Ride the Rails with Tri-State Model Railroaders

We headed back to the Mineral Bluff Depot for the Ride the Rails event with the Tri -State Model Railroaders. Fall is a perfect time to join this friendly group as they take a couple of railroad speeders on a five mile round trip on the former L&N trackage to Murphy Junction. The highlight of the trip is crossing the Toccoa River on an old iron bridge.

Southeastern Narrow Gauge and Shortline Museum

We took a detour to visit the Southeastern Narrow Gauge and Shortline Museum in Newton, North Carolina. It is housed partially in a former restored Southern Railway Passenger Depot. There isn't much there, but the people are friendly and it's a good place to take a break and stretch your legs. 

Riding the Rails with Andrews Valley Rail Tours

 Once again, we found ourselves on the old Southern Railway's Murphy branch near Andrews, North Carolina. This time it was for opening day with Andrews Valley Rail Tours and the first official ride with their new railbikes. We were the only ones for our trip which departed from the Historic Andrews Depot. 

Commissioning a Disney inspired sign by Raymond Kinman

 It's here! And it is beautiful. We discovered a woodcarving artist who has done pieces for Disney. Being Disney freaks, we loved his style. So, way back on August 3, 2021 we decided to commission Raymond Kinman to do a carved sign for our living room. The 18-month wait was well worth it!

Trip to the Hub City Railroad Museum

 We took a little road trip to check out the Hub City Railroad Museum in Spartanburg, SC. While small, the museum is well taken care of and has some educational value. It is housed in the former Southeastern Express building that was erected in 1915. 

Riding with Andrews Valley Rail Tours

Living near the old Murphy Branch of the Southern Railway, we were happy to see Andrews Valley Rail Tours start their business. By leasing an unused section of track from the Great Smoky Mountains Railway in  Andrews, NC, Andrews Valley Rail Tours provided us with a short ride behind a Fairmont speeder. The air was chilly and the cart was a bit rough but we totally enjoyed our ride. The tour starts from the Andrews Depot and runs for about 5 miles to the Historic Valley River Tunnel. The tunnel was hand dug by the Southern Railway in 1894 and is a bit on the spooky side. There was a short stop on the far side of the tunnel which allowed us to stretch our legs and explore. We then turned around and came back. What a fantastic trip! We will surely be back next year when they switch over to pedal rail bike tours.

Photos from the Georgia State Railroad Museum

We took a road trip to the Georgia State Railroad Museum. The museum is housed in the former Central of Georgia Railroad Savanah repair shops which closed in 1963. They are trying to preserve the old landmark buildings. While the grounds are clean and walkable, there isn't much here. A few cars and a couple of locomotives are on display. We spent about an hour exploring but mainly because I am a train nut. My suggestion would be to try and visit when the museum is holding some sort of an event.

Apple Valley Model Railroad Club

While in Hendersonville, North Carolina, we made a quick stop to visit the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club. They operate a sizeable HO-gauge layout in a former Southern Railway train station, that was built in 1902. Blue Ridge Southern now uses the tracks nearby. The club members are friendly and willing to chat about trains. It's definitely worth a visit.

The Depot Railroad Avenue Park

We set off to find our donation brick at the Depot Railroad Avenue Park in Brevard, North Carolina. This cute little facility's design is inspired by the actual depot that was once nearby. It's a great place to take a break when in Brevard.

Strasburg Rail Road - N&W Reunion of Steam

We signed up with Lerro Productions to do a photo shoot on the Strasburg Rail Road during the Norfolk and Western Railway Reunion of Steam. This event brought the N&W J Class 611 (4-8-4) and N&W M Class  #475 (4-8-0) together for the first time since the 1950's. This Saturday afternoon shoot was very difficult as the Strasburg Rail Road was running their regular train, Great Western #90, and the tracks had to be cleared every 30 minutes as it passed. The area was also packed with site-seers and railfans as well. Lerro didn't do a great job on this outing organizing. However, we did enjoy ourselves and that's what really counts.

Photos from The Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio

The Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio is simply fantastic! This museum sits on 34 acres of land adjacent to the Ohio Central Railroad System. The sale of OCRS in December of 2008 to Genesee and Wyoming provided the financing needed for Jerry Jacobson, its former owner, to build the 18 stall brick roundhouse. The roundhouse is the first full-sized working roundhouse to be built in the US since 1951 and it is beautiful.

Fire Truck Festival Photos

We finally made it to the North Carolina Transportation Museum's Fire Truck Festival after trying to get there for the last three years. Peg, myself, and our good friend Jerry got up at the crack of dawn to make the two and a half hour roadtrip to Spencer, NC. The festival didn't disappoint so it was worth a little missed sleep. Over 100 fire fighting vehicles, both vintage and modern, were on the grounds of the museum, including a North Carolina Forest Service helicopter that buzzed the museum before landing.

ScaleTrains.com Hiwassee River Rail Adventure

ScaleTrains.com held a wonderful open house at their warehouse and a private train ride on the Tennessee Valley Railroad called the Hiwassee River Rail Adventure. It started with a tour of their warehouse and the ability to purchase items at very low prices. Then, it was a delicious catered barbecue lunch.

Train Spotting in Asheville

The Depot Street Parking Lot in Asheville, North Carolina is a nice free public lot where you can sit and watch trains at the far end of the Norfolk Southern Asheville West yard limit.

Photos from the Southeastern Railroad Museum

We took a side trip on our way home from Atlanta to check out the Southeastern Railroad Museum in Duluth, Georgia. This nice little museum is the official transportation museum of Georgia. It has trains, buses, taxis, fire engines, and a bunch of other transportation-related items. You can just wander around the yard, take a ride on the full-sized train or miniature train, or even railfan the adjacent Norfolk Southern line.

Road Trip: Marion Freight Depot

We took a little side trip to go see the Marion Freight Depot. According to documents sent for historic district designation, the current freight depot was built in 1932 to replace a freight depot on the same spot. It is now used as a community meeting place. The original passenger station was demolished sometime around 1952 when an addition was added to the freight depot to serve the same function.

Road Trip - NC Transportation Museum Train Show

We took the time to explore the grounds of the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC during the annual National Train Day Train Show. Several vintage locomotives were running the day that we were there including Southern Railway FP-3 #6133, Atlantic Coast Line E3 #501, and B&MH H-12-44 #1860.

Jeddo Coal Company 85 at the South Carolina Railroad Museum

We were off on another adventure for this warm Spring day. This road trip had us traveling to Winnsboro, South Carolina, and the South Carolina Railroad Museum to take a ride on a steam train.

Murphy Branch: End of the Line

We were in the neighborhood so we stopped at the old L & N Depot in Murphy, NC. It was raining pretty hard so we didn't explore much or stay very long. This is the end of the line for the Southern Railway's Murphy Branch.

Photos from the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

We stopped by Blue Ridge, GA to do some shopping and grab lunch. While there, I had to take a few photos of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway and other Patriot Rail equipment. Georgia Northeastern Railroad #8705 (GNRR), Columbia and Cowlitz Railroad #3810 (CLC), and the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway #7529 (BRSR) were all on the tracks nearby.