This 0-4-0ST (Saddle Tank) locomotive was built at Alco’s Schenectady, NY, works in 1904 for the Chicago, Zeigler & Gulf Railroad as #1. It weighs 90,000 lbs and 44” drivers and 16” x 24” cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 150 psi, it delivered 17,800 lbs tractive effort.
The Rockton-Rion was completed in 1897. It was a Class III railroad that operated from a connection with the Southern Railway at Rockton twelve miles to Anderson Quarry, SC, serving as the railroad for the Winnsboro Granite Company. The railroad was owned by the Heyward family and its freight consisted of sand and gravel moving outbound from Anderson Quarry.
The railroad was sold by the Heyward family to Martin Marietta Aggregate in 1967 who continued to operate the line until 1978 when it stopped using the Quarry. Operations formally ceased on 21st August 1981. In October 1983, Martin Marietta Aggregate donated the right-of-way to the South Carolina Railroad Museum who now offer tourist excursions on a short section of track as the Rockton, Rion & Western Railroad.
#1 was later sold to the Bell & Zoller Coal &
Mining Co., where it was renumbered #14. In
1929, it was bought by the dealer Birmingham
Rail & Locomotive Co. It passed through the Arundel Corp., and was then sold to the Rockton
& Rion Railway in Rion, SC, and renumbered
#20. In 1966, it was transferred to the Winsboro Granite Corp., and was then sold to Fairfield Enterprises.
The little locomotive is on display outside the Yonah Book Exchange on Helen Hwy in Yonah Heights, GA.
