Background of sister locomotive No. 4506 in 1911|alt=A black-and-white image of a large steam locomotive and tender From 1911 to 1917, 182 Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotives were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the
American Locomotive Company, and the
Lima Locomotive Works, to haul freight trains for the Southern Railway (SOU) and were numbered in the 4501-4635, 6250-6284, and 6600-6611 series. They were designed with diameter driving wheels and an operating boiler pressure of , which made them generate of tractive effort. Their
tenders held a capacity of of coal and of water. Most of the Ms locomotives were equipped with Walschaerts (Nos. 4501-4603, 4624-4635) and
Southern valve gears (Nos. 4604-4623), while the rest of the class were equipped with
Baker valve gear. In the 1930-40s, most of the locomotives were re-equipped with Worthington feedwater heaters, mechanical stokers, larger
sand domes, larger tenders, and multiple-bearing
crossheads to improve their performances. No. 4501 was built by Baldwin in October 1911 at a cost of $23,182 as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the SOU. It first worked in the Washington Division, to haul freight trains between
Alexandria and
Lynchburg, Virginia. Around the 1920s, No. 4501 and 24 of its fellow Ms class locomotives were relocated to SOU's
Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP) division to replace the
2-10-2 Ss class locomotives, which were too big fit underneath the CNO&TP tunnels' tight clearances. Additionally, No. 4501 and the other 24 Ms class locomotives were equipped with an air-actuated bonnet
smoke deflector to accommodate the crew dealing with the locomotives' smoke when going through multiple tunnels on the CNO&TP route. Around 1928, No. 4501 visited SOU's Ferguson Shops in
Somerset, Kentucky, where its boiler pressure was upgraded to , which made the locomotive producing of tractive effort. On October 7 that same year, Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) general manager and master mechanic L.C. Bruce, who was a former SOU employee, purchased No. 4501 for $8,225 and had it moved under its own power to the K&T in Stearns, Kentucky. Because of that, No. 12 was affectionally nicknamed
The Big Engine by the K&T crew. In February 1964, the K&T purchased three
ALCO S-2 diesel locomotives from the
Denver and Rio Grande Western, which result in No. 12, along with K&T's other steam locomotives, being consequently retired from revenue service.
First excursion service Shortly after the locomotive's retirement,
DuPont electronic engineer Paul H. Merriman purchased No. 12 for the 4501 Corporation with $5,000 of his own money. Claytor urged Bronsan to make Merriman's arrangement a one-shot deal. On June 6, 1964, No. 4501 was ready and moved under its own power via CNO&TP line from the K&T to Chattanooga. Upon arrival in Chattanooga, an initial restoration was undergone by TVRM volunteers at the facilities of the Lucey Boiler Company in Chattanooga near the TVRM's storage facilities, which were located on former
Western Union Company trackage at the time. This included the thin cab floor, the rotted ash pan, and the rusty
smokebox front being replaced. After the restoration work was completed in August 1966, the No. 4501 locomotive began its inaugural excursion runs from Chattanooga to
Richmond, Virginia, officially kicking off the SOU's new steam excursion program, launched by Brosnan himself per Claytor's request. Dove became No. 4501's regular engineer at the time. This would be the first time a steam locomotive was present in Louisville since 1959 when the
Louisville and Nashville (L&N) hosted a centennial excursion with
Illinois Central 2613 pulling it between there and
Nashville, Tennessee. No. 4501 then went to Louisville's neighboring
New Albany, Indiana, where it pulled two round trip excursions between there and
Corydon Junction, Indiana on the 21st and 22nd, under the sponsorship of the
Floyd County's Sesquicentennial Commission. After running via
Knoxville, Tennessee;
Asheville and
Salisbury, North Carolina, the locomotive finally arrived in Richmond on August 26. During its stay in Richmond, No. 4501 pulled two round trip excursions between there and
Keysville, Virginia on September 5 and 24, sponsored by the Old Dominion Chapter of the
