BLOWING ROCK, N.C. , Aug.
19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- One of Tweetsie Railroad's historic steam locomotives, the 107-year-old No. 12, will be out of service for several months for major restoration. "When you maintain and operate a steam locomotive that is over a century old, there is always the chance there will be some down time," says Chris Robbins , President of Tweetsie Railroad.
"We wish the timing would have been different, especially with our annual Railroad Heritage Weekend coming up August 24 th and 25 th ." Guests can expect a few changes in the in the originally released schedule for Railroad Heritage Weekend. Locomotive No.
190 will run on Saturday and Sunday featuring the Wild West show and on Saturday evening for the Photo Special. Locomotive No. 12 and the vintage 1870's Coach Car No.
5 will be available for guests to have the rare opportunity to step up into the cab and tour the coach car. Robbins reports that Tweetsie Railroad's locomotive mechanics discovered some thin areas on the boiler firebox during a routine maintenance check. An independent testing firm was summoned to inspect the boiler for verification, and then the NC Dept.
of Labor's Boiler Safety Bureau was notified. The boiler is the original one installed by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1917, and last underwent major repairs in 1979. "We are unsure how long the restoration will take since it is a custom re-build, but we expect to see Locomotive Number 12 ready to run for the 2025 season," says Robb.