<kuid2:96914:752:3> S&A 750 Class 4-6-2

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The Savannah & Atlanta 750 class consisted of three sister locomotives acquired used from the Florida East Coast. The trio had been built by American Locomotive Company between 1910 and 1920. Although acquired in separate batches over a long period of time, the engines were nearly identical (the FEC had upgraded 80 - later S&A 750 - with superheat and a larger cylinder bore to match the later two engines.) These Pacifics, while light, were sufficient for the relatively flat FEC.

Reductions in mileage and services during the Great Depression rendered a significant portion of FEC's 4-6-2 fleet surplus. Forty-nine were sold off to various smaller roads across the Southeastern USA. Many found their home in the state of Georgia, where the low, 69 inch drivers were well-suited to the hill-and-dale country of the Coastal Plain and Piedmont. The Savannah & Atlanta Railway bought a trio during 1935 and 1936. FEC 80 became 750, FEC 141 became 751, and FEC 136 became 752.

On the S&A, like most lines receiving the FEC Pacifics, the engines were used as dual purpose locomotives. Documenation of the class's service life on the S&A is scarce. The only photograph of the locomotive with a train on the S&A that this author could locate shows 750 on the point of a mixed train in Camak, Georgia during 1937. Several photos show 750 and 751 on ready lines at engine terminals during the early 1940s. By 1948, 750 was in storage. However, 750 remained on the roster, and it received a major rebuild (including complete replumbing and a tender swap) prior to 1962. At that time, the S&A donated the locomotive to the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

Soon after being donated, the Atlanta Chapter was using 750 on excursions in Georgia. Later in the 1960s, the Southern Railway began leasing 750 for use on excursions. 750, because of its size and the desired train lengths, was often run doubled headed with Southern Railway 630 (2-8-0) during the 1970s. Increasing train lengths in the Southern Steam Program eventually led to 750 being sidelined in favor of larger power. In the mid 1980s, the state of Georgia ran an excursion program called the New Georgia Railroad which featured 750 as the only steam engine until Atlanta & West Point 290 became operational in the early 1990s.

The decades of service eventually caught up with 750, and it last ran in August of 1989. Since that time, S&A 750 has been on display at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia. Due to the wear from its excursion career, it would require much work and money to be restored to operation; while it is not impossible for it to happen, it is extremely unlikely that 750 will operate again.

Builder: ALCo
Driver Size: 69 inches
Cylinders: 22 by 26 inches
Weight: 204,000 pounds
Boiler Pressure: 200 PSI