Western Railway of Alabama #104 was built in 1905 by the Rogers Locomotive Works in Paterson, NJ. An 0-6-0, it was renumbered #104 in 1907. The engine weighs 118,000 lbs with 19” x 24” drivers. Operating at a boiler pressure of 180 psi, it delivered 25,490 lbs tractive effort.
The WRA dates back to 1832 with a charter granted to the Montgomery Railroad to build a rail line from Columbus to West Point but financial troubles led to foreclosure in 1842 and reorganisation as the Montgomery & West Point Railroad. The line finally reached West Point in 1851.
In 1860, the M&WP’s owners established the Western Rail Road Company of Alabama and consolidated the M&WP into the new company. In 1875, the Georgia Railroad and Central of Georgia jointly purchased the WRA. In 1881, the lease for the WRA was assigned jointly to the Central of Georgia and the Louisville & Nashville. In the 1980s, the WRA became part of the Family Lines System, later the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and then the Seaboard System which, in 1986, merged with the Chessie System to become CSX Transportation.
In 1974, #104 was sold to the Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co., who sold it to the Georgia Agrirama Development Authority in Tifton, GA.
Ten years later, it was sold to the Rockdale County Historical Society. It is on display on Green St SW in Conyers, GA.
