NC&StL No. 576 to Steam for the Public in Nashville

Published: October 30, 2026

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis No. 576 will be under steam where the public can see it. The Nashville Steam Preservation Society will fire the 4-8-4 on Saturday, November 7, during a joint open house and train show with the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. The doors are open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 220 Willow Street. Admission is free.

An Alco photo featuring recently completed Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis 4-8-4 #576 in August, 1942.

The society put a fire in the boiler on July 15 and 16, the first time the engine had been steamed in 74 years. That was a test. November 7 is the first day the public is invited to watch 576 under steam. The locomotive is the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis J3. The earlier account of the boiler work is No. 576 nears steam.

November 7

Visitors can enter a raffle for a chance to blow 576’s whistle. Volunteers will be on the property to talk about the engine and what is left to do. The Tennessee Central Railway Museum will have its 1950s stainless-steel passenger cars and a historic diesel open for tours. R. J. Corman will display one of its America 250 Dash 8-40CW locomotives beside the steamer. The same unit was at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer in August.

The address is the museum’s, and it is also the society’s. Follow the event listing on nashvillesteam.org if the hours change. The locomotive sits on private property. The society’s own notice is to come on a posted open-house day.

What is left

Alco built 576 at Schenectady in August 1942, one of the NC&StL’s streamlined J3 4-8-4s, the engines the railroad called Dixies. Nashville Steam calls this one The Stripe. The city of Nashville put it on display in Centennial Park in 1953. It stayed there more than sixty years. Metro Nashville leased the engine to the society in August 2016. In 2019 it left the park for the shop at the Tennessee Central Railway Museum.

Joey Bryan, vice president of Nashville Steam, said the society has raised more than $3 million and still needs about $500,000 to finish the mechanical work and the testing. The hope he gave the Tennessean is to have the engine operational in the latter half of 2027, on the trips the museum already runs, Watertown among them, over the Nashville & Eastern. That is a target. No excursion date, fare, or ticket link has been posted.

How to help

The open house is free. The restoration is not finished. Nashville Steam publishes a donation page at nashvillesteam.org/donate. Gifts by mail go to the Nashville Steam Preservation Society, 220 Willow Street, Nashville, Tennessee 37210-2159. The society is a 501(c)(3).

Sources

Nashville Steam Preservation Society, nashvillesteam.org, event notice for the Fall Open House, November 7, 2026, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., No. 576 under steam, admission free. Donate page and mailing address, 220 Willow Street, Nashville, Tennessee 37210-2159.
Trains, October 29, 2026, “NC&StL 4-8-4 No. 576 to steam up for the public.” July 15–16 steam test. Whistle raffle. R. J. Corman America 250 Dash 8-40CW. Planned 2027 excursions with the museum on the Nashville & Eastern.
Railfan & Railroad, October 30, 2026. Joey Bryan on more than $3 million raised and about $500,000 still needed. Removed from Centennial Park in 2019. Lease from Metro Nashville in 2016.
The Tennessean, October 30, 2026, Andy Humbles. Free open house, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 220 Willow Street. Museum passenger cars and a historic diesel open for tours. Bryan’s hope for operation in the latter half of 2027, on museum routes that include Watertown.
Nashville Steam FAQ. Metro Nashville lease, August 2016.

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NC&StL No. 576 to Steam for the Public in Nashville

November 7

What is left

How to help

Related reading on American-Rails.com

Sources