Re: Nice Tweetsie Video!

The Tweetsie's shop started in 1957 when the park opened under the direction of Frank Coffey. Frank had restored #12 and the 3 original coaches in the Southern shops at Hickory and then when complete retired from Southern and operated Tweetsie. The current shop building was built in 1997 it is 50' x 100' with at 25' celling. It has a 10 ton hoist that runs the full length of the shop. Along with the hoist the shop has a 300 ton wheel press, a 54" wheel lathe, a 30" lathe, a 18" lathe and a 6" lathe, 3 milling machines, drill presses, and a 100 ton pit jack. Most of the machines came out of the original ET&WNC/Tweetsie engine house in Johnson City, TN. The shop is capable of doing almost anything that needs to be done to restore or repair steam locomotive and there various components. The shops is staffed by 6 full time employees and several seasonal workers. The crew maintains and repairs #12 and #190 along with the 6 passenger cars, track, trestle and all of the parks rides. Tweetsie has also worked on or repaired engines at Dollywood, Walt Disney WOrld, Dry Gulch Junction, Busch Gardens (both va and fl), Spencer Shops, and the National Forest Service. In 2004 Tweetsie purchased the crown locomotive works and has become the sole supplier of crown locomotive parts. Tweetsie will hosting its Railfan Weekend during the 2011 National Narrow Gauge Convention this September.