Atlanta and West Point 290

Atlanta and West Point 290 is a P-74 steam locomotive built in March 1926 by the Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) in Lima, Ohio for the Atlanta and West Point Railroad. It is a 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive, which was remarkably similar to the Southern Railway's Ps-4 class. With sister locomotive No. 190 built for the Western Railway of Alabama (WRA), No. 290 ferried the Southern Railway's Crescent passenger train on the West Point Route between Atlanta, Georgia to Montgomery, Alabama until its retirement from revenue service in 1954.

In 1958, the No. 290 locomotive was preserved and put on static display at the city of Atlanta's Lakewood Park until 1961 when it was donated to the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). In 1989, the locomotive was restored to operating condition for the New Georgia Railroad (NGRX) program, running excursion trains around the Georgia state from Atlanta to Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, Macon, and Savannah on Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX rails.

At the end of 1992, No. 290 was retired due to running gear issues and was currently dissembled at the Southeastern Railway Museum (SRM) in Duluth, Georgia. With no plans to be restored back to operating condition, the locomotive is stored inside the SRM's backshop, waiting for a full cosmetic restoration.

Revenue service
No. 290 along with sister locomotive No. 190, are both heavy P-74 Pacific steam locomotives built in March 1926 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio. They were based on the USRA Heavy Pacific design and have a very similar appearance to the Southern Railway Ps-4 class. No. 290 was assigned to the Atlanta and West Point Railway (A&WP), while No. 190 served the Western Railway of Alabama (WRA). Both roads were under the common control of the Georgia Railroad and all operated as essentially one railroad, although being legally separate.

Nos. 290 and 190 were both assigned to ferry the Southern Railway's Crescent passenger train on the West Point Route between Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama. While one locomotive was traveling southbound with the Crescent, the other would take the northbound counterpart. The locomotives would then be turned around at their terminal point for the reverse run. As a result, it was common to see both locomotives in both Atlanta and Montgomery. However, WRA and A&WP crews would swap in West Point, Georgia where the two lines met. When the train arrived in Montgomery, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) would complete the final leg of the Crescent train's journey to New Orleans, Louisiana.

During the 1940s, Nos. 290 and 190 were given upgrades such as multiple-bearing crossheads replacing their original alligator crossheads and a Standard HT mechanical stoker was added inside the tender to deliver the coal from the bunker into the firebox.

First retirement and attempted lease
In 1954, No. 190 was retired and scrapped, and No. 290 was scheduled to follow suit, but former SR employee Emory Ivie became aware of the locomotive's disposition, so he contacted Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Leo Aikman and suggested that the locomotive should be preserved. Other columnists and railfans quickly petitioned the A&WP into preserving No. 290, and in May 1958, the railroad’s then-president Clyde Mixon agreed to have the locomotive donated to the city of Atlanta. In July that same year, No. 290 was put on display at the Southeastern Fairgrounds in Atlanta's Lakewood Park, and the 290 Club was formed to oversee the locomotive's display. Within ensuing years, some additional rolling stock was put on display alongside No. 290, but the expansion was hoarding up space, agitating officials from the Southeastern Fairgrounds.

In 1965, fairground officials asked for No. 290 and the rolling stock to be removed and displayed elsewhere, and the locomotive was donated to the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) with SR president W. Graham Claytor Jr. helping move the locomotive into storage at the Inman Yard in Atlanta. At that time, Claytor made an attempt to lease the No. 290 locomotive by significantly altering its appearance with SR passenger Virginian green and gold paint scheme to resemble a SR Ps-4 locomotive for use on their steam excursion program. However, the A&WP was not keen on one of their former locomotives being repainted into the livery of one of their rivals, and they threatened to sue the SR for $50,000 if their lease on No. 290 came to fruition. Subsequently, No. 290 was instead moved to Duluth, Georgia for display at the Atlanta Chapter's Southeastern Railway Museum.

Excursion service
In 1986, the New Georgia Railroad (NGRX), a sponsored tourist excursion railroad operated by the Georgia Building Authority in Atlanta, leased the No. 290 locomotive for use in running excursions around the Georgia state. No. 290 was towed to the Southeastern Railcar company in Duluth, Georgia for some patch-up work performed by Finnegan Boiler Works and then moved to the former Pullman Yard in Atlanta, where the full restoration work began with supervision of former Seaboard Coast Line (SCL) road foreman Wallace Haywood. During the restoration work, No. 290's original tender body was discovered to be very poor condition and it was replaced with a newly welded one which had the coal capacity increased from 15 ST to 20 ST while the water capacity was decreased from 11000 usgal to 9500 usgal.

In 1989, No. 290 was restored to operating condition and moved under its own power for the first time in 35 years. It pulled its inaugural excursion train on September 10, running from Atlanta to Macon and back. Afterwards, it continued to run more excursion to Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, and Savannah on Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX rails. Additionally, it replaced Savannah and Atlanta 750, which was retired due to repairs in its firebox being too expensive.

In early 1991, No. 290 was sent to Norfolk Southern's Norris Yard Steam Shop in Irondale, Alabama to have its crown sheet inspected. Shortly thereafter, the NGRX made an agreement with NS to borrow No. 290 as a substitute to Norfolk and Western 611 and 1218, which were both under maintenance at that time. On April 6 and 7, No. 290 hauled two round trip excursions from Birmingham, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Heart of Dixie Chapter NRHS and the following weekend round trips out of Jacksonville, Florida to Valdosta, Georgia for the North Florida Chapter NRHS. Afterwards, the locomotive returned to the NGRX to continue haul more excursion trips in Georgia.

On Friday, August 21, 1992, No. 290 ran the highly anticipated excursion trip from Atlanta, Georgia to Montgomery, Alabama for the Atlanta Chapter NRHS on both ex-A&WP and WRA rails, via CSX. On the next day, No. 290 ran five round-trip excursions out of Montgomery to Dothan, Alabama before returning to Atlanta on August 23. At the end of 1992, No. 290 was taken out of service for extensive repair work to its running gear.

Second retirement
There were originally plans to have the No. 290 locomotive be ready in time for the 1994 Atlanta Chapter NRHS convention, but the NGRX program was shut down due to its sponsorship with the Georgia state government being discontinued. Additionally, both NS and CSX railroads banned main line steam excursion trips on their trackage the following year due to liability insurance. The No. 290 locomotive is currently disassembled inside the Southeastern Railway Museum's backshop in Duluth, Georgia, waiting for a full cosmetic restoration. There are currently no plans to restore the locomotive back to operating condition again. Therefore, it will be put back on display once the cosmetic restoration work is finished.

In popular culture
In 1991, No. 290 made its first ever film appearance in the comedy-drama film Fried Green Tomatoes, starring Kathy Bates and Mary Stuart Masterson.