Authored By seanphippster

As the $8 million dollar renovations continue to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo complex, planners have been careful to alert historians if they uncover anything of historical significance.

The renovations will transform the 14th Street side of the building into an entertainment complex, which will feature two restaurants, the Comedy Catch and a 500-person-capacity music venue managed by Track 29.

Last week, Nooga.com was invited on what could be called a recovery mission with Justin Strickland, former resident historian of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and author of “Chattanooga’s Terminal Station.”

Several items of note had been discovered in an attic area during routine cleanup, including the original cast-iron track markers.

According to Strickland, the track markers found are the original ones from Terminal Station. The markers can be seen in photographs as early as 1910.

“Platform or track markers were (and are) vital in the queuing of passengers prior to boarding trains,” he said. “Similar to today’s airports, an arrival announcement [was] made requesting passengers destined for certain cities and scheduled to depart on a particular train to make their way to a specific gate platform or track.”

With the assistance of Adam Kinsey, a partner on the renovations and owner of Track 29, planners will research the best course to fully restore each of the track markers, if possible.

All markers are present-including two blanks-with the exception of No. 1 and 2. Strickland thinks those were “lifted” years ago as souvenirs.

Strickland would love to see the markers resume a place above each gate, but they may also have a place at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, he said.

Although much of the attic space had been cleaned, several other items of note were recovered.

A significant number of crew lists and train logs from the 1950s were discovered among contemporary paperwork. The documents appear to be in good condition for their age.

It is unclear why these documents were preserved instead of others, but each sheet represents a 24-hour period, Strickland said.

“These weren’t passenger manifests, but they did list the names/train numbers of each passenger train scheduled in that day and what crew [was] assigned to that train,” he said.

In the attic, crews have recently constructed a temporary walkway for access to other portions of the building.

A curious 7UP decal was discovered on a wooden board inside the ceiling. This decal appears to be from 7UP’s original marketing campaign, begun in 1936 and continuing through the late 1940s.

Another board in what appears to be a dumbwaiter advertises Private Estate Coffee Co. from New York. The trademark for the company was registered in 1921, according to documents.

Other items recovered include Coca-Cola lighting fixtures, an original room marker for the Fountain Room and a menu for the Trolley Café.

The original White Linen Restaurant-now covered by a drop ceiling-is visible through an opening in the attic.

“To me, it was an instant flashback in time, even if just for a moment,” Strickland said.

As renovations continue, more items may be discovered.

“With the renaissance Chattanooga has seen in respect to capturing, learning and appreciating its history, it was the right time to literally go deeper into one of the greatest icons of Chattanooga’s historic buildings, Terminal Station,” Strickland said.



