The 1881 logging train at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama is not only an eye-catcher for those traveling U.S. Highway 231 in Troy, it’s a traffic stopper.

Barbara Tatom, museum director, said many motorists stop to see the rain which is fascinating, not only to youngsters, but also to adults and take the opportunity for a break from time on the road to visit the Pioneer Museum of Alabama.

“Not often do you have the opportunity to see an 1881 logging train and learn about its history,” Tatom said. “The train was donated to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama by Earl McGowin and W.T. Chapman Lumber Company and was moved to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama in 1992. We don’t know how many people have taken time to stop, see and appreciate a train that, for more than 100 years, brought and delivered huge logs to areas in and around Pike County.”

Hank William, Sr.’s father, Lon Williams, was the engineer on the “Madison” for the W.T. Smith Lumber Company in Chapman, Alabama, giving the logging train an additional tie to South Alabama.

Several years ago, the 1881 locomotive began to show its age and was in need of metal restoration, paint and other cosmetic changes.”

Tatom said, too, that Engine Number 14 was in the need of cleaning, repairing and painting to preserve the aging 181 logging train.

The 143-year-old locomotive needed a lot of metal restoration plus paint and other work to bring the Bradley and Hunter into the next century.

So, the Troy and Pike County communities stepped up and organized and carried out fundraisers including the opportunity, for a donation, to have their handprint(s) encased in concrete stone. Other fundraisers, suppers and donations have made it possible for the repairs necessary to bring the 1881 logging train into the next century are being made

Donations are still appreciated.

For more information, visit the Pioneer Museum of Pike County on Highway 231 North.