Southern Railway 630

Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway (SOU) as a member of the Ks-1 class. It was primarily assigned to haul freight trains on the Murphy Branch between Asheville and Murphy, North Carolina until its retirement in the 1950s. No. 630, along with sister locomotive No. 722, were sold to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) to be served as switchers.

In 1967, Nos. 630 and 722 were both sold back to the SOU to haul excursion trains for the steam program until being replaced by larger steam locomotives in the early 1980s. No. 630 was leased by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee until it was pulled from service in 1989. Being donated to TVRM by SOU's successor Norfolk Southern (NS) since 1999, No. 630 was restored back to operating condition and currently haul excursion trains for TVRM.

Design and upgrades
Built in 1904 by the American Locomotive Company's (ALCO) Richmond Works as one of 32 "K" class locomotives for the Southern Railway (SOU), No. 630 was standardized with 56 in driving wheels and rated at 44100 lb of tractive effort. It was originally built with Stephenson valve gear, sliding valves, alligator crossheads, and a saturated boiler. In 1917, the locomotive was upgraded with Southern valve gear, piston valves, and superheaters, which reclassified No. 630 as a "Ks" type. In the 1920s, it had more upgrades added such as new cylinders and valve assemblies, which allow the locomotive to develop 46700 lb of tractive effort and reclassified again as a "Ks-1" type. During the 1940s, No. 630 was re-equipped with multiple-bearing crossheads.

Revenue service
No. 630 was first assigned to local and branch line service in the Knoxville division by the SOU, before it was moved to the Asheville division to run on the Murphy and Lake Toxaway branch lines, until it was retired from revenue freight service in August 1952. In November 1952, No. 630 and sister locomotive No. 722 were both sold to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), where they were served as switchers around Johnson City and Elizabethton, Tennessee. After the ET&WNC's acquirement, Nos. 630 and 722 were renumbered to 207 and 208, respectively and had their tender coal bunker cut down to give the engineer a clear view during numerous switching moves and reverse operation.

First excursion service
In September 1960, No. 207 pulled a Silver Anniversary excursion train on the Clinchfield mainline at Kingsport, Tennessee, for that year's National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) Labor Day Convention. In late 1967, Nos. 207 and 208 were both traded back to the SOU for use in their steam excursion program in return for a pair of former Central of Georgia ALCO RS-3s. Retrieving their old numbers, No. 630 had been given minor repairs and began excursion service in February 1968, while No. 722 had its firebox repaired and returned to operating service in August 1970.

Nos. 630 and 722 pulled many main line excursion trains for the SOU steam program until they were both loaned to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in 1978 and 1980, respectively to make way for larger steam locomotives such as Canadian Pacific 2839, Texas and Pacific 610 and Chesapeake and Ohio 2716 to pull the longer and heavier excursions.

In November 1985, No. 722 was taken out of service for its boiler ticket certificate and was moved to Asheville, North Carolina, to be on display during 1992. In November 1989, No. 630 was taken out of service and put in storage when TVRM was restored another 2-8-0 steam locomotive ex-U.S. Army No. 610 at the time.

Second excursion service
In 1999, SOU's successor, Norfolk Southern (NS) donated No. 630 to TVRM, and over the next 12 years, the locomotive was overhauled and restored at a cost of almost $700,000. This was one of the most extensive steam locomotive overhauls as it required massive repairs to its frame, running gear, and boiler along with the flues and superheaters replaced. No. 630 was also given a newly welded smokebox and a larger tender originally used behind No. 4501, as the former's original tender was in very poor condition to be rebuilt. The locomotive returned to operating service on March 14, 2011, and kicked off the 21st Century Steam program instituted by Norfolk Southern.

For four years, No. 630 has pulled many public and private excursions throughout the eastern United States for the 21st Century Steam program in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It also visited the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina, two times in 2012 and 2013. By late 2015, Norfolk Southern had officially discontinued their steam program, although No. 630 continues regular operations, hauling the Missionary Ridge Local excursions at TVRM on weekends and occasionally double heads with No. 4501 for the Summerville Steam Special to Summerville, Georgia.

On March 12-13, 2018, Nos. 630 and 4501 participated in Lerro Productions' Southern Railway photo charter, where they haul a mixed freight train consist at the TVRM section on the former day and the Summerville branch line on the latter day. In August 2023, TVRM operated No. 630 on the weekend Evening Ridge Runner excursions, which ran between TVRM's Grand Junction Station and the Soule Shop during evening times.