National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). On September 25, No. 4501 pulled another NRHS sponsored round-trip excursion, where it ran between Richmond and Alexandria, Virginia, via
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) rails. It then headed to
Washington, D.C., to haul the October 1 and 2 round trip excursions between there and
Front Royal, Virginia. On October 8, No. 4501 left Washington, D.C. on its way back to Chattanooga. Overall, No. 4501 have ran , carrying 5,090 revenue riders, and grossed at $14,415. On May 20, No. 4501 enter its second excursion season, pulling a
Steam Mystery Trip excursion from Chattanooga to
Attalla, Alabama and back. On June 3-4, the locomotive traveled to
Cincinnati, Ohio, where it pulled a round-trip excursion between there and
Lexington, Kentucky on the 11th. In late November, No. 4501 returned to the K&T shops in Stearns for a further overhaul. The two Ks-1 class locomotives were renumbered back to 630 and
722, respectively. The tender had originally been used behind CG
2-10-2 No. 773, which was scrapped following a June 1947
boiler explosion, and the tender was then used for a
maintenance-of-way wreck train in Georgia. It featured No. 4501, No. 750, and
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER)
A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman, which was in the course of its US tour at the time. In 1972, No. 4501 was back in service and on July 8, it challenged the
Saluda Grade, pulling three coaches and an open-air gondola. Throughout the summer of 1973, at the request of
Trains magazine editor David P. Morgan and officials from the
Chicago and North Western (C&NW), No. 4501 operated outside of Southern Railway property to haul a series of excursion trips in the
Midwestern United States on trackage owned by the C&NW, the
Milwaukee Road (MILW), the
Illinois Central (IC), the
Rock Island (RI), and the N&W's former
Nickel Plate Road (NKP) and
Wabash (WAB). The SOU allowed the CWM to use the locomotive free of charge. From July 4 to July 9, No. 4501 hauled the first annual
Independence Limited excursion from
Chicago to
Washington, D.C. During that journey, No. 4501 traveled over N&W and
Western Maryland (WM) trackage. This was made hours before
Hurricane Delia occurred. On September 1, 1977, No. 4501 travelled from
Durham, North Carolina to
Roanoke, Virginia, to participate in that year's NRHS Convention. On September 3, No. 4501 hauled a NRHS doubleheader excursion behind
Texas and Pacific 610 on the N&W from Roanoke to
Lynchburg. Upon arrival in Lynchburg, No. 4501 hauled eleven cars solo on the SOU main line to
Altavista, and then it returned to Roanoke via N&W's former
Virginian trackage. A diesel locomotive hauled the remainder of the trip, while No. 4501 was towed to the Norris Yard Steam Shop in
Irondale, Alabama, for a long-term rebuild, lasting until November 1984. Following the rebuild, No. 4501 received a newly-welded tender tank with the coal capacity decreased to and the water tank capacity increased to . It was also given a newly fabricated front smokebox plate. In early 1991, No. 4501 received new boiler flues and a new coat of green paint, completed in June 23. Afterwards, it returned to mainline excursion service with NS to operate on trackage that was off limits to the two N&W locomotives. TVRM sent No. 4501 to Asheville, where it pulled round-trip excursions between there and
Bulls Gap, Tennessee on June 26, 29 and 30. On November 2 that year, during the 25th anniversary of the Southern steam program, No. 4501 was tasked to haul a round-trip excursion between Chattanooga and
Hollywood, Alabama. The next day, it lead with Nos. 611 and 1218 on an excursion train of 28 cars from Chattanooga to Atlanta. At
Ooltewah, Tennessee, No. 4501 was uncoupled from the two N&W locomotives, who uncoupled their tool cars away from the consist for No. 4501 to take the first eight coaches off for a complete round trip, turning around at
Cleveland, Tennessee. Also on October 8-9 that year, the locomotive along with the out-of-service Nos. 630 and 722 were photographed at TVRM's East Chattanooga yard, In early May 1993, No. 4501 hauled round-trip excursions out of
Kingsport, Tennessee to
Appalachia, Virginia on the 1st and
Richlands, Virginia on the 2nd. On April 30, 1994, No. 4501 hauled an NS mainline excursion trip out of Birmingham, and it was planned to arrive at
