Sunday, August 05, 2007

Scenic trains

This area is becoming the place to visit if you'd like to ride old trains through scenic mountain routes. Here's a story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press about the three trains operating within a few minutes of here: Scenic Trains Spur Business. There are links to the three companies' websites at bottom of the story.

Wouldn't it be great if there was still a train running to/from Murphy? The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad was running excursion trains here when I first started visiting Murphy, but stopped in 1985 or so according to this Wikipedia entry on the Murphy Branch. There have been rumors about a proposed trolley on the tracks from Murphy to Andrews. Next month the refurbished depot in Mineral Bluff, Ga, is reopening . The track from Blue Ridge thru Mineral Bluff to Murphy is broken now but can't you just imagine all these trains reconnected some day?

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