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Train 'robbed' in Watertown
Tennessee Central Railway Museum offers passengers a trip through past
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Even in modern times, it is still possible to get robbed on a train Wild West style. Tennessee Central Railway Museum offers its passengers the chance to experience just that for fun. The money collected is added to a scholarship fund.
Lisa Hobbs
Updated: Sep 29, 2015, 11:20 PM
Published: Sep 30, 2015, 12:22 AM

Tennessee Central Railway Museum offered its Train Robbery Trip on Saturday. Riders enjoyed a train robbery and a shootout in Watertown’s Court Square between a band of misfits called the Dead Tree Desperados and the sheriff.
Numerous railroad trips with various themes and destinations are offered every year. Saturday’s event traveled from Donelson in Nashville at 3:30 p.m. to Watertown, a 90-mile round trip that took approximately five-and-a-half hours.
The train robbery took place just before entering Watertown. Desperados dressed in Wild West attire boarded the train and asked for “donations” from the passengers.
“This is a hold up,” said one robber as he brandished a shotgun. “There are some rich folks on this train. We don’t want much, just all your money.”
According to the information on the gang, “The Desperados have come to Watertown and will be waitin’ in the badlands of Wilson County for this dad-burned train to come chuggin’ along. After you’ns have been separated from your loot by the Desperados, the train will continue on into Watertown.”
The robbers showed they had a kinder side as they posed for pictures and shared a few jokes with passengers. All the donations will go to a scholarship fund established for Watertown students in memory of Sue Talley. Talley was a much-loved and respected member of the town who lost a battle with cancer. Since the effort began, it has raised over $10,000 for the fund. The museum provides two scholarships a year.
Passengers were then given two hours to explore the town, enjoy lunch and experience a Wild West shootout between the robbers and Sheriff Marshal Montana, who was successful in defending the town. Prior to reboarding the train, actors entertained the crowd with comedy.
The Tennessee Central Railway Museum is an all-volunteer, nonprofit corporation that began in early 1989 as an effort to operate excursion trains in Middle Tennessee.
The museum’s mission is to preserve, restore, interpret and operate historic railroad equipment for the education of the general public about America’s railroads.
Along with a train robbery, excursions themes include Del Monaco Winery, Murder Mystery, Day Out With Thomas the Tank Engine, Fall Mile-Long Yard Sale, Super Fall Foliage, and a North Pole Express excursion with Santa in November and December.
For more information about Tennessee Central Railway Museum’s trips, dates and pricing, visit www.tcry.org.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community