Southern 2-8-0 #401
Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in December of 1907 for the Southern Railway Company. It was later sold in 1949 to the Alabama Asphaltic Limestone Company before eventually being sold in 1967 to "SPUR" (the Society for the Perpetuation of Unretired Railfans) which changed it's name in 1969 to the Monticello and Sangamon Valley Railway Historical Society. The society later shortened it's name in 1982 to the present day Monticello Railway Museum.
From the Monticello Railway Museum Site:
After purchase in 1967... "It was then shipped on a flat car to Decatur, IL, arriving there in January of 1968. It was unloaded and stored at Decatur until October of 1971, when it and 12 other pieces of equipment were moved by rail to the Museum site in Monticello. It was towed on its own wheels from Decatur to Monticello in 1971. From 1971 to 1995, the locomotive was on display in our collection of equipment, with occasional work being done to stabilize and prevent further deterioration to the locomotive. In 1995, a donor stepped forward with a proposal to return an operating steam locomotive to Monticello Railway Museum, one not having run here since 1987. To that end, a process was begun to identify what we felt was the best candidate for restoration. After considering several alternatives, it was decided to restore #401 to operational status."
The boiler was built in St Louis, MO by Boiler-Continental Fabricators, Inc. and delivered to the Museum in June of 2005. Just over five years later, along with a new tender, SOU #401 returned to steam in September of 2010.
