Has anyone heard a rumor about a 0-6-0 that is supposedly at the former North Carolina Finishing Company about a mile north of Spencer? Does anyone know if its true?

-- Hayes Smith Jr. (drummerdude125@yahoo.com), February 04, 2001

Answers

That, unfortunately, is just a rumor. I work at the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer and am familiar with that rumor. They say when the river is low you can see the tops of the smokestack and possibly the cab. I think the rumor began with stories of the Southern dumping steam locomotives in the Yadkin River when they were scrapped. No direct proof has ever turned up regarding this locomotive. The Southern pump station still exists, and before the Finishing Company closed they used a steam whistle to signal shift changes, but that is all that remains by or in the river.

-- Larry K. Neal, Jr. (lkneal@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us), February 07, 2001.