The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is a

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

and

heritage railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

based in Bryson City,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, United States. Since late 1999, the railroad is currently owned and operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc., which also owns and operates the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Colorado. The railroad operates

excursion train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

s on the former Southern Railway Murphy branch line between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. Since then, the GSMR became one of the most popular

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

railroads in the United States, with about 200,000 passengers each year.

Background

The Great Smoky Mountains Railway (GSMR) owns of the '' Murphy Branch'', a former branch line of the Southern Railway between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. GSMR began operations in 1988, through a lease agreement between the NCDOT and Malcom and Joan MacNeill. With help of a team of investors, the MacNeils secured the lease within 48 hours of the Norfolk Southern Railway dispatching work trains to the Murphy Branch to begin dismantling the track. The GSMR route uses a route which passes through "fertile valleys, a tunnel and across river gorges" in the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

of Western North Carolina. Several miles of the line between the far western end of the Nantahala Gorge and Andrews are out of service. The GSMR tourist excursions use the line between Bryson City and Nantahala ( in length) and the line between Bryson City and Dillsboro ( in length). In late 1999, the MacNeills sold the GSMR property to the American Heritage Railways, who were the owners of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Colorado. Additionally, the bright and colorful blue, yellow and red "circus train" livery was dropped in favor of the new

Tuscan red Tuscan red is a shade of red that was used on some railroad cars, particularly passenger cars. The color is most closely associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, which used it on passenger cars and on its TrucTrain flatcars. It also was used ...

and gold stripe livery. On March 9, 2000, the Great Smoky Mountain Railway was renamed to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. The GSMR would eventually become one of the most popular tourist railroads in the United States with about 200,000 passengers each year. In addition to operating tourists trains, the railroad has transported freight via an interchange with the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad in Sylva near Jackson Paper Manufacturing. In 2004, GSMR debuted its "

Polar Express ''The Polar Express'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg and published by Houghton Mifflin in 1985. The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detai ...

" train ride, based on the newly released movie and licensed through Warner Brothers. This ride has annually been a major economy boost for the railroad and the town of Bryson City. In 2019, GSMR broke all attendance records, with more than 91,000 people riding the Polar Express excursion alone. In 2007, GSMR made the decision to close their Dillsboro depot and relocate their headquarters from Dillsboro to Bryson City due to their dispute with the Dillsboro Town Council not being resolved.. However, the ''

Tuckasegee River The Tuckasegee River (variant spellings include Tuckaseegee and Tuckaseigee) flows entirely within western North Carolina. It begins its course in Jackson County above Cullowhee at the confluence of Panthertown and Greenland creeks. It flows ...

'' excursions between Dillsboro and Bryson City continued with the trips starting at Bryson City and lay over in Dillsboro. In March 2020, the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic outbreak caused the GSMR to suspend operations. They resumed operations on June 4, 2020, with provisions for public health, such as social distancing.

Roster fleet

Locomotives

The railroad has five operational diesel locomotives, GP9s Nos. 1751 and 1755, GP30 (upgrade to a GP30-3) No. 2467, GP35 (upgrade to a GP38-3M) No. 1009, GP9 No. 777, GP7 No. 711 and GP38-3 No. 2668.. GSMR owned one operational steam locomotive; S160 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type No. 1702, which was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in September 1942 for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1991, it was purchased by the GSMR until 2005, when it was taken out of service due to firebox issues. In 2012, the GSMR made an agreement with the Swain County of North Carolina donating US$700,000 to construct a new steam locomotive workshop for the restoration of No. 1702 and installing a new

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

in Bryson City for the locomotive to be turned around. Afterwards, the restoration work of No. 1702 began in mid 2014 and completed in late July 2016 with the locomotive reentering excursion service. The railroad owns another 2-8-0 steam locomotive, Southern Railway Ks-1 No. 722, which originally worked on the former Murphy Branch from 1904 to 1952 and operated for the Southern Railway's steam excursion program from 1970 to 1980 until GSMR purchased it in late 2000, where it currently remains in storage. As of 2022, there are no known plans of restoration. The GSMR had purchased a third steam locomotive, a former

Swedish State Railways The Swedish State Railways ( sv, Statens Järnvägar) or SJ, originally the Royal Railway Board ( sv, Kungl. Järnvägsstyrelsen), was the former government agency responsible for operating the state-owned railways in Sweden. It was created i ...

4-6-0 #1149, in 2010 from the defunct Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad. This engine was originally slated to be moved to the GSMR in spring 2011. However, the engine continued to remain on the B&ML for two more years. Ultimately, the GSMR deemed the engine's move too costly and instead sold the engine to the

Discovery Park of America Discovery Park of America is a museum and heritage park located just outside the boundary of Union City, Tennessee. The park sits on of land off of Everett Boulevard, near the proposed Interstate 69. It features exhibits and activities on local ...

Union City, Tennessee Union City is located in Obion County, Tennessee, United States. The 2020 census reported the population of the town as 11,170. It is the principal urban settlement of the surrounding micropolitan area, which includes Obion County and Fulton Count ...

Towns and attractions served

* Dillsboro * Whittier *

Bryson City Bryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina in the United States. The population was 1558 as of the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Swain County. Located in what was historically the land of the Cherokee, Bryson City was founded a ...

Fontana Lake Fontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River, and is located in Graham and Swain counties in North Carolina. The lake forms part of the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the northern b ...

* The

Nantahala Outdoor Center Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) is a commercial outdoor guide service and retail store located at 13077 Highway 19 West, Bryson City, NC 28713. It opened in 1972 when Payson, Aurelia Kennedy and Horace Holden Sr. took over the old Tote 'N Tarry Mo ...

Smoky Mountain Trains Museum

The railroad owns the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum in Bryson City, North Carolina, adjacent to the GSMR depot. The museum features a collection of over 7,000 Lionel model engines, cars and accessories, a large model train layout, a children's activity center, and a gift shop.

Popular culture

The famous train wreck scene in the 1993

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

blockbuster movie '' The Fugitive'' starring Harrison Ford and

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

was filmed in Dillsboro along the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad was also used in the filming of 1996 Warner Brothers comedy ''

My Fellow Americans ''My Fellow Americans'' is a 1996 American political comedy film directed by Peter Segal. It stars Jack Lemmon and James Garner as feuding ex-presidents, with Dan Aykroyd, Lauren Bacall, Esther Rolle, John Heard, Wilford Brimley, Bradley Whi ...

'' starring Jack Lemmon and

James Garner James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy ...

when they stumble on to a charter train full of UNC-Chapel Hill fans headed for the NCAA Final Four. Train scenes in the 1999

DreamWorks SKG DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and ...

film '' Forces of Nature'' starring

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...

and Sandra Bullock were also filmed on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. GSMR's No. 1702 steam locomotive was featured in the 1966 film, '' This Property Is Condemned'', starring

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

, Robert Redford, and Charles Bronson.

References

Bibliography

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External links