#302 is one of four Class F63 Mikado type (2-8-2) locomotives built by the Lima Locomotive Works for the Georgia Railroad in 1915 (#300=#303).
The Georgia Railroad was chartered in 1833 in Augusta, GA, to build a line from Augusta to Athens, with a branch to Madison. In 1835, the charter was amended to include banking and the line opened in 1845. The 5' gauge was converted to standard gauge in 1883. In 1902, it became a non-operating subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line later part of the Seaboard Line. The Georgia was absorbed when the Seaboard system was formed from the merger of the SCL and Louisville & Nashville.
The engine weighs 283,000 lbs, 214,000 lbs on its 63½” drivers. The driver wheelbase is 16’ 6” and the engine wheelbase 35’ 2”. It is equipped with Walschaert valve gear and has 27” x 30” cylinders. The grate is 70.4 sq ft and the firebox 322 sq fgt. Total heating surface is 5,495 sq ft including 1,159 sq ft superheating and, operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 52,695 lbs tractive effort. The tender weighs 207,300 lbs light and has a capacity of 10,800 gallons of water and 15 tons of coal.
#302 worked on the Georgia Railroad’s Augusta-Atlanta, GA, main line until it was retired in 1952. It was donated to the City of Augusta in 1958 by the Georgia Railroad & Banking Company as part of its 125th anniversary celebration and went on display in Pendleton King Park for a number of years. It was then moved to the old Augusta-Richmond County Museum at 540 Telfair Street.
When the museum was rebuilt, it was moved to its current site at the Augusta History Museum. It is the only surviving Georgia Railroad locomotive and is kept in excellent condition.
