October 25, 2022
Great Smoky Mountain Railroad * Tuckasegee River Trip * Crown Class
https://www.gsmr.com/ride-this-train/

I don’t believe I’ve yet mentioned my resource for identifying and locating all these great train rides. It’s called the Tourist Train Guidebook and it’s published every couple of years by Kalmbach Publishing Co., the people who bring you Trains Magazine. This book lists every known excursion train and rail museum (over 500 of them) in America and Canada and has proven invaluable in putting this portion of the trip together.

Some people have asked “Why book so many train rides?” That is to say a lot of normal people might plan a trip to say, the Northeast and New England to enjoy fall colors during which they might accent their travels with a train ride. I get it. But if you haven’t figured it out by now, well, I like trains. I especially enjoy riding trains, and, the way I see it – the time to do so is now. I mean – I live in Alaska. I’ve ridden all the trains there – multiple times. Fall only comes once a year and I’m down here during some prime fall colors – 3500 miles from home in good railroad country – so why not take advantage of the opportunities to the fullest?

But again, that’s me and yet another good reason why solo travel is the best for people like me.

I spent last night in Cartersville, Georgia and so today was looking at a scenic 140 mile drive to Bryson City, North Carolina. And scenic it was! The fall colors seemed much more vivid down here in the Carolinas and when you add to that my incredible streak of good luck with the weather, well, things couldn’t be better.

This afternoon I was booked on to one of two trains operated by the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Those trains are the Tuckasegee River Excursion and the Nantahala Gorge Excursion. Both excursions run about four hours. I figured I’d check out the Tuckasegee today, the Nantahala tomorrow. First though, I chose to locate my hotel – a quaint little place called the Two Rivers Lodge. With all the big trees, grass and the river just out behind my room, staying at this hotel felt like a really nice camping trip.

Anyway, I had just enough time to check in, drop off my gear and make my way into Bryson City to catch my 3:00pm train. Consulting my printed Google Maps directions, I read to turn northwest onto highway 19S. Well I’d come into Bryson City from the south, and since I’d come up the highway to the motel from the left, heading northwest must mean that I needed to turn right. Wrong. US 19 is a pretty curvy road and it just so happened that 19S – despite the southbound designation – just happened to be heading in a northwesterly direction from my motel. Which means turning northwest down 19S meant turning left, back the way I’d come – from the south.

The bottom line is I turned the wrong way and ended up in the town of Cherokee, which I thought was Bryson City. When I stopped at a local store to ask directions to the train, I was told that it departs from Bryson City, twenty miles away.

Oh geez! Here it was 2:50pm – no way I was gonna make that train. Sigh… Oh well. At the very least I could drive into Bryson City and scope out the train station so I wouldn’t miss tomorrow’s train. Bryson City is a gateway to the Smoky Mountains National Park. Unlike the other gateway towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Bryson City is not nearly so over developed. The drive into Bryson City along the Tuckasegee River is really pretty, and after locating the train station and where I’d park the next day, I then found a Mexican restaurant that served up one of the best Green Chili burritos I’ve ever had.

So, while I hate to have missed my train, the good news is that the railroad will allow me to apply the cost of my ticket for this year to a ride on the same train next year. I had a beautiful day of driving through the hills of North Georgia and North Carolina and I discovered an excellent Mexican restaurant. So, all things considered… it was a good day.


October 26, 2022
Great Smoky Mountain Railroad * Nantahala Gorge Trip * First Class

Another beautiful autumn day! Amazing! As an added bonus, my friend Laura will be driving down from Knoxville to join me for the ride out to the Nantahala Gorge. The 4.5-hour roundtrip excursion will take us 44 miles up to the Nantahala Gorge and back while traveling along the Tennessee and Nantahala Rivers. And, since we would be traveling in First Class, our fare would include a BBQ lunch along the way.

About one block from the station is a huge parking lot for passengers riding the trains. There were even a couple of lot attendants to help people with parking – mainly those with disabilities who would benefit from being a bit closer in. Me – I can walk in from wherever. Laura and I met up as agreed in front of the station.

Directly across from us was the impressive steam locomotive that would be leading us into the Nantahala Gorge this afternoon. Numbered 1702, it was built in 1942 for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. Apparently it was a pretty popular model, because I’ve read that there are 25 others just like it still operational around the U.S.



All Aboard in Bryson City, NC
Baldwin Locomotive Works S160 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive


Our assigned car #8015 was a former Seaboard Air Line dining car built in 1940. The car carried the name "Silver Meteor" in honor of its Seaboard heritage. Seating had been pre-assigned when we purchased our tickets, and as we entered we received a hearty welcome from our car attendant Steve who waved us down to our waiting table.



Car Attendant Steve welcomes us aboard the “Silver Meteor” Dining Car


The scenery along the way was superb, starting from the moment we departed the Bryson City Depot. Initially running along the Tennessee River, we then rolled alongside some of the many arms of the Fontana Reservoir. The dam backs up the 10,230 acre Fontana Reservoir, which spreads across a scenic stretch of the Little Tennessee River along the southwestern boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Appalachian Trail crosses the top of the dam.

Although our train didn’t run anywhere near the actual dam, I would like to have seen it. At 480 feet high, it is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States. Our car attendant Steve mentioned that the lake is named for the now-inundated town of Fontana, a former lumber and copper-mining hub.



One of the many arms of Fontana Dam


Rolling along the Nantahala River


Shadows and reflections along the Nantahala


Luncheon was a barbecued pulled pork sandwich, which seemed appropriate for North Carolina and the region’s love of BBQ. We both thought it was delicious, my only complaint being that a little more of the equally delicious potato salad would’ve been nice.



Pulled pork BBQ sandwich lunch


We stopped for about an hour at Nahantahala Village where passengers could detrain and do the usual touristy things – buy snacks and souvenirs, mostly. While an hour was appropriate for this train trip, in truth, the Nahantahala Village is quite a large place that would require a bit more time to fully appreciate. In addition to lodging and restaurants, there are whitewater rafting outfitters, zip-lines and miles of hiking and biking trails. Laura and I walked around the area for a bit – it was quite pretty in the afternoon shadows.



Boarding at Nantahala Village


On the ride back to Bryson City I took advantage of being allowed to open the vestibule window and so was able to take some pretty nice pictures thanks to the afternoon sun and shadows. As I think I mentioned earlier, what I like about these shots that I get from the open window is that they hopefully capture the essence of actually riding the train. To that end (not including these excursion trains or commuter trains) I’ve logged just over 290,000 miles on over 340 long distance train trips around the world. Even after all those, I’m still looking forward to the upcoming trip aboard my favorite train, the California Zephyr in a couple of weeks.



Colorful collection of cars and trees


One of the oldest homesteads in North Carolina


Afternoon Delight


Some guy in a cool tie dye at the table


But first, Laura and I had dinner at the Mexican restaurant I’d discovered the day before. It alone is reason to come back to Bryson City. If I could remember its name I’d publish it here, but I definitely know how to get back there. And remember, I’ve still got that ride paid for on the Tuckasegee River Excursion that I missed yesterday.