SMS Rail Lines 0-6-0 returns to steam, certified for operation
By Alan Byer

Former Virginia Blue Ridge locomotive, subject of 14-year restoration, will be ready for excursions in 2024
WOODSTOWN, N.J. — SMS Rail Lines Alco 0-6-0 locomotive No. 9 has been certified for operation by the Federal Railroad Administration after a 14-year restoration at the SMS shops in Bridgeport, N.J.

The locomotive was built for the U.S. Army in 1942, working first at Fort Dix, N.J., and at Fort Eustis, Va., as No. 4023 and later, at Fort Eustis, as No. 616. Retired there in 1958, it was sold to Virginia Blue Ridge Railway in Piney River, Va., and became its No. 9, pulling that railroad’s last steam-powered train on Aug. 1, 1963.

After Virginia Blue Ridge dieselized, it stored No. 9 in operating condition until 1966, when it was sold to the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad (today’s New Hope Railroad), in New Hope, Pa., some 16 miles northwest of Trenton, N.J. The locomotive operated sporadically from in the 1960s and again from 1976 to 1981. Work there began in 1992 but then was halted; the locomotive was disassembled when it was purchased by SMS Rail, which began a complete overhaul to operating condition in 2009. It was first test-fired in 2021 [see “SMS 0-6-0 returns to steam,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 10, 2021].

According to Paul Harland, SMS Rail Service director of passenger operations, an FRA team visited the SMS shop for three days earlier this month. On the first day, the locomotive passed the FRA’s hydrostatic boiler test; on the second, the team confirmed boiler metal conditions and thicknesses and found no problems. Finally, on the third day, the FRA team fired up the locomotive and its operational test was also a success, leading to operating certification on Nov. 16. Harland said SMS shop forces will complete the restoration and paint the locomotive in coming months and plans to debut No. 9 in passenger service at SMS’s heritage rail operation, Woodstown Central, for the 2024 operating season.

No. 9 is one of five remaining Virginia Blue Ridge steam locomotives, but the only one currently in operating condition. Three of VBR’s diesels have survived since the railroad’s closure in 1981, with two known to still be on operation.

Woodstown is a 45-minute drive south of Philadelphia and 30 minutes east of Wilmington, Del. More information about the Woodstown Central is available at its website, with more on SMS Rail available here.