Columbus, Georgia, but it was taken off at
Alexander City, Alabama, due to
overheated bearings, and NS
GP59 diesel locomotive No. 4610 finished the rest of the trip. No. 4501 was repaired at the Norris Yard Steam Shop and returned to TVRM on May 25, to have its bearings repaired. In October that same year, NS executives announced that they would discontinue their steam program due to serious safety concerns, rising insurance costs, the expense of maintaining steam locomotives, and decreasing rail network availability from a surge in freight traffic. On December 3, 1994, the last steam-powered NS excursion, hauled by N&W 611, ran from Birmingham to Chattanooga and back. No. 4501 remained at the TVRM while the NS steam program ended, and its bearing repairs were subsequently completed, while its smokestack and petticoat pipe were replaced. In October 1995, No. 4501 returned to service and began to haul the museum's excursion trains through north Georgia on the
Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway shortline. In October 1996, the locomotive was repainted back to its original freight black livery for TVRM's 35th anniversary. Another locomotive, TVRM 2-8-0
No. 610, subsequently covered the TVRM's excursion schedules.
Second excursion service In June 2010, NS announced that they would run excursions with Nos. 4501 and 630, as part of their new
21st Century Steam program. With No. 630 already in operating condition, the restoration of No. 4501 began at the TVRM's Soule Shops in 2012. During No. 4501's restoration, the locomotive received upgrades to its
trailing wheels that included the addition of roller bearings to help guide the locomotive through curved tracks. A Worthington SA type
feedwater heater replica from a
China Railways QJ Class 2-10-2 was installed on No. 4501 to improve the locomotive's performance. These modifications increased the locomotive's operating boiler pressure from to , which created a slight increase in tractive effort. This would also decrease the tender's water tank capacity to . The Armstrong lubricators that spring-loaded the driving wheels were replenished by an
automatic lubricator from the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway in
North Yorkshire, England. The locomotive made a test run from Chattanooga to
LaFayette, Georgia, on the Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway line on September 25, in preparation for TVRM's upcoming annual
Summerville Steam Special on October 4 that year. On May 1, 2015, No. 4501 returned to the Norfolk Southern main line for the first time in 21 years and successfully completed a test round trip from TVRM to Cleveland, Tennessee. On June 26, No. 4501 began to participate in the 21st Century Steam program, running the
Radford Rambler excursion from
Bristol to
Radford, Virginia. On June 27, the locomotive pulled the
Lonesome Pine Special excursion from
Bristol to
Bulls Gap, Tennessee, and ran the
Radford Rambler again on June 28. No. 4501 was planned to run the
Piedmont Limited round trip excursion from Atlanta to
Toccoa, Georgia, on October 3 and 4, 2015, but it was canceled on October 1 due to
Hurricane Joaquin, making the locomotive's career for the 21st Century Steam program short-lived. Norfolk Southern officially ended their 21st Century Steam program, while No. 4501 remained at TVRM to continue excursion operations and became the main motive power for its annual
Summerville Steam Special excursion from Chattanooga to Summerville, Georgia. In September 2019, No. 4501 was temporarily masqueraded as
Louisville and Nashville J-3 Mikado No. 1593 for the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society annual convention. On September 7, 2024, No. 4501 was temporarily masqueraded as
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio No. 4382, as part of a
Founder's Day night photo session. Around September 2025, No. 4501 was masqueraded as Central of Georgia No. 699, as part of a Founder's Day daytime photo session. In early 2026, it was announced that No. 4501 would once again wear the SOU green paint scheme for the first time since 1996 for a limited time. It was set to be unveiled on May 23. Afterwards, the locomotive will eventually return back to its original black paint around 2027. ==Appearances in media==