2/20/23 - Membership Renewal Drive

2022 closed out well for the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum. Despite not yet finding a home for our own operations, the strategy of leasing passenger equipment to other tourist railroads continues to fund our operating costs and restoration projects. In addition, we successfully supported Lhoist North America with yet another weekend of employee excursion trips on their former Tennessee Central trackage. Finally, we are working with several parties regarding property options for a permanent museum site.

  2023 appears to be especially promising for SARM, with on-going equipment leases and the opportunity to repeat our Lhoist trips later this year. In support of such operations, it is critical that work continue on several pieces of equipment, especially the Fort McPherson and other coaches. None of these activities are possible without the many contributions of our membership base. Participation is even more important as we build upon recent successes to ensure long-term viability.

  We had allowed memberships to extend without renewals over the past two years due to COVID. However, as we return to a more normal environment, it is essential that we resume the renewal process. Accurate membership records are needed not only for SARM’s insurance coverage and other business needs, but also to determine who can help with restoration work and participate in events.

  Thus, we ask that you renew SARM membership through our website (sarmrail.org) or by mailing your membership renewal payment to our PO Box address:

  SARM, P.O. Box 6756, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831

  If you are already a lifetime member, we thank you for that commitment. If not, please consider that option.

  Membership/Renewal Rates:

·       Regular Membership - Annual dues for this class of membership are $30.

·       Youth Membership - For individuals under 18 years of age, annual dues are $20.

·       Family Membership - For up to 2 adults and 2 children, annual dues are $75.

·       Lifetime Membership – Individual dues for this class of membership are $450.

·       Lifetime Family Membership - Covers 2 adults for their natural lifetimes; dues are $600.

If you have any questions, please let us know. We look forward to your continued support!

-SARM Board of Directors

1/19/21

Website Changes/Updates

Hi everyone,

We are working on some major website updates. We’ve been very busy on equipment restoration projects and have some updates for the equipment pages coming soon. Stay tuned!

Interested in helping us out? Become a member (see the Membership button) and send us an email to get on the mailing list.

10/8/2020

New - Donation Button

We’ve had a lot of requests for a PayPal donation button, so here you go. You can specify a project to donate to or just general restoration/maintenance/preservation work. Thanks!

8/26/2020

“Rumors of [our] demise have been greatly exaggerated”

SARM Work sessions continue; continued work towards new operations; new website

The Southern Appalachian Railway Museum is still working on our mission - preserving, restoring, and operation when possible historical railroad equipment. We recently changed our domain name to better reflect our current status. We are now “www.sarmrail.org”. With the recent COVID-19 situation, we’ve limited our membership meetings and work sessions, but we are still working on projects, including restoration of McPhearson and several locomotives.

5/20/2018

SARM Granted $10,000 from John Emery Rail Heritage Trust

The Southern Appalachian Railway Museum is extremely pleased to announce that we have been granted $10,000 from the John Emery Rail Heritage Trust for continued restoration work on the Central of Georgia Fort McPherson passenger coach. The grant is a tremendous boost in project funding and will greatly help restoration work. 

Volunteers have been working on cleaning out the car, removing walls and getting new spray foam insulation added. Old 32V DC switchgear has been removed, along with copper steam radiators. We acquired new (to us) seats and frames, and are planning on painting replacement wall panels soon. 

This grant from the John Emery Rail Heritage Trust will help us get HVAC systems installed and updated electrical work done on the car.

The museum owns the sister car, the Fort Oglethorpe, and finished restoration on the car approximately 3 years ago. 

11/28/2017

SARM Museum Activities Continue

While the Secret City Excursion train operations have ceased, the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum continues its mission of preserving and restoring historic railroad equipment. With the generous help of CSX, Inc., SARM was able to get the Clinchfield 800 F7 beautifully restored. In addition, the SD45 engine got some needed upgrades. These two engines were then the power that pulled the historic 75th annual Santa Train from Shelby KY to Kingsport TN. Many SARM volunteers spent countless hours getting ready for this event. We are very proud to have been a part of such a great cause/event and hope to continue working with CSX, Inc. and the rest of the railroad community to continue preserving and restoring equipment while we looking for a new home for running excursions. 

If you would like to help us continue our mission, please feel free to donate. We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Your tax-deductible donations go towards:

1) Car storage fees imposed on us by the track owners at K25

2) Car restoration (we recently purchased new seats to get the Fort McPherson coach available for example) 

3) Engine restoration

4) Insurance fees (we still have to pay full liability insurance even though we aren't running excursions)

5) Other on-going expenses such as maintaining our website, etc.

We are working on an online donation button, but in the meantime, donations can be mailed to SARM Donations, P.O. Box 6756, Oak Ridge TN, 37831. If you would like a receipt or to have your donation go to a specific item, please let us know.

Older News

Secret City Excursion Train Operations Cease

It is with great regret that we have to announce the suspension of the Secret City Scenic excursion passenger trains operation. We received notification earlier today from the owners of Heritage Railroad, that they would be unable to renew our Operating Agreement.

In nearly two decades of service SARM is most proud of the thousands of volunteer hours worked and tens of thousands of passengers transported safely.

The museum's extensive equipment collection is safe and we will be working on other opportunities in the future. We would like to thank the Department of Energy, CROET, Energy Solutions, the Oak Ridge Heritage Rail Authority, Walden's Ridge Railroad and the Oak Ridge community for their years of support in this endeavor.

All pre-paid reservations have been refunded.