1855 The General

Make/Model: Western & Atlantic Railroad #3
Year: 1855 Wood 1/2 Scale Replica
Owner: Gary Russeth
Original Price: $265,000 ($4.4 Million Today)

About the 1855 The General

What you’re looking at is a half scale wood version of The
General best known from the movie The Great Locomotive
Chase. The movie was filmed in Rabun and Habersham Counties
when Disney produced the movie in 1956. The movie is based on
a a military raid that occured April 12, 1862 in Northern Georgia
during the American Civil War. The General is a 4-4-0 “American” type steam locomotive built in
1855 by the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey for the Western & Atlantic Railroad. The
General first entered service in January of 1856 and was retired by 1891.

The actual locomotive weighs 50,300 tons compared to the wood version in front of you, which weighs about 500 Ibs.
It took Gary Russeth about 4 years to build this version of the General, even the wood in the tender is specially made wood for the General. You can see the original General at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, GA.

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