Tweetsie’s Trains
Tweetsie Railroad is proud to operate two vintage steam locomotives: the #12 "Tweetsie" and the #190 "Yukon Queen". When you visit Tweetsie Railroad during the operating season, the train will be pulled by one of these historic engines.
Locomotive #12 is the last surviving narrow-gauge steam locomotive of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), which ran train service from Johnson City TN to Boone NC from 1919 to 1940. When the Tweetsie Railroad theme park opened in 1957, this was our sole locomotive.
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n 1960, Tweetsie Railroad acquired another steam locomotive, the #190 "Yukon Queen" from Alaska's White Pass & Yukon Railway.
Both locomotives are coal-fired narrow-gauge engines, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. #12 was completed in 1917, and #190 in 1943. Before entering service at Tweetsie Railroad, the locomotives were put into operating condition by veteran engineer Frank Coffey, who trained new generations in Tweetsie's on-site steam train repair shop.
TWEETSIE RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SPECIFICATIONS
| No. 12 “Tweetsie” |
No. 190 “Yukon Queen” |
|
|---|---|---|
| Builder | Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia | Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia |
| Original Service | East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad | US Army Transportation Corps White Pass & Yukon |
| Completed | 1917 | 1943 |
| Const. No. | 45069 | 69425 |
| Fuel | Coal | Coal |
| Working Weight | Approx. 82.5 Tons | Approx. 105 Tons |
| Arrangement | 4-6-0 | 2-8-2 |
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Visitor Comments
“My family and I just visited Tweetsie twice in June, and I just wanted to tell you how much fun we had. My husband and I visited many times as children, but it was even more wonderful it was to share the experience with our children. Every staff member at Tweetsie was so very nice. They were kind and courteous and treated our 8-year-old daughter like a princess. Tweetsie is a great family theme park and I hope it is around for a long, long time!”
-Guest from Rutherfordton, NC
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