The North Alabama Railroad Museum, Inc. is a railroad museum in
Chase, Alabama
Chase is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Alabama, United States.
History
Chase was named in honor of the Chase family. Henry B. Chase served as the second mayor of Huntsville
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limeston ...
. The museum, incorporated in 1966, is an all volunteer organization. The museum has a collection of rolling stock, a small
train station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...
, and a small
heritage railroad
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
called the Mercury and Chase Railroad which operates between April and December. The mission of the NARM is to "preserve railroad history in North Alabama and South Central Tennessee." It is run entirely by its 100-plus volunteers. The museum is open to the public daily, volunteers are usually available on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission to the museum is free, however there is a charge for riding the trains. A schedule of rides is available at the museum's website.
Overview
The North Alabama Railroad Museum (NARM) operates a tourist railroad in
Chase, Alabama
Chase is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Alabama, United States.
History
Chase was named in honor of the Chase family. Henry B. Chase served as the second mayor of Huntsville
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limeston ...
, a community near
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...
. In 1984, as
CSX Transportation was retiring the former
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway line between Huntsville and
Winchester, Tennessee
Winchester is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Winchester as of the 2020 census was 9,375.
History
Winchester was ...
, the North Alabama Railroad Museum acquired 5 miles of the right of way. Today, the museum operates the
Mercury and Chase Railroad on this right of way.
Railroad Excursions
The Mercury and Chase Railroad operates regularly scheduled, public excursions and private excursions on track owned by the museum. All equipment used by the Mercury and Chase Railroad is owned and maintained by the museum. Equipment used on the excursions was all built prior to 1950. The Mercury and Chase Railroad offers trips of about 10 miles round trip from
Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson
* ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie
* ''Norma ...
east to Mt Carmel.
Membership
The NARM is an all volunteer organization. Membership is opened to anyone. Members are eligible to volunteer to work at the museum and on the excursions.
Facilities
The NARM maintains several facilities. There are two depots at the Chase location, and office building which includes the history center and the library. At Mercury, there is the train maintenance shed. There is also 5 miles of right of way that is used to operate the trains.
Chase Depot
The depot at Chase, was the smallest
Union station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
in the United States. It originally served the
Southern Railway and the
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. The primary customer of the Chase Depot was the
Chase Nursery which used both railroads to ship plants throughout the country. The building currently at Chase was built in 1937, and serves as the depot for the Mercury and Chase Railroad today. Tickets for your train ride can be picked up at the ticket window of the Chase Depot.
Plevna Depot
The Plevna Depot was a
whistle stop depot located in
Plevna, Alabama originally. The depot is displayed at the side of our loading platform. It is a small wooden structure that was used by passengers as a waiting area while waiting to flag the train down.
Chase Office building
The Chase Office building originally was the office for the Chase Nursery. It now houses the library and the Hugh Dudley Railroad History Center.
Train shed
The Mercury train shed is used for restoration and maintenance of railroad equipment. It can be seen while on excursions on the Mercury and Chase Railroad.
Railroad Equipment
The NARM and Mercury and Chase Railroad own a collection of locomotives and rolling stock that is representative of the history of railroading in north Alabama and south-central Tennessee. The locomotives are first generation
diesel-electric locomotives. Rolling stock represents passenger cars as well as freight cars. Most of the equipment is at the Chase location and is available for viewing during daylight hours.
Locomotives
The Mercury and Chase Railroad owns and operates a number of
Alco
The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...
locomotives. There are three
ALCO S-2 and S-4
The ALCO S-2 and S-4 were diesel electric switchers produced by ALCO and Canadian licensee Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW).
