It is a 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive, which was remarkably similar to the Southern Railway's Ps-4 class.

290 ferried the Southern Railway's Crescent passenger train on the West Point Route between Atlanta, Georgia to Montgomery, Alabama until its retirement from revenue service in 1954.

In 1989, the locomotive was restored to operating condition for the New Georgia Railroad (NGRX) program, running excursion trains around the Georgia state from Atlanta to Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, Macon, and Savannah on Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX rails.

290 was retired due to running gear issues and was currently dissembled at the Southeastern Railway Museum (SRM) in Duluth, Georgia.

[1] They were based on the USRA Heavy Pacific design and have a very similar appearance to the Southern Railway Ps-4 class.

290 and 190 were both assigned to ferry the Southern Railway's (SOU) Crescent passenger train on the West Point Route between Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama.

290 and the rolling stock to be removed and displayed elsewhere, and the locomotive was donated to the Atlanta Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) with SOU president W. Graham Claytor Jr. helping move the locomotive into storage at the Inman Yard in Atlanta.

[2][7][11] However, the A&WP was not keen on one of their former locomotives being repainted into the livery of one of their rivals, and they threatened to sue the SOU for $50,000 if their lease on No.

290's original tender body was discovered to be very poor condition and it was replaced with a newly welded one which had the coal capacity increased from 15 short tons (30,000 lb) to 20 short tons (40,000 lb) while the water capacity was decreased from 11,000 US gallons (42,000 L) to 9,500 US gallons (36,000 L).

[6] Afterwards, it continued to run more excursion to Athens, Augusta, Brunswick, and Savannah on Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX rails.

290 was sent to Norfolk Southern's Norris Yard Steam Shop in Irondale, Alabama to have its crown sheet inspected.

290 hauled two round trip excursions from Birmingham, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Heart of Dixie Chapter NRHS and the following weekend round trips out of Jacksonville, Florida to Valdosta, Georgia for the North Florida Chapter NRHS.

290 locomotive be ready in time for the 1994 Atlanta Chapter NRHS convention, but the NGRX program was shut down due to its sponsorship with the Georgia state government being discontinued.

[6] Additionally, both NS and CSX railroads banned mainline steam excursion trips on their trackage the following year due to liability insurance.

290 locomotive is currently disassembled inside the Southeastern Railway Museum's backshop in Duluth, Georgia, waiting for a full cosmetic restoration.