Southern Wood Preserving Co. 0-4-0T No. 3
Between major locomotive orders, the American Locomotive Company occasionally built small “stock” locomotives, knowing that such generic engines were typically in-demand and would not sit unsold for very long. Such was the case with 0-4-0T No.3, built in January 1926 at ALCO’s Schenectady Works in New York. The engine’s small stature and “saddletank” water tank straddling its boiler made it ideal for switching small rail yards and industrial facilities.
Sure enough, No.3 was purchased from ALCO by the Southern Wood Preserving Company in 1928 for use at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Rolling on 40-inch driving wheels and weighing a beefy 49 tons, this little locomotive switched flatcars carrying raw timbers into the plant and complete, creosote-treated railroad ties back out.
After retirement, No.3 was acquired by the then-new Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga. By 1964, TVRM’s collection also included the more famous ex-Southern Railway 2-8-2 No.4501, renowned for its later role in the Southern Railways steam program. Paul Merriman – a Chattanooga electronics engineer and one of TVRM’s founders – eventually purchased No.3 from the museum.
In 1994 the engine was sold by the Merriman family to Jerry Jacobson. It was then trucked to Coshocton, Ohio to be set on the rails of Jerry’s Ohio Central Railroad. The small 0-4-0T received repairs and was run numerous times at the OC’s Morgan Run shops.
No.3 received new “Southern Wood Preserving Company” lettering in early 2020.
