June 1989

Tweetsie Railroad Number 12 and Combine Car Number 15

The Tweetsie folks were kind enough to pull back the tarp covering Combine car number 15. This car was a real historic piece of equipment, being that it had been an ET&WNC Railroad mail, baggage and passenger car all in one. Hence the name combine car. The Tweetsie Railroad ran this car for years in with their open air cars, but eventually parked it because it was so heavy and the extra coal needed to pull it wasn't cheap. They put it out on some track beside the old Tweetsie Museum and covered it to help keep it out of the elements. I think there was some talk that covering it actually did more damage to the roof. But it has since been acquired by the ET&WNC RR Historical Society, who passed it on the Transportation Museum at Spencer where it is in the process of being totally restored. It will remain at the museum where it will eventually become another one of their significantly historical pieces of equipment.