Editor’s note: In this series, local author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things in Charlotte. Submit inquires to davidaaronmoore@post.com.
I recently visited Freedom Park and saw part of an old train stationed on the park’s grounds. How did it get there and where did it come from? – Daniel Hayes, Charlotte
The old Gainesville-Midland 301 has charmed generations of Charlotteans. It rolled off the lines of the Philadelphia Baldwin Locomotive works in 1920 and was shipped to Florida to serve the industrial rail line service Charlotte Harbor and Northern (the company had nothing to do with the city of Charlotte, aside from sharing a name). Once there, it shuttled between various small towns along Florida’s west coast.
Beginning life with an oil-burning engine and the number 72 painted on the side, it was converted to a coal-burning steam locomotive when Charlotte Harbor and Northern was taken over by Seaboard in 1926. Seaboard gave it a new paint job and number – 930 – but its route remained the same, serving the region for 31 years.
In 1951, the aging engine got its last shot at public service when it was purchased by Gainesville-Midland, which gave it another paint job and the number 301. Over the next eight years it ran a continuous 35-mile jaunt in Georgia between Gainesville and Athens. By the time 1959 rolled around, steam powered engines were quickly disappearing into history and being replaced by faster and less noisy diesel engine trains.
The 301 had served long and hard. Repairs to the engine were becoming more frequent and parts harder to find, as were mechanics with the knowledge and desire to keep the aging behemoths up and running.
Ironically, Seaboard, the 301’s former owner, acquired Gainesville-Midland that same year. The company wanted the rail lines and the access they provided in Georgia – but Seaboard had no desire to hang on to antique steam engines like the 301.
After the decision was made to retire the former workhorse, it was eventually offered as a gift to Charlotte after the city had requested a steam locomotive for display from Seaboard, which began in North Carolina. Though the company had none to offer at the time of Charlotte’s request, it eventually came into one – the 301 – when it acquired Gainesville-Midland.
On a cold day in November 1959, the train crept slowly into the Queen City, where it was partially disassembled, and then trucked to its current location in Freedom Park to serve as a recreational play site for the city’s children.
“I can still recall when it came to own,” says Charlotte native Rebecca Kern. “I was just a little girl – around 5 at the time – and it was a big deal. Older folks and kids lined the streets at different junctions as it rolled into the city. My dad and I got to see it at Central Avenue. It was like watching something riding out of history as it passed. It was so exciting. It was also kind of funny; I remember dogs barking like crazy because of the noise and chasing the steam from the engine.”
Once installed at Freedom Park, it was repainted and renamed “The Freedom Park Express” for a time, and it was surrounded by grey, pea-sized gravel. Children were allowed to crawl in and around it at will.
Several years and countless falls and scrapes later, access to the train is now much more limited. It is surrounded by a black metal fence, and entry is only allowed into the former conductor’s chamber by an elevated footbridge.
“I’m not sure who ever thought gravel on a playground was a good idea when kids are involved,” Kern said, laughing. “But I had lots of fun crawling all over that thing for many years, as I’m sure lots of Charlotte children did. Even though it’s a lot safer for kids now, it does seem like they’re missing out on some fun.”
Now repainted and restored with the number and name it bore the day it first came to town, it largely serves as an exhibit of a mode of transportation long gone.
Moore is the author of “Charlotte: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem.” His writings have appeared in numerous publications throughout the U.S. and Canada.
This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2013.
Great article- One thing i remember along with the train from my childhood was an airplane of some sort? Can you provide any insight as to what happened to it as well? Thanks for this series!
I remember the airplane too!!! Great story David!! I love your stories on old places and things!! WAY COOL@!
I have a photo of me as a kid on top of the train in the 1960’s. And who ever has crawled under the train and hid out in the Coal Shoot under the Boiler? Falling off the train WHo hasn’t.
On July 4th 1976 I took a hammer rang the Bell to celebrate our independence. The plane was awesome too. Ron Byram Charlotte NC
I remember crawling all over the train before it was closed off “for our own protection”. There were also an F-86 Saber and a “rocket” looking play set just up the hill from the train, as well as a tank (M-48 I think ) in front and to the right of the train. All of which have disappeared. They tried to get rid of the train also, but everyone complained and it was too expensive to move, if I remember correctly.
The beautiful old Seaboard steam locomotive from the 1920’s that is sitting in Freedom Park should be given to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer,NC. There it can “FINALLY” be carefully restored and cared for like it deserves to be. It is rusting away and deteriorating rapidly. Nothing has been done to care for it in years. At the Transportation Museum it would be placed in a sheltered roundhouse with other saved steam and diesel locomotives.It would be cleaned up,new metal plates to replace the rotted ones that are corroded and repainted. It may never ever run again because the controls had been stripped from it and the money involved would be too high. not to mention the difficulty in finding enough skilled and trained labor. But it would not be wasting away in the elements anymore. And people could see it in it’s proper setting. I know .Everyone will “scream and cry” about their childhood being taken away. That it was “always there” and to “let it alone”. Well I say if they TRULY had any love,care and respect for it, they would allow it to be saved before it is too late for anything to be done at all. It would have a chance to survive and live on for generations to come to see and love. Charlotte as you know, is infamous for destroying almost all it’s historic past. They would just as soon let it collapse in a heap of twisted metal before they spend one dime on it.The park doesn’t have the funds to do it . The city barely gives them enough to do the bare minimum it does now. Speaking of.when has the pond ever been drained to clean it? It’s gross. It smells. Let the Transportation Museum pay to move it. Then Charlotte can’t complain it would cost too much. This is something that should have been done years ago.
I remember being able to climb into the boiler area and stick my fingers into the hole in the coal loading door. I took my kids there not too long ago, and was somewhat disappointed to what has become of it. It desperately needs a paint job…