An embattled, historic locomotive will remain in place at the Hattiesburg Train Depot after a local chancellor ruled that the City of Hattiesburg has right and ownership of the item rather than the Valley Railroad Company, which has been trying to lay claim to it for the last several months.
On July 18, Chancery Court Judge Chad Smith ordered the train to remain in place, stating the locomotive – known as the Bonhomie & Hattiesburg Southern No. 300 – was a fixture on the property when the city purchased the train depot in 2000. In addition, any future claims of ownership by any other entities are barred by law.
“In the 22 years since the purchase of that land (at the depot), Valley’s communication (to the city) in 2022 regarding removal of the locomotive was the first notice to the city regarding any outside claim of ownership of the locomotive,” Smith’s order states. “The record shows no situation or event which required the city to claim ownership.”In March 2022, the city filed a petition for a declaratory judgment, temporary restraining order and other measures against Valley Railroad Company regarding the locomotive. The suit claims that on June 26, 2000, the city acquired the property on which the train is located from the Alabama Great Southern Railroad Company.
As the train was already located at that site, city officials erected a plaque near the train outlining its history. The suit states that there is no indication anywhere on the site that the train belongs to anyone other than the City of Hattiesburg, at least since the city acquired the property in 2000.
“The city has maintained the real property on which the locomotive sits, including, but not limited to cosmetic maintenance (including sealing off leaking asbestos from the locomotive); City of Hattiesburg officers patrolling the location and securing the locomotive from homeless persons; permitting the community, particularly children, to view the locomotive and enjoy its presence; erecting and maintaining a fence to protect the locomotive,” that suit reads.
“In addition, the city permitted Warren Paving Company, a local company, to expend a significant amount of money ($55,000) in restoring the outside of the locomotive. The locomotive is a part of the history of the area, and particularly the City of Hattiesburg, and provides educational and cultural enrichment to the citizens of Hattiesburg and surrounding areas.”
However, on June 24, 2022 officials from Valley Railroad Company filed a response to the city’s complaint, stating, among other issues, that Hattiesburg’s complaint was filed in bad faith, and the locomotive had been stored on Hattiesburg’s property with the express permission of the railroad company.
The company’s response lays out some history of the ownership of the train, which was purchased from the B&HS Railroad in 1968 by Fred Kepner of Oregon, who owned several steam engines throughout the country. As part of the purchase, the B&HS granted Kepner the right to store the locomotive in the engine house in Hattiesburg, but as the result of a merger, Kepner was directed to remove the locomotive from the engine house for demolition.
Kepner then secured permission from the Mississippi Great Southern Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society to store the locomotive, at which point it was moved to its present location.
Kepner passed away in October 2021, at which point his sole heir entered into an agreement to sell the locomotive to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, a non-profit organization. The Valley Railroad Company then contacted the Oregon State Scenic about the acquisition of the train, and sent a mechanical crew to Hattiesburg to determine whether it would be viable to restore the engine to steam operation.
The crew concluded that was a viable measure, and then entered into a contract for purchase of the locomotive. When the Valley Railroad Company began making plans to move the locomotive to their shop in Connecticut to begin restoration, Ann Jones – who serves as chief administrative officer for the city – contacted the company via email to express the city’s desire to keep the train in Hattiesburg.
The Valley Railroad Company asserted that it was only after that email that the city ever had asserted a claim for the locomotive. The company’s suit includes several bills of sale and claims of ownership throughout the years.
Shortly after, city attorney Randy Pope discovered through a title search that one-third of the interest of the locomotive had been held in the trust of a woman who recently passed away. The city purchased that portion of the interest from that estate, with the remaining two-thirds held by Valley Railroad Company.
“The city has used time, money, labor, and resources to maintain and preserve the locomotive from weathering, secured the locomotive from unwanted visitors, promoted and presented the locomotive to the community, and preserved and restored the Locomotive for the past twenty-two years, and is the only party that has been openly exhibiting ownership of the locomotive,” Smith’s order states. “It would be unjust to allow any other party to suddenly remove the locomotive which has been in the city since the Kepners’ purchase in 1968 and has been exclusively preserved and maintained by the City for the last twenty-two years.
“To be sure, it is conceivable that the cost of storage, maintenance, and upkeep of the locomotive for over two decades coupled with the cost of this litigation could total more than the value of the locomotive itself. Kepner and those after him that purchased the locomotive should have been more diligent in seeking a clear title before purchase. This court will not punish the city for this lack of diligence and delay by Valley and/or its predecessors.”
