The first Chattanooga Choo Choo was a woodburner owned by Cincinnati Southern Railroad. It began it's non-stop service between Cincinnati and Chattanooga on March 5, 1880. Not many of these old engines are with us today but Chattanooga is the proud home of one of them. This Baldwin engine, last used in the 1940s by the Smoky Mountain Railroad, is completely refurbished and on permanent display at Terminal Station in Chattanooga Tennesee. Although little was known about the train or its station prior to 1941, the Harry Warren lyrics of Chattanooga Choo Choo would forever popularize "Track 29." Warren teamed with fellow song writer Mack Gordon to pen the song, Chattanooga Choo Choo in 1941. Performed in the motion picture Sun Valley Serenade by the Glenn Miller Orchestra with Tex Beneke providing the lead vocals backed by the Modernaires, the song would go on to sell over one million copies and earned Glenn Miller the record industry's first ever Gold Recod award.
Today, the Chattanooga Choo Choo is a hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Visitors can chose to stay in the hotel itself or sleep overnight in one of the fully restored Victorian style railraod cars. For more information on the hotel, visit their website at www.choochoo.com. |
