Consolidation type (2-8-0) locomotive #116 started life as Central of Georgia Class C3 #1215, one of twenty five of the class built by Burnham, Williams & Co., an early incarnation of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, in 1906 (#1200-#1224).
With Stephenson valve gear and weighing 163,390 lbs, 143,290 lbs on their 57” drivers, they had 20” x 28” cylinders, a driver wheelbase of 16’ and an engine wheelbase of 24’ 3½”. With a 44 sq ft grate and 166.45 sq ft firebox, total heating surface was 2,339 sq ft and, operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, they delivered 33,404 lbs tractive effort. The tender weighs 120,000 lbs light with a capacity of 6,000 gallons of water and 8 tons of coal.
The twenty five locomotives were superheated by the CG in 1924, with piston valves replacing the as-built slide valves. The engine weight increased to 167,000 lbs, 146,500 lbs on the drivers. Total heating surface decreased to 2,158 sq ft including 400 sq ft superheating, but little else changed. At some point, #1215 was renumbered #205 and was sold to the Gainesville Midland Railroad in Gainesville, GA, and renumbered #116.
The locomotive was donated to the City of Jefferson, GA, in 1959 by the Seaboard Airline Railroad, which had just purchased the Gainesville-Midland Gainesville to Athens line.
#116 is on display just off Jefferson Ave near Jefferson High School.
