TVRM’s Locomotive 5288 moving to Pennsylvania for future restoration

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) is transferring historic Locomotive 5288 to a preservation trust in Pennsylvania. Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust will display the locomotive near a railroad station in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.

Colebrookdale will eventually restore the locomotive. TVRM President Tim Andrews believes this could cost millions of dollars. For this reason, and their limited operating options, it did not make sense to TVRM to keep and restore it, Andrews said.

He also stated that Colebrookdale could give the locomotive a broader range of options in the future.

“This in no way diminishes TVRM’s commitment and dedication to the preservation and operation of vintage steam locomotives, particularly those with regional significance, for the education and enjoyment of the public,” Andrews continued.

Locomotive 5288.

TVRM has kept the locomotive as an outdoor display since 2001.

The TVRM has been reviewing the current status and future possibilities for Locomotive 5288 in the last few years.

Nathaniel Guest is the executive director of the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust.

“We are absolutely overjoyed to welcome the 5288 as a star in the Colebrookdale’s growing stable of steam locomotives,” Guest said. “We portray that halcyon era of passenger railroading that took place in the first decades of the Twentieth Century. The noble lines of 5288 absolutely capture the look of that period. She will be a fine stablemate for Grand Trunk 5030 and LS&I 18.”

Montreal Locomotive Works built the steam locomotive in 1919. They built this 4-6-2 Pacific-type locomotive for the Grand Truck Railway.

It was owned by the Canadian National and later Nelson Blount.

In 1955, they transferred the locomotive to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1969, it became part of the Steamtown Foundation.

It made its way to the TVRM in 2001.