More Depots & Trains!

OK...These are the last of the trains and depots that Laurie photographed for me during our St. Louis/Missouri/Kansas Family trip at the end of September and early October.



This is a 1927 "Prairie Type" 2-6-2 Locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Lima Ohio. It weighs 97 tons and is one of only 8 built. It proved to be relatively unstable at speeds over 50 mph. It had considerable pulling power...and staying power as well! It was retired by the Republic Steel Works in Alabama in 1964 and it's now on static display in Lynnville, Tennessee.



This is a replica of the former Lynnville TN Southern Railroad passenger depot. It now serves as the Lynnville Railroad Museum. It has many items of railroad related equipment and memorabilia. Displays include a HO scale model of Lynnville in the 1930's and a 2-ton scale working model of a steam locomotive. For more information go to http://www.lynnvillerailroadmuseum.com/.



There is a 1923 Pullman coach on the tracks adjacent to the depot. It saw service on the City of Memphis passenger express. It has been repainted in "Pullman Green" and it's one of the only 7 known former NC & StL cars remaining today. Located inside this car is the Milky Way Farms Museum. Milky Way Farms was a famous 2,800 acre farm built by Franklin C. Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Company. The farm was famous for it's race horses and its Hereford cattle.


I've included a couple of photos of the Soda Pop Junction Restaurant which is in the center of Lynnville, located immediately across the street from the railroad museum. This restaurant is eclectic to say the least. It's a combination of country and 50's rock 'n roll. It was tempting and it was lunchtime, so we dropped in...

I ordered a double cheeseburger and Laurie ordered a single. We shared a big basket of curly fries. This burger had a lot of potential. It was handsome, the meat was good and there was a lot of it. The problem was that the cook must have come from Canada...where by law they cook burgers to death! Not quite as well done as a Canadian 'puck' Burger, it was still so well done that it was robbed of a lot of flavor. If we go back, I'll get specific re: how to cook the burger.

This is a photo of the counter area of the Soda Pop Cafe. There was a total rock 'n roll feel to about half of the restaurant...but there were also country crafts and what appeared to be the well preserved remains of an old post office window and counter. This place has potential...

This is whats left of the former North Carolina & St. Louis Railroad's Tullahoma Tennessee passenger station. Much of it was demolished over the years, leaving only the center of the building, which contained the ticket office, the telegraph office and the waiting room. The remaining structure is now being used as a line office for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.


Finis...