The Oakdale Express
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Winter 2008
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Late in the evening on June 16, 1953,
Oakdale resident Ruth Burton read an article
in the newspaper that set a series of events in
motion to preserve an important piece of
history for her hometown. What did that article
reveal that was so important and caused Mrs.
Burton to awaken the city officials at midnight
and send her son over the mountain to
dispatch a telegram?
The article relayed an announcement from
Southern Railway president Harry DeButts
concerning the railway's last scheduled run for
a steam engine. That final journey would
originate in Oakdale and end in Chattanooga,
and it would take place the very next day.
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Realizing the historical significance of this event,
Mrs. Burton felt that Engine 6330's bell should
remain in Oakdale to remind the citizens how
important the steam engines had been to
everyday life in Oakdale.
After securing permission from the town's officials
to pursue this lofty goal, Mrs. Burton sent her son
across the mountain with an urgent message to be
telegraphed to the president of Southern Railway.
The message explained the importance of the
bells on the steam engines. The bells were often
used to warn citizens of impending danger (floods,
fire, etc.) among other things. She asked if the
town of Oakdale could keep the bell from Engine
6330. Southern President DeButts agreed that the
bell should remain in Oakdale, but he wanted to
have it cleaned, repaired, and mounted first.
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The bell made its way to Chattanooga, then
on to Spencer, North Carolina, before
reaching its final resting place in the Oakdale
City Hall. When the bell was returned to
Oakdale, it bore the inscription, "gift of
Southern Railway 1953."
Today, Engine 6330 is no longer around,
having been scrapped at the Cincinnati rail
yard in 1955. However, its bell continues to
serve as a reminder to the people of Oakdale
of how important the railroad was to the
development of the town.
The bell was originally hung on the wall of the
old city hall building. That building was
demolished in the late 1980s and replaced by
a new building just yards away from the
original site. When the new city hall opened,
the bell was mounted to a large wooden frame
and placed on the floor in a corner of the main
meeting room, where it remains today for all
visitors to see.
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This photo appeared in the Harriman News-Record around
December 1979. It accompanied an article about Oakdale
celebrating 100 years of trains, as the first trains came through
the town in 1880. Pictured in the photo was then Oakdale Mayor
Mickey Bingham and his son James (Jay) Wiley Bingham.
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