903 and 1907.

Just after its final retirement, there were plans for preserving it. But for the time being, it was only brought to Atlanta and no other actions were undertaken. It took until 1936 for it to be cosmetically restored to its war condition. After sitting in Atlanta for decades, it came to the North Carolina Transportation museum in 2015 to be restored again to its 1880s condition. After this was completed, it was brought to the Atlanta History Center where it's still on display today.