Rob and I went out on the rear open platform and I could not wait to see the run along the Sebowisha Bluff.
Rounding one of the many curves.
Passing beneath another local highway bridge.
Our train was running down a straight piece of track.
We went across the Caney Fork River.
After crossing a local road, we made our way to the most scenic part.
Views of our passage along the Sebowisha Bluff.
A derailed Louisville and Nashville hopper car was in the bushes.
Wefinished running below the bluff and proceeded across the bridge over the Caney Fork River.
Our crossing of the river.
The Caney Fork River bridge.
We then passed beneath Moss Bluff.
Trees abounded everywhere as we made our way east towards Monterey.
Trees with some slight fall colours.
We reached Lancaster, where the site of the Tennessee Central station can still be seen.
There were plenty of ties that had been replaced along the route.
Lone Tree Hill.
Rounding the large curve to reach the next bridge across the Caney Fork River.
About to cross the Caney Fork River.
Our passage of the river.
The Caney Fork bridge.
Beginning our climbing away from the river.
Our journey continued, passing through many trees.
We ran by another red barn.
A barn close to the tracks as we continued east.
The view looking back at the track and that hill.
You could see between the trees.
Running through the Buffalo Valley.
Crossing Interstate Highway 40.
On the way to the Town of Baxter.
Entering Baxter.
The town's water tower.
Our undulating grade along this segment of the railroad.
We crested one of the many hills.
Arriving at the switch at Double Springs.
Kudzu plants take over everything if they are not controlled.
To me, though, they are pretty-looking plants.
Rounding the curves through the kudzu plants.
They grow up the trees and choke off the life in the tree.
Our train was still passing through more forests.
We went by Milepost 90 with a 10 MPH sign.
Several classic cars were at this automobile dealership in Cookeville.
Tennessee Central 4-6-0 509 is really Louisiana and Arkansas 403, built by Baldwin in 1913. The Louisiana & Arkansas (L&A) was incorporated in 1898 to acquire former logging railroad properties in Arkansas and Louisiana. Its main line ran three hundred and thirty-two miles from Hope, Arkansas to Shreveport and New Orleans, Louisiana. Branch lines served Vidalia, Louisiana, and Dallas, Texas. The identity of the L&A disappeared in the 1950s and 1960s as the Kansas City Southern name was adopted for all properties.
In 1945, 509 was sold to the Louisiana Midland Railway in Jena, Louisiana, set up to take over the branch line from Packton to Vidalia, that the L&A planned to close. At some point, 509 was sold to the South Shore Railway Company, in Jackson, Louisiana and then went through nine different owners before being bought by the Friends of the Cookeville Depot Museum in 2002. It was rebuilt to match the fleet of Baldwin 4-6-0s operated by the Tennessee Central Railway Company and is on display as Tennessee Central 509.
Also on display is Tennessee Central caboose 9828 built circa 1909. It was acquired by the Friends of the Depot from the Leslie Bowman estate in Muddy Pond, near Monterey and went through an extensive restoration when it was moved to the Depot grounds in 1993.
The Tennessee Central Cookeville station built in 1909. I returned through the train to my dome seat for the continuation of the journey to Monterey.
