Tweetsie Railroad 12: Return to Tweetsie

This is the first part of a compilation of videos that I shot today at Tweetsie Railroad. This is the first time in over five years that I’ve been to Tweetsie Railroad. The locomotive in this video is former East Tennessee and Western North Carolina railway 4-6-0 #12. ET&WNC 12 was built in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the ET&WNC’s narrow gauge division. Locomotive no. 12 was to the third of five narrow gauge 4-6-0s, the first being No. 9, and the last being No. 14. Sadly, all were scrapped, except for number 12. She was purchased in the late 1950s for use on a tourist railroad, but plans fell through, so she was then purchased again for use on a theme park called Tweetsie Railroad. The park was named so after number 12, which was given the nickname Tweetsie by both onlookers and those who operated her. She continues to haul short five-car passenger trains around the mountains of Blowing Rock, North Carolina. She isn’t alone, as she has a younger working partner. That partner happens to be former US army transportation corps s-118 2-8-2 mikado locomotive number 190, commonly nicknamed Yukon Queen.