Great Smoky Mountain Railroad

It’s been a very busy week – that’s why the blogging got a little behind. Monday was the trip to Devil’s Courthouse. Tuesday was a shopping day, groceries and other necessities. We had dinner out with our friends at a marvelous restaurant called Sweet Onion. Wednesday found us just about as far west as you can go in North Carolina to walk the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Thursday was gambling day. Yes, we went back to the casino, but this time we actually brought home more money than we left with! No, there weren’t any big jackpots, but it’s still a huge win to have even a few dollars more in you pocket when you leave a casino.

This brings us to Friday and a wonderful train trip through the Nantahala River Gorge. We went with our friends again and with their daughter and her husband who are visiting for a few days. We drove less than an hour to Bryson City where we boarded the train at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot.

Here’s a view towards the front of the train shortly after leaving the station.

This is crossing the Fontana Lake Trestle. You can see how low the lake is. They are having a drought here, too.

Even with the water so low, there are still quite a number of house boats out there. They are all under strict code, can only be accessed by boat and only in certain of the summer months.

After passing Fontana Lake, we entered into the Nantahala River Gorge. (It’s not what I expected with a name like “gorge”, but it was quite beautiful.)

Once past a certain point, we started seeing lots of whitewater rafters. This was not heavy whitewater and something a beginner could handle. It was fun to watch all of them pass by. It looked like they were having a terrific time.

The train stopped at one point and maneuvered the engine onto the opposite end of the train. Then we began retracing our “tracks” towards home. We stopped in a small village where we had an hour to get lunch and walk around a bit. We were right by the river, near a spot where all the rafts were taken out of the water. We saw about a dozen come in while we were eating our sandwiches.

This little water fall was right near where the train was parked.


Then back on board for the return to Bryson City. Since the train itself didn’t turn around, they asked that everyone switch sides for the return trip. We quickly discovered that we had enjoyed the better views on the way out. We could see some body of water (rivers and lakes) on the entire trip. It was mostly rocks and trees on the way back. Coupled with full tummies and the rocking of the train, we found ourselves getting a bit sleepy.

Once back at the depot, we went into the model train museum right next door. That was a definite trip down memory lane. They had a huge table, maybe 15 or 20 feet square, set up in one room. They had every kind of railcar and every auxiliary piece of gear you can think of: mountains with waterfalls, whole cities, little people and everything. The round house had at least a dozen engines inside individual “garages”; there were all types of switching gear, a coal plant and loaders, passenger trains, cargo cars, you name it – they had it working and rolling around this huge display. It was awesome.

Along the walls and in a couple of other rooms were hundreds of other engines and cars in display cases. Some were shiny and new, one set was even gold-plated. And there were also the old ones going back to the 1920s. It was really something to see. Julian and Larry were trying to find the same models they had enjoyed as kids.

It took me back to the great table that we had in the basement, on pulleys to take it from the ceiling down to rest on the pool table. I could even smell that familiar smell when the trains were in motion. We were glad we stopped in there! Ah, sweet memories!

On Saturday, we went up the road to Canton to the 4^th Annual Mater Festival. It’s a small event, but it was fun to walk around to see all the crafts. We bought a couple of tomatoes, but haven’t tasted them yet. Then we went for lunch to a Mexican restaurant. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t Colorado Mexican either. We’ll have our share of good Mexican while in Colorado and New Mexico later in this trip. You just can’t get it out here.

Today is Sunday. We’ve done the laundry and cleaned the house. Later we’ll play cards with our friends and then all go out to dinner. They’ll be leaving tomorrow, so it will be sort of a farewell dinner. We’ve really enjoyed them being here. And with them gone, we probably won’t be out doing quite as much sight-seeing. Check in here anyway, you never know what we might find to share with you.