The Best Friend of Charleston - Atlanta, Georgia - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

The locomotive is an 0-4-0 twin-inside cylinders driving a crank axle on one pair of wheels with connecting rods delivering power to the second pair of driving wheels. Steam is derived from a 'haystack' boiler. The locomotive and two cars have been placed on a replica of an early type of railroad track known as 'strap rail'. A strap of iron is screwed to the inside of the top surface of timber stringers (see photos). Sometimes these screws would come loose and the iron strap would curl up under the load of a locomotive. The strap would then come crashing up through the wooden floor boards where it would startle and sometimes seriously injure the passengers. These were known as 'snakes'.

Access to the locomotive is limited to standing outside the window. Going inside the Norfolk Southern Engineering Headquarters to see the small railroad history museum is available only to those with official business at NS.

From the Charleston Chapter, National Railway Historical Society -

'The "Best Friend of Charleston," now on loan to Norfolk Southern for display in their Atlanta GA headquarters, is a full-sized replica of the 1830 train. The steam engine was constructed from the original plans in 1928 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the "South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company". Southern Railway operated this replica on excursions across the USA. The special railroad cars designed to carry the train between excursions are presently on display at the South Carolina Railroad Museum. The "Best Friend" was donated to the City of Charleston by Norfolk Southern in 1993. The Best Friend Museum closed in 2000. The Museum and Gift Shop were a joint venture of the Charleston Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and the City of Charleston.'

Locomotive Type: (required): Steam Do you need to pay an entrance fee to view this locomotive? (required): No How accessible is this locomotive display? (Required): Display is behind a fence, access is limited to viewing only. If "other" what is the engine type? (optional): Not listed If a fee is required what is the approximate cost for admittance? (optional): Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Waymark creators for this category are encouraged to create a visit verification question for visitors. See individual waymarks for specific logging criteria.

Photos of visits are encouraged but not required for this category.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   10/04/2012 WayBetterFinder visited it