PROTOTYPE TOUR The Norfolk Southern’s presence has been in Chattanooga for over 125 years beginning with the predecessors of the Southern Railway who built the yard we will be visiting. In 1954 Southern Railway completed a transformation of their aging Citico yard into the state-of-the-art Harry DeButts yard. The new facility would have greatly improved classification capabilities including one of the first hump yards on the system with a total of 64 tracks. Southern Railway ended the reign of the steam locomotive in Chattanooga with the arrival of Ms-4 class 2-8-2 #6330’s arrival on June 17, 1953. From there, Chattanooga grew into a major service facility for servicing this new diesel motive power. These servicing facilities include a major assembly shop for complete rebuilds, refueling facilities to accommodate a large fleet of locomotives, test and inspection facilities and a paint shop to add a shiny coat of new paint. Our tour will stop in many of these places within the yard that are normally off limits and not visible to the public. There will be photo opportunities to record your visit to these sites. Lunch is provided on the tour and will be served on the grounds of the Norfolk Southern yard in the Don Gentry Picnic Pavilion near the hump tower. After lunch, we will continue our tour at the former US Army’s Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant on the east side of Chattanooga. During wartime as late as the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990’s this site stored munitions for the US armed forced. During the mid-1990’s the military abandoned the site and it was transformed into a local industrial complex. The site has miles of railroad tracks throughout the facility that is now operated by Chattanooga Railcar Services, a Cleveland, TN based company that stores, repairs and maintains rail cars for any customer needing such services. The site will hold nearly 1000 rail cars. CRS utilizes a couple of switchers and an ex-Illinois Central road unit to do the switching chores. This is a limited seat tour and sure to sell out fast. Don’t miss out on this seldom seen opportunity to be escorted through these rail facilities. Meet at the registration table Sat @ 9:30am.

LIVE STEAM TOUR Eagle Point Railroad is a 1/8 scale, 7.5 inch gauge, live steam railroad. It has a working transfer table and steaming bays. Live steam engines will be operating that day to take you on a magical ride over a mile of track over a wooden bridge, thru beautiful wooded and hilly terrain. It is about a one hour drive from the Choo Choo Hotel. Meet at the registration table Sat @10:30am, carpool to Dunlap, TN, eat lunch (not included), and then caravan to the site (twenty minutes approximately). Expect to spend two to three hours, but you can return at any time (one hour approximately).

NMRA Headquarters Tour; Sat. 2– 5 pm The Research Library and the Howell Day Museum will be open to all conventioneers.

Tea Tour; 10:15 am