Article #87: Southern Railway 2-8-0 #542 NC Transportation Museum (May 17, 2025)

 

In this new article we will be taking a look at Southern Railway 2-8-0 #542 which is preserved at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. 

#542 was built in 1903 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for operation on the Southern Railway. It ran for fifty years (1903-1953) in heavy freight service. 

From the time it was built in 1903 up until the 1940's, it worked on various lines in North Carolina. In 1937 during the months of April and August, it was leased to the Atlantic & Yadkin Railroad. It worked between Statesville and Winston Salem to name a couple of towns in operated out of.

In June of 1946, it was leased to the Atlantic & Yadkin Railroad one more time. While it was with the A&Y, it operated out of Greensboro, North Carolina until the A&Y ceased operating. 

In 1950, it returned to the Southern Railway as a yard engine at Spencer before it was retired in 1953.

After it was retired, the locomotive was donated to Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, North Carolina in 1954. It sat at the park for over thirty years before being traded to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in 1991. 

A few of things make this locomotive significant. It is the only surviving Southern Railway J Class locomotive. It is also the only locomotive that ran on the Atlantic & Yadkin Railroad to survive. 

The locomotive was also featured in the 2008 movie Leatherheads. It was renumbered #604. 

This steam locomotive is one to check out while going around the museum.