Powered by turbocharged, 6-cylinder ALCO 539 diesel engines, the two locomotives differed mainly in their trucks: th ...
units, and an
ALCO RSD-1
The ALCO RSD-1 was a diesel-electric locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). This model was a road switcher type rated at and rode on three-axle trucks, having a C-C wheel arrangement. It was often used in much the same ...
that serve the railroad with their passenger excursion trains. The RSD-1 was built for the US Army and was used during the closing months of World War II. Many of the sister units to this locomotive were shipped to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
under the
Lend-Lease program to be used on the
Trans-Iranian Railway
The Trans-Iranian Railway ( fa, راهآهن سراسری ایران) was a major railway building project started in Pahlavi Iran in 1927 and completed in 1938, under the direction of the then-Iranian monarch Reza Shah. It was entirely built ...
. The S-4 was built for the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
and had the number 1534 with that railroad.
Rolling Stock
The Mercury and Chase Railroad has a number of operational railroad cars. There are two stainless steel coaches, built by
Budd Company in 1939 and 1940, these are used on all excursion trains. There is a dining car which was originally built as a hospital car for the US Army by
American Car and Foundry Company
ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...
in 1943. There is a heavyweight coach built in 1927 by
Pullman Company and a baggage car built in 1924 by
American Car and Foundry Company
ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...
.
Display Equipment
The NARM also owns a number of cars that are used as static displays. Some of this is planned for restoration and some are permanent displays. The museum owns a 1926
ALCO boxcab
The ALCO boxcabs were diesel-electric switcher locomotives, otherwise known as AGEIR boxcabs as a contraction of the names of the builders. Produced by a partnership of three companies, ALCO (American Locomotive Company) built the chassis and run ...
locomotive, which was built with
GE generator, motors, and controls and an
Ingersol-Rand diesel engine. The museum owns a
Railway post office
In Canada and the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly tr ...
car that was built for the
Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway
The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; ) is a railroad that leases the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and sub leases it to the Norfolk Southern Railway sys ...
in 1928. There is a
Caboose
A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in railway switch, switching and Shunting (rail), shunting, keeping a l ...
on display the museum's entrance that was built for the
Southern Railway in 1947, which is opened when volunteers are present. The caboose is set up as it would have been used as the working and living quarters for railroad workers in times past.
The NARM owns many other railroad cars, including baggage cars, passenger coaches, a dining car, box cars, flat cars, cabooses, and a tank car. Many of these are on display in their current condition. Feel free to bring a camera and enjoy your time walking down the line of cars.
The Hugh Dudley Railroad History Center
The NARM is the home of the Hugh Dudley Railroad History Center. The history center houses a select portion of the museum's artifacts on display. Mr. Dudley, a long-time member of the museum, is available on Saturday's when there is a train ride to talk about the items on display. The History Center is located in the building that was originally the office building for the Chase Nursery.
Special Programs
The NARM offers special programs throughout the year. Information concerning these events are available by contacting the museum.
The School Program
The NARM offers a field trip program each spring for kindergarten and first grade classes. This program includes a guided tour of the museum, a video presentation concerning railroading, a train ride and a ride in our railroad surrey pulled by a vintage motor car. In excess of 100,000 teachers and students have participated in The School Program since 1971.
[http://www.northalabamarailroadmuseum.com/school.htm] For information concerning this program, please contact the museum by phone.
Boy Scout Railroading Merit Badge
The NARM offers a Saturday session in which young men associated with
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
can begin the work on their Railroading Merit Badge. Much of the work can be completed during this session. The NARM has offered this program for many years and has aided many young men in receiving their merit badge.
Eagle Scout Projects
The NARM has worked with scouts on
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...
projects. Scouts have helped in restoration of equipment, landscaping, and building a handicapped accessible loading platform.
See also
*
List of heritage railroads in the United States
This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota.
Heritage railroads by state
Alabama
* Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad a ...
*
List of museums in Alabama
*
List of transport museums
A transport museum is a museum that holds collections of transport items, which are often limited to land transport (road and rail)—including old cars, motorcycles, trucks, trains, trams/streetcars, buses, trolleybuses and coaches—but can a ...
*
List of railway museums
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic equ ...
*
List of Alabama railroads
References
External links
Museum website
{{authority control
Railroad museums in Alabama
Museums in Madison County, Alabama