I waited by the locomotive and when the crew arrived, I handed our engineer my release and was invited into the cab of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad GP9 1751 which would return me to Bryson City running long hood forward. Running in this fashion would be a first for me in my riding of trains.
After five toots of the horn and an all-clear from our conductor, we started our journey.
A look back with the Nantahala River.
Looking forward. On right hand curves, the brakeman and I were our engineer's eyes.
More of the kudzu along our route.
A stone house along the tracks and river.
Crossing Fontana Lake.
More kudzu.
The rear-facing view.
The forward-looking view.
Around the horseshoe curve with another stop to flag the grade crossing.
The plant life was of continuing interest.
We reached straight track once more.
Crossing the Tuckasegee River.
The warehouse and back into Bryson City.
Once we arrived, the train I just came in on was on the right and my next train to Dillsboro was on the left. I found Connie again, who introduced me to my next conductor who had our tickets for the trip to Dillsboro. Connie said we had twenty minutes so I decided to visit the museum and gift shop.
Smoky Mountain Trains 8/17/2007
Next to the platform is a unique railroad exhibit called the Smoky Mountain Trains which houses a hobby and gift shop, child activity center and a Lionel model train Layout that is 24' x 45'. Your train ticket gets you free admission. Now let us look around this.
As you can see by, this is a worthwhile museum to visit in Bryson City. It was now time to board our next train for the one-way trip to Dillsboro.
Smoky Mountain Railroad Tuckasegee River Excursion
Great Smoky Mountains observation-lounge 3331 "Champion", ex. American Zephyr 3331, exx. Amtrak 3331, exxx. Seaboard Coast Line 5831, nee Atlantic Coast Line 252, built by Budd Company in 1941. It was used in the film "My Fellow Americans".
This train had a consist of Great Smoky Mountains Railroad GP9 1755, caboose 3753, concession car, coach 522 "Jackson", covered open car 30 "Whittier", coach 324 "Pee Wee Watson", covered open car 35 "Fontana", coach 1103 "Crescent Limited, observation-lounge 3331 "Champion", power car and another caboose.
Crossing Deep Creek bridge.
Passing through a tunnel of trees.
Rrunning along the Tuckasegee River.
Several farms were passed this afternoon.
Rolled hay in a small barn.
There are many more farms on the way to Dillsboro.
We crossed the Tuckasegee River.
Something we had not seen in a while - a highway.
Curving along a field.
Rolling towards Dillsboro along the Tuckasegee River.
The Yard Limit sign for Whittier.
Whittier siding.
Whittier Depot Road.
Traversing Whittier Creek.
A large farm with a tomato crop ready to be harvested.
Passing through Wilmont.
Continuing along the Tuckasegee River.
Another farm.
More of the river.
Entering Cowee tunnel. In the late 1800;s, the far western mountain people were cut off from the opportunities of prosperity that were available in the eastern part of the state. The railroad brought increasing commerce to the mountain people in what was mostly wilderness at the time. If the Cowee mountain tunnel on the Western North Carolina Railroad Company line had not been dug, Dillsboro would have been the end of the hope for more reliable transportation for people and commodities west of Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties. When the new rail line construction reached Dillsboro, 500 black convicts on the so-called "chain gang" from the state prison system of North Carolina were leased to the railroad to excavate, by hand-drilling, the ridge of solid rock the company ran into there.
Crossing the Tuckasegee River.
The remains of a train wreck left during the 1993 filming of "The Fugitive".
Passing the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad shop.
We arrived at Dillsboro and Connie was waiting for Chris and I. After we visited the gift shop, she drove us back to Bryson City. A special thank you to Connie for helping us ride both trains on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad today. It was time for a few last pictures.
Great Smoky Mountain Railroad GP9 777, ex. Relco 1990, ex. Chicago and North Western GP7R 4382 1977, exx. Precision National Corporation 1976, nee Union Pacific GP7 277 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1954.
The Bryson City station.
One last view of Great Smoky Mountain Railroad 1751. It had been a great day of riding trains on one of the most unique railroads in North America. We stopped at Arby's for dinner and we returned to the Sleep Inn to work on the stories.
8/18/2007 Chris and I stopped at MacDonald's for breakfast before leaving Bryson City then went to Cherokee for petrol before making our way through Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Looking down into North Carolina. We drove to the summit and pulled into a viewpoint.
The North Carolina-Tennessee state line.
Views looking down into North Carolina.
The road in the trees. We drove into Tennessee, passing through two tunnels and a 360 degree loop on the highway, as well as Pigeon Forge, before reaching Interstate 40, which we took west through Knoxville. We exited at Exit 356, stopped for snacks and drinks before continuing north on Tennessee Highway 58 to our next train ride of this trip.
