Photos: ‘Old 100′ Is 109 Years Old
May 6, 2023
The Old 100 locomotive Century’s historic park was sandblasted and painted earlier this year.
According to the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society:
Old 100 was built in 1914 by the Baldwin Locomotive Company, the 100th of the type.
The wood burning engine and tender were designed especially for the rough tracks used in the logging industry of the South. The unique wheel configuration lends to its general description as a 2-6-2 locomotive. In 1923, Old 100 joined other locomotives hauling logs from Alabama on the company railway of the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Co. at Century.
In 1945, Old 100 became the yard switch-engine of the sawmill in Century. Retired in the mid-1950s, it was then made a promotional display at the sawmill. In 1974, it was sold and restored by Pinto Island Metals of Mobile and by 1976 Old 100 was an active tourist train locomotive in Indiana. After 2000 it was sold and dismantled for scrap.
In 2005, the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society began a multi-year effort to acquire and rebuild Old 100 at Century.
The wood-framed, wooden boxcar was one of several built in Century by the Alger-Sullivan Lumber Co. shortly after 1900. Assigned primarily for fresh food transport from Pensacola and storage at the company’s commissary in Old Century, it was known as the “Commodity Car”. In 1939 it was the only company boxcar to survive a massive fire at the sawmill. In the 1950s, it and Old 100 became a promotional display at the sawmill in Century. By 1970 the boxcar was used as a museum display in Pensacola. The car was acquired by the ASHS and returned to Century in 1998.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
One Response to “Photos: ‘Old 100′ Is 109 Years Old”
It is very satisfying to see relics of our past being rescued from the fires of “progress.” I still have memories from my childhood of the loud noise of the old sawmill, and men standing on rafts in the mill pond with peavys directing logs into the mill. My uncle Rubert Lambert worked at the mill at one time. Century brings back memories.