Taking Its Guests On Adventurous Trips Through Some Of The Most Spectacular Sceneries In Western North Carolina
It’s probably no surprise that 9 year old boys and nitroglycerin don’t mix, but it was a lesson learned the hard way during the building of the Western North Carolina Railroad, according to storyteller Tim Hall. “Will Sandlin’s dad was working on pushing the line through from Old Fort to Asheville,” Hall says. “Will, who was 8 or 9 at the time, and his brother were helping out mixing the nitro with sawdust to make a primitive form of dynamite. This was back in the 1870s when dynamite wasn’t that well known. The Sandlin boys decided that the nitro would make a great way to shake a lot of chestnuts off a tree, so they could sell the nuts for profit. The blast tore the tree right out of the ground, and practically buried Will.”
Will Sandlin would go on to work on the final leg of the Western NC line, overseeing the convict labor that did the work, and eventually becoming CEO of the section called the Murphy Branch. Most of the Western NC tracks are now abandoned, but the Murphy Branch is thriving. Today, the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad (GSMR) uses the tracks to introduce more than 200,000 people annually to the joys of riding the mountain rails.
“The Murphy Branch was a real engineering feat,” Hall says. “So many stories: the freak snowstorms, the drownings, the explosions. But they set out to open western North Carolina to business and tourism and that’s what they did.” Tim Hall, who operates the Storytelling Center of the Southern Appalachians located a block or so from the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad depot in Bryson City, NC, rides along on many of the train’s excursions through the mountains, sharing stories.
“I talk about the mountains, how they’ve been here a million and a half years or so, about the Cherokee coming down into the valleys, and the frontiersmen who followed,” he says. “I talk about the plants and animals we have in these mountains, and I tell stories about the railroad, how it was built, things that happened. A lot of people also like to hear about the movies that have been made here. We have a train wreck site from the Harrison Ford movie, ‘The Fugitive,’ which people get to see on the run to Dillsboro along the Tuckasegee route.” Tim says he’s collected about 4,500 stories in the last 12 years.
One of Hall’s most exciting stories is one of the most recent: the return of a steam engine to the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. “It went down in 2004,” he says, “and it took us 12 years to get it back in service. There’s nothing like the sound of a steam whistle as you’re traveling through the mountains.”
The steam engine, #1702, returned to the Murphy Branch in August, 2016, thanks to a partnership between the railroad and Swain County, a project that included a new turntable in Bryson City, as well as major repairs to the antique engine.
“It took two and a half years to renovate the engine,” Sarah Pressley, representative of GSMR, tells The Buzz. “Our owner, Al Harper, has a huge passion for railroad history and steam restoration, and this has been a long term goal for him.”
Sarah says that the steam engine sparks a real sense of nostalgia among people who come to the NC mountains to ride the train. “It’s a unique part of history,” she says. “It’s a generational thing, too. We see lots of people bringing their kids and grandkids to share in the excitement of travel on a steam powered train.”
The GSMR’s most popular route runs through some of the most spectacular scenery in western North Carolina, paralleling the Nantahala River, crossing a high trestle over Lake Fontana and running through Nantahala Gorge. The train makes a stop at the famous Nantahala Outdoor Center, where riders can stretch their legs, have lunch, shop - or leave the train for another adventure.
“We try to be a one-stop shop and cater to the whole family,” Pressley says. “Lots of people, especially the younger set, choose to ride the train one way, then come back down the whitewater river by raft or kayak from the center. We also have packages that include zip-lining and canopy tours, and others where jeeps take you off-road up to the Appalachian Trail past waterfalls and some great scenery, then bring you back to the train depot in Bryson City. People want to combine activities to get as much into one day as possible.”
The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad has also expanded its offerings in recent years with moonshine excursions, drink service and wine tastings. “We’ve also added white tablecloth dinner service in our first class car, much like you’d find on trains of the past,” Pressley says. “People really like it.”
The GSMR also offers many special train trips every year, from romantic Valentine’s Day dinners, trips with the Easter Bunny, special excursions to the old Land of Oz theme park every June, Great Pumpkin trips and more. The most popular are the Polar Express trips offered in November and December.
“We run five or six Polar Express trips some days,” says Tim Hall, who portrays an Appalachian toymaker during the Christmas season. “Some 80,000 people come up here to participate, no matter what the weather.”
Every trip aboard the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad includes a send-off by a local group playing mountain music and free admission to the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum, a favorite with kids of all ages which features one of the largest collections of Lionel model trains in the nation, with a huge layout that takes the trains through an incredibly detailed miniature landscape of mountains and villages.
“It’s all about introducing new generations to railroading and the folkways of the Southern Appalachians,” Sarah Pressley says. “We are super passionate about sharing our mountain heritage.”
Renee Wright
A graduate of Franconia College in Social Psychology, Renee has worked as Travel Editor for Charlotte Magazine and has written three travel guidebooks for Countryman Press among other writing assignments. She enjoys food and camping.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Flaming Arrow Campground Inc., with family camping in the Smoky Mountains! They make it their priority to stay extra clean and have a friendly service. Big rigs and tents are welcome.