Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
110 years after rolling out the Baldwin Locomotive Works erecting hall, Little River Railroad 110 celebrated its birthday with an excursion from Coldwater to Hillsdale, Michigan. To make the occasion even more special, the engine was lettered for her second owner - the Smoky Mountain Railroad - for the first time in over 50 years. Despite gloomy skies a small group of chasers turned out to witness the littlest pacific putting on a grand show as she galloped down the former NYC "Old Road" through the earliest colors of the coming fall. I had a great time and was glad to see the most iconic locomotive of the Smokies again after a decade. This was also my first chase with my new Sachtler Ace M tripod, so please forgive some overzealous panning & zooming as I got to know my new toy.
110 was built in November 1911 by Baldwin Locomotive Works right next to Southern 4501 on the shop floor. She was built for the Little River Railroad, a logging line that ran between Walland and Elkmont, Tennessee entirely within the Smoky Mountains. Above Townsend the line entered the gorge of the Little River's East Prong, a stretch of railroad with tortuously tight curves that had twice before caused the railroad to send locomotives back to Baldwin. To meet these requirements, 110 was the smallest standard-gauge 4-6-2 Pacific ever built, with 47" drivers (the center of which was had no flange to accommodate tight curves) and a mere 8.5 feet of fixed wheelbase. Her four-wheel lead truck and elegant lines made her the road's showpony, adorned with a portrait of the owner's wife in the cab window and assigned to pull passenger trains of the local wealthy on scenic excursions to mountain retreats such as Kinzel Springs and the famous Wonderland Hotel, helping kickstart the region's tourism industry. In 1925, with the lumber on the East Prong cut, the line to Elkmont was abruptly removed and the rails moved to a new line up the Middle Prong to Tremont. 110 continued its duties on the new line, but as the logging removed more of the scenic beauty of the mountains and operations began to wind down passenger service was discontinued and 110 found itself hauling log trains, carrying the final load of timber from the mountains to the Townsend mill in 1939. With the Great Smoky Mountains established as a new National Park and logging operations ended, the Little River liquidated its assets and 110 was sold to the nearby Smoky Mountain Railroad, a shortline running from Knoxville to Sevierville. Originally built as the Knoxville, Sevierville and Eastern, the "Slow & Easy" was a perpetually struggling road financially and 110 joined a stable of two other second-hand engines pulling whatever cargo there was on increasingly unmaintained track. In 1954, 110 pulled the last steam train over the line before the entire fleet was replaced by a single 44-tonner diesel. She was abandoned on the siding at Shook's Gap in Seymour when the railroad was abandoned in 1961 and marooned a few years later when the tracks were torn up. After a few grim years of rusting in the weeds, a man from Indiana named Terry Bloom discovered the locomotive and purchased her, shipping her to Brooksville, Ohio for a full restoration to operation. In 1976, the Smoky's little pacific triumphantly returned to steam on a new "Little River Railroad" in Angola, Indiana. Some time later the operation was moved North to Coldwater, Michigan where 110 continues operate into the present day, having now been owned by the Bloom family for longer than either of her previous owners.
110 years after rolling out the Baldwin Locomotive Works erecting hall, Little River Railroad 110 celebrated its birthday with an excursion from Coldwater to Hillsdale, Michigan. To make the occasion even more special, the engine was lettered for her second owner - the Smoky Mountain Railroad - for the first time in over 50 years. Despite gloomy skies a small group of chasers turned out to witness the littlest pacific putting on a grand show as she galloped down the former NYC "Old Road" through the earliest colors of the coming fall. I had a great time and was glad to see the most iconic locomotive of the Smokies again after a decade. This was also my first chase with my new Sachtler Ace M tripod, so please forgive some overzealous panning & zooming as I got to know my new toy.
110 was built in November 1911 by Baldwin Locomotive Works right next to Southern 4501 on the shop floor. She was built for the Little River Railroad, a logging line that ran between Walland and Elkmont, Tennessee entirely within the Smoky Mountains. Above Townsend the line entered the gorge of the Little River's East Prong, a stretch of railroad with tortuously tight curves that had twice before caused the railroad to send locomotives back to Baldwin. To meet these requirements, 110 was the smallest standard-gauge 4-6-2 Pacific ever built, with 47" drivers (the center of which was had no flange to accommodate tight curves) and a mere 8.5 feet of fixed wheelbase. Her four-wheel lead truck and elegant lines made her the road's showpony, adorned with a portrait of the owner's wife in the cab window and assigned to pull passenger trains of the local wealthy on scenic excursions to mountain retreats such as Kinzel Springs and the famous Wonderland Hotel, helping kickstart the region's tourism industry. In 1925, with the lumber on the East Prong cut, the line to Elkmont was abruptly removed and the rails moved to a new line up the Middle Prong to Tremont. 110 continued its duties on the new line, but as the logging removed more of the scenic beauty of the mountains and operations began to wind down passenger service was discontinued and 110 found itself hauling log trains, carrying the final load of timber from the mountains to the Townsend mill in 1939. With the Great Smoky Mountains established as a new National Park and logging operations ended, the Little River liquidated its assets and 110 was sold to the nearby Smoky Mountain Railroad, a shortline running from Knoxville to Sevierville. Originally built as the Knoxville, Sevierville and Eastern, the "Slow & Easy" was a perpetually struggling road financially and 110 joined a stable of two other second-hand engines pulling whatever cargo there was on increasingly unmaintained track. In 1954, 110 pulled the last steam train over the line before the entire fleet was replaced by a single 44-tonner diesel. She was abandoned on the siding at Shook's Gap in Seymour when the railroad was abandoned in 1961 and marooned a few years later when the tracks were torn up. After a few grim years of rusting in the weeds, a man from Indiana named Terry Bloom discovered the locomotive and purchased her, shipping her to Brooksville, Ohio for a full restoration to operation. In 1976, the Smoky's little pacific triumphantly returned to steam on a new "Little River Railroad" in Angola, Indiana. Some time later the operation was moved North to Coldwater, Michigan where 110 continues operate into the present day, having now been owned by the Bloom family for longer than either of her previous owners.
