Re: Sevierville, TN operation question and a bit of history...

In 1955, a Milwaukee railfan Mike Molitar bought the locomotive from the WP&Y and had it moved to a proposed tourist railroad named the Oak Creek Central in Oak Creek, WI. The park never materialized and the locomotive was moved to Waterford, WI in 1960 for operation at the Peppermint & North Western tourist railroad. There it ran for one summer in 1962 and was stored for sale. In 1965 it was purchased and shipped to a carnival operation in Seiverville, TN called the Petticoat Junction Railroad and named the locomotive “Hooterville Cannonball”. The operation lasted only 3 days before closing.
In 1969 it was again sold to Denny Hilton and moved to Osage Beach, MO and operated on the Gold Nugget Junction Railroad and amusement park in the Ozarks. There it ran until 1979 when it was sidelined for repairs and placed on display until the park closed in 1980. It was sold to Midwest Central Railroad and was set to be shipped for repairs in Mt. Pleasant, IA but never left the property until the complete railroad including locomotive #4 was sold in 1984 to Steve Wild for his proposed game farm in El Reno, OK. There it sat in a field for 20 years until it was purchased by Dry Gulch USA in 2005 and was moved to their facility near Adair, OK.