Southern Railway 722

No. 722 was used on Southern's Murphy Branch to pull logging trains between Asheville, North Carolina and Murphy, North Carolina until it retirement from revenue freight service by Southern in August 1952.[3][4]

In November 1952, No. 722 and classmate No. 630 were both purchased by the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC) and renumbered No. 208 and No. 207, respectively.[5][6] Originally, the ET&WNC offered Ks-1s No. 685 (Baldwin, 1904) and No. 835 (Baldwin, 1906), but turned it over in favor of the formers due to the latters being stored outside in dilapidated condition.[4][6]

After the purchasing was complete, Southern cut down the size of the two class "Ks-1" locomotives' tender coal bunker to make sure that it would be easier for the engineer to get a better view during numerous switching moves and reverse operation.[6]

On December 8, 1967, No. 208 (No. 722) and No. 207 (No. 630) were both traded back to the Southern Railway for use in their steam excursion program in return for a pair of former Central of Georgia ALCO RS-3s.[7] While they retrieved their old numbers, No. 722 had a cracked firebox, but No. 630 was in better condition, and has been given minor repairs as it began excursion service in February 1968.[8]

Two years later, No. 722 had its firebox repaired and a brand new paint scheme of Southern's Sylvan green with gold linings to match the fellow excursion locomotive No. 4501.[9] It made its debut in 1970 with Nos. 630 and 4501 for the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) convention in Charleston, South Carolina.[9]

In May 1979, Southern loaned No. 722 to the Wilmington and Western Railroad (WWRC) to operate on their Wilmington and Northern Branch line.[10][11][12] In September 1980, Southern loaned the locomotive again, this time to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee along with No. 630 to make way for larger steam locomotives such as Canadian Pacific No. 2839, Texas and Pacific No. 610 and Chesapeake and Ohio No. 2716 to pull the longer and heavier excursions on Southern's system.[10]

In November 1985, No. 722 was taken out of service for its boiler ticket certificate and sat on display at the museum.[10][13] In 1992, the locomotive was moved to Asheville, North Carolina by Southern's successor, Norfolk Southern (NS) to be on display at the city's Biltmore section.[10][13] In late 1999, NS has sold the Biltmore property for redevelopment and removed No. 722 from her display site to the Asheville roundhouse for storage.[13][14]

In late 2000, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR), which operates the same Murphy Branch in which No. 722 was used in revenue service many years ago, purchased the locomotive.[14] Today, No. 722 remains disassembled outside the GSMR's workshop area in Dillsboro, North Carolina, with a very uncertain future.[15] Although the restoration cost for the locomotive is $700,000,[16] there are currently no plans to restore it to operating condition.[1]