All Aboard, Uncle Johnny’s Train Will Be Steaming Saturday

By Editor | October 4, 2023 |

DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell

Anybody up for a short train trip on what is likely the only operational steam locomotive in the state. John Nelson plans to operate the “Marie” Saturday morning on his property in neighboring Panola County and always welcomes company.

Some readers may recall that Nelson contributes columns from time to time in the Herald, writing mostly about his life on the high seas. Uncle Johnny is also a longtime steam enthusiast, acquiring a collection of old steam engines set up on his property in what he describes as a steam mill – similar to what you would have seen in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He has a grist mill for making whole wheat flour and corn meal, a 1880s shingle mill and a saw mill – all connected to a wood-burning boiler.

For the last two decades most of his attention has been focused on Marie, a small steam locomotive built in Germany in 1913.

She has an impressive pedigree – not long after World War I started, the German army took possession of it for to use as a trench locomotive. The Marie runs on narrow gauge rails that were easily moved as the front lines changed during the war. The locomotive brought supplies to the front lines and transported wounded soldiers in the opposite direction.

The Marie spent several years in the war, and when it ended she was used in Belgium providing supplies for building roads and other duties suited for an engine her size.

She escaped the fate of similar engines that were sold for scrap value, and sometime in the 1970s a man in New Jersey brought the engine and shipped it to the United States from Belgium. Uncle

Johnny bought the engine in 2004 and has invested countless hours of back-breaking work building a track that starts in his train shed and passes his steam mill as it parallels a county road along his property. Last November he completed work on a trestle that crosses a creek and he is approaching the western boundary of his property. Next is a turn north alongside a cemetery for the final stretch as the grade becomes too steep.

Uncle Johnny has a couple of small passenger cars that the Marie pulls down the line and then pushes back up to the station. If you are interested in seeing the train in action and taking a ride, give me a call at (662) 473-8444 for directions. I’m looking forward to Saturday, and having fun with the grandchildren riding.