Steam Shop Restoring Historic Nashville Train Suffers Serious Damage in Storm

A series of severe storms that ripped through the Nashville area last week caused extensive damage to the historic Tennessee Central Railway Museum and the Nashville Steam Preservation Society's shop: the current home of locomotive No. 576, A.K.A. "the Stripe."

No injuries were reported but high winds destroyed a portion of the structure where No. 576 has been undergoing a restoration since 2019. The storm left the locomotive and the team's equipment "exposed to the elements."

"While No. 576 is quite a bit dirtier, the locomotive is overall unharmed from Thursday's storm," Nashville Steam shared on Facebook.

As the sole surviving steam locomotive of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway, No. 576 was donated to the people of Nashville in 1953. It was displayed in the city's Centennial Park until February 2019, when Nashville Steam moved the out-of-service train to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. There, it is undergoing a multi-year restoration so one day it can be used in excursion service.

The Nashville Steam Preservation Society is currently asking for donations to help repair the building and replace damaged equipment. You can contribute the recovery effort here.

You can also donate to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum's repair at TCRY.org/donate.

Every penny helps!