History of Old 100
The wood-burning "cabbage stack" engine was built in 1919 for the Florala Saw Mill Co. in Florala, Ala. Four years later it was sold to The Alger-Sullivan Lumber Co. in Century. The engine was used on the Escambia Railway, an Alger-Sullivan subsidiary, as one of at least 29 locomotives, and was used as a general-purpose engine until 1935, when it was rebuilt. Alger 100 then became the sawmill's switch engine.

In the small sawmill community, the engine was a familiar site and would occasionally run on the Louisville & Nashville tracks between Century and Flomaton. In 1954 the engine was retired and was used as an auxiliary sawmill boiler until 1957. A proper retirement was given the engine and it was placed on display on Front Street in Century.

By 1974, Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company had been purchased by Jim Walter Door Corporation. The engine, after years of weather deterioration and vandalism, had become quite an eyesore. Instead of selling it for scrap metal it was sold and the new owners restored it as closely as possible to the way it looked in the early 1950's, which included the correct paint scheme. The only major mechanical alteration planned was the eventual installation of air brakes. No. 100 was used as a standby switch engine on a private industrial railroad in Mobile.

After the Bicentennial celebration of 1976, Old 100 was sold to the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, IN, a not-for-profit railroad museum where, until the early 1990's, it faithfully hauled tourists on a daily roundtrip run.

In August 2003, Rich Weller of Dayton, Ohio, happened to log onto the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society's website. Weller wrote that he ran the steam locomotive for about 15 years at the Whitewater Valley RR. "Changes in management and government regulations will probably make it impossible to run there again. I ran her regularly from 1980 till we took her out of service around 1990. 1 miss her very much, it makes me sad to see her now all torn apart and rusty"

At the time the engine was sold to Whitewater Valley RR, J.R. Phillips was responsible for its restoration. Weller noted the most memorable trips he made were with Phillips, who he said was "one of the gentlemen who rescued her from the dead."He added, "He had a way with the whistle cord and could make no. 100 work like no other could! He taught me a lot about firing and running. I especially like running her during our annual Christmas trips in December. We ran at night, and working and listening to her work through the valley in the cold dark air, and seeing the coach lights winding around the twists and turns will remain with me always."

Dave Farlow, CMO (chief mechanical officer) with Whitewater Valley Railroad said the company would like to donate the engine to the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society but that is was not that simple an issue. He stated that about 14 years ago a new boiler was needed. Government regulations changed and the boiler no longer met specs requiring an additional investment to be made before the engine could be operational.

Farlow commented, "Here is the basic problem, we presently have about $110,000 tied up into the engine as it sits today but need another $150,000 to finish it up... The reality is that we cannot simply donate it due to the fact that we presently owe the bank (on a continued monthly payment) for most of the amount I mentioned above with this engine and its new boiler held against the loan."

Simmons stated grants are available through the state of Florida, but they are still being researched.
"We don't want anything to happen to it in the mean time," Simmons said. "We need to send them a good faith deposit of at least several thousand dollars."

The total cost of bringing the engine home will begin around $100,000. The engine will be in pieces. It will need to be transported here then put back together. "J.R. Phillips knows every nut and bolt, even though he's in his 80's," Simmons said. "But I'm confident he will do whatever he can to help."