Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line “Talullah”

The Forney “Tallulah”, later known as the “Maud”, is today the oldest surviving locomotive of the Southern Railway. Built for the Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line in 1879, she was most likely used on commuter trains, although few records exist from this period. She finally came to the Southern in 1894 via the Richmond and Danville Railroad.

Exact records are only existing since 1903, when she was given the number 1509 as part of a rebuild and was called “Maud” by the staff. She was now used as a switcher, which was probably also the case in the years before. She was retired in 1950 and saved from the scrapyard due to her popularity with employees. Today she resides disassembled at the South Eastern Railroad Museum in Duluth, Georgia in a condition that offers no hope of refurbishment.