There is more to see at the North Carolina Transportation Museum than just trains.
Big rigs are on display along the path to the Roundhouse.
DuPont one dome tank car 6826 built by the company in 1965 and Dupont covered hopper 38069 built by Magor Car Corporation in 1962.
Cone Fabrics box car 16 built by Pullman-Standard in 1937 for the Central of Georgia Railroad. Cone Mills bought 16 of these in 1972 to move flannel a quarter of a mile from its Revolution Mill to its Proximity Print Words. Saved from scrapping by the Greensboro Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1983, this car was donated to the museum in 1999.
Also pictured is North Carolina Department of Transportation caboose 400500, ex. Illinois Central Gulf 199483, nee Illinois Central 9483 built by the railroad in 1970.
An airplane in the Wagons, Wheels and Wings exhibit in the Master Mechanic's Office.
The Bumper-to-Bumper Exhibit in the Flue Shop was excellent. I then walked out to behind the Roundhouse.
A Southern Railway railway post office car among others.
The Spencer Roundhouse.
Southern Sleeper 10-6 sleeper 2003 "Catawba River" built by Pullman-Standard in 1949. It later became Amtrak 2864. The Catawba River rises in the Appalachian Mountains east of Asheville and flows east and then south through the Piedmont region of North Carolina and into South Carolina.
Amtrak F40PH 307 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1979.
Norfolk and Western caboose 518675 built by International Car in 1967.
Norfolk and Western caboose 518641 built by International Car in 1970.
State of North Carolina 0-6-0T 5012, ex. W.R. Bonsal Company 1947, nee United States Army 5012 built by H.K. Porter in 1942.
Norfolk Southern Railway 6 bedroom-10 roomette sleeping car 2022 "Royal Arch", nee Southern Railway "York River" built by Pullman-Standard in 1949. After the original "Royal Arch" was wrecked in 1974, Hayne Shops converted "York River" into an 11-bedroom sleeper and re-named it "Royal Arch". In 1979, the car became part of the Norfolk Southern's office car fleet as 14. It was donated to the museum in 1991.
New York, New Haven and Hartford six double bedroom-club lounge 553 "Pine Tree State", ex. Amtrak 3212, exx. Penn Central 4435 built by Pullman-Standard in 1955. It was later owned by the Piedmont Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society then the museum acquired the car in 2004.
Roanoke Chapter NRHS dinette-lunch counter-dormitory 1148 "Devils Lake", nee Great Northern 1148 "Devils Lake" built by Pullman in 1949. It was sold to the Roanoke Chapter in 1972 and two years later, was named "Carol. W. Jensen". In 1985, it was re-named 1148 'Devils Lake'.
Canadian National coach 5064 built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1924. At some point it was re-numbered 4953. It is currently lettered Chicago and North Western from the film "Leathernecks".
Southern Railway railway post office car 49 built by Bethlehem Steel in 1928.
Seaboard Coast Line caboose 0613 built by Atlantic Coast Line in 1964 using components from retired 36-foot box cars. It is displayed in the colours of corporate successor Seaboard Coast Line. It was donated in 1993 by CSX.
Winston-Salem Southbound Railway caboose 671 is really Seaboard Coast Line 0835 built by the railroad. The Winston-Salem Southbound Railway Company operates from Winston-Salem through Lexington and Albemarle to Wadesboro, serving industries in the central Piedmont counties of Forsyth, Davidson, Stanly and Anson. Incorporated in 1905, the company began service in 1910. While the company is independently operated, all of its stock is owned jointly by CSX and Norfolk Southern. Commodities carried by the railroad are grain, sand, gravel, stone, forest products, paper products, coal, coke, cement, clay fertilizer, aluminum, chemicals, iron and steel. The Winston-Salem Southbound connects with four railroads: Norfolk Southern; CSX; High Point, Thomasville & Denton; and Aberdeen, Carolina & Western.
Museum scene. There was one last thing I wanted to do here, which only cost a dollar. Ride on the Spencer Roundhouse turntable.
Five of us paid and soon we were on our way around.
Chris Parker on the turntable.
Spinning around!
Our new friends on the turntable. When it stopped, it was time to end our visit to this most wonderful railroad museum, one I rate as the highest that I have been to. I showed Chris the other non-train exhibits then we visited the gift shop before returning to the car and departing. We went to Our Place Café for lunch then drove US 70 to Statesville.
Alexander Railroad 44 ton switcher 3, nee Hampton and Branchville Railroad 42 built by General Electric in 1951.
Switching was Alexander Railroad SW9 8, nee Union Railroad 586 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1952. We then drove Interstate 40 to Old Fort and found our next quest.
Old Fort Southern station built in 1880. Old Fort, in western McDowell County, was the site of Davidson's Fort, built in 1776 as a defense against the Cherokee and as colonial America's westernmost outpost at the time. In 1858, the Western North Carolina Railroad opened 84 miles of track from Salisbury to Morganton. After the war, by 1869, the railroad had reached Old Fort, where the mountains presented a challenge. Financial troubles also slowed progress until 1877 when the state owned most of the operation and work resumed. All together it took 11 years and some 500 convicts to build the nine miles of track and blast through rock for seven hand-dug tunnels across the Swannanoa Gap, costing some 120 workers their lives. The 1,800-foot Swannanoa Tunnel, the longest, opened in 1879. It took another year before the railroad reached Asheville.
Prior to the opening of the line through Swannanoa Gap, westbound trains stopped at Henry's Station, about three miles west of Old Fort, where passengers and freight transferred to stagecoach and wagons. The last passenger train stopped at Old Fort Depot in 1975. When renovations were completed in 2005, it was re-opened as a Railroad Museum and Visitors Center. Artifacts and exhibits include original tools, signal lights, an original caboose, photographs and information related to the history of Old Fort, the depot and the Southern Railway Company.
We stopped to get Chris some water before we went in search of Andrew's Geyser and some trains.
A manmade geyser, Andrew's Geyser, at the Loops west of Old Fort. There were no trains so we drove the dirt road over the Blue Ridge mountains back to Interstate 40 which we took into Asheville, where we met David Pressley from the Trainweb.com forum and had planned to eat dinner with him as we were passing through his hometown.
The Depot Restaurant in Asheville is the former Southern Railway Biltmore station.
Chris and Dave at the Depot. I had a nice steak and we had great conversations. All too soon we had to leave, but it was great to finally meet David after five years. We next visited Walmart because Chris needed a new camera. Back in the car, we drove onto Bryson City to the Sleep Inn for the next two nights. Tomorrow, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, but that is another story.
