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Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Bryson City, North Carolina |
Reporting mark | GSMR |
Locale | Western North Carolina |
Dates of operation | 1988–present |
Predecessor | Southern Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Length | 53 miles (85 kilometers) |
Other | |
Website | www |
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad( reporting mark GSMR) is a heritage and freight railroad based in Bryson City, North Carolina, United States. Originally formed in 1988, it was currently owned and operated by American Heritage Railways since late 1999. The GSMR operates excursion trains on the former Southern Railway's Murphy Branch between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. The GSMR is one of the most popular tourist railroads in the United States, carrying 200,000 passengers each year.
The Great Smoky Mountains Railway (GSMR) owns 53 miles (85 kilometers) of the Murphy Branch , a former branch line of the Southern Railway between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. [1] It began operations in 1988, through a lease agreement between the NCDOT and Malcom & Joan MacNeill. With help of a team of investors, the MacNeils secured the lease only 48 hours before the Norfolk Southern would be dispatching work trains to the Murphy Branch to begin dismantling the track. [2] The full tourist route originally operated further west to Andrews and Murphy, North Carolina. Service between Andrews and Murphy ended in 1995. Regular service between Nantahala and Andrews ended by 2001. [3] [4]
In late 1999, the MacNeills sold the GSMR property to the American Heritage Railways, the owners of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Colorado. [2] Additionally, the bright and colorful blue, yellow and red "circus train" livery was dropped in favor of the new Tuscan red and gold stripe livery. [2] On March 9, 2000, the Great Smoky Mountain Railway was renamed to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. [2]
Tourist trains of the GSMR route use a route passing through "fertile valleys, a tunnel and across river gorges" in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Tourist excursions use the line between Dillsboro and Bryson City (16 miles or 26 km in length) and the line between Bryson City and Nantahala (22 miles or 35 km in length). The GSMR eventually would become one of the most popular tourist railroads in the United States with about 200,000 passengers each year. [5] The railroad also has transported freight via an interchange with the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad in Sylva near Jackson Paper Manufacturing. [6]
In 2004, GSMR debuted its "Polar Express" train ride, based on the newly released movie and licensed through Warner Brothers. This ride has been an annual 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, due an unresolved dispute with the Dillsboro Town Council, the GSMR decided to relocate its headquarters from Dillsboro to Bryson City and close the Dillsboro depot. [7] However, the Tuckasegee River excursions between Dillsboro and Bryson City continued, with the trips originating in Bryson City and laying over in Dillsboro. [7]
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak caused the GSMR to suspend operations. [8] However, they resumed on June 4, 2020, with provisions for public health such as social distancing. [8]
Operational diesel locomotives have come and gone over the years at GSMR. The railroad boasts a current 2023 operational diesel locomotive roster of seven 4-axle (B-B) units, as any 6-axle (C-C) unit would be too big for the tunnels, and too long for some the line's tight or sharp curves. All of the current units were built by The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD). GSMR has two GP9s, Nos. 1751 and 1755, a GP30 (upgraded to a GP30-3 retaining its original GP30 car body) No. 2467, a GP35 (upgraded to a GP38-3M retaining its original GP35 car body) No. 1009, a GP38-2 No. 2668, and their two newest diesels, GP38-2 No. 2335 and F9A No. 4210. [9] [10]
The railroad owns 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 during World War II. In 1991, it was purchased by the GSMR until 2005, when it was taken out of service due to firebox issues. [7] In 2012, the GSMR made an agreement with Swain County of North Carolina donating $700,000 to construct a new steam locomotive workshop for the restoration of No. 1702 and installing a new turntable in Bryson City for the locomotive to be turned around. [11] Afterwards, the restoration work of No. 1702 began in mid 2014 and completed in late July 2016 with the locomotive reentering excursion service. [12]
The railroad also owns another 2-8-0, Southern Railway Ks-1 No. 722, which worked on the former Murphy Branch from 1904 to 1952 and later operated from 1970 to 1980 in the Southern Railway's steam excursion program. The GSMR purchased it in late 2000 and planned to restore it to operating condition by 2026. The locomotive will be converted to burn oil like No. 1702. [13] [14]
In 2010 the railroad purchased a third steam locomotive, a former Swedish State Railways 4-6-0 #1149, [15] from the defunct Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad. This locomotive was originally slated to be moved to the GSMR in spring 2011. However, the engine remained on the B&ML for two more years. Ultimately, the railroad deemed the locomotive's planned move too costly and instead sold it to the Discovery Park of America [15] in Union City, Tennessee.
GSMR retired GP9 No. 777 in 2020 and GP9 No. 711 in 2022. The two units were purchased by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson (best known as MrBeast), who used no. 777 in a train vs. tank stunt for a YouTube video. He used 711 for a different stunt in a later video. Both videos were uploaded to YouTube in 2022. 777 was scrapped soon after the video it was featured in, and 711 was left abandoned in a field in Whittier, NC.
Number | Image | Type | Wheel Arrangement | Classification | Builder | Built | Serial Number | Former Owner | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
722 | Steam | 2-8-0 | Ks-1 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 1904 | 24729 | Southern Railway | Undergoing restoration | |
1702 | Steam | 2-8-0 | S160 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 1942 | 64641 | U.S. Army, Warren & Saline River Railroad, Reader Railroad, Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Railroad | Operational | |
1009 | – | Diesel | (B-B) | GP38-3M | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1964 | 29006 | Pennsylvania Railroad | Operational |
1751 | Diesel | (B-B) | GP9 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1955 | 19968 | Southern Pacific, Arizona Eastern Railway, San Joaquin Valley Railroad | Operational | |
1755 | – | Diesel | (B-B) | GP9 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1956 | 21359 | Southern Pacific, Arizona Eastern Railway, San Joaquin Valley Railroad | Operational |
2335 | – | Diesel | (B-B) | GP38-2 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1972 | 7342 | St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, BNSF Railway | Operational |
2467 | – | Diesel | (B-B) | GP30-3 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1963 | 28092 | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, BNSF Railway | Operational |
2668 | Diesel | (B-B) | GP38-3 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1971 | 37275 | Louisville and Nashville, GATX | Operational | |
4210 | – | Diesel | (B-B) | F9a | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1971 | 37275 | - | Operational |
No. 777 was retired in early 2020 and No. 711 in early 2022.
Number | Image | Type | Wheel Arrangement | Classification | Builder | Built | Serial Number | Former Owner | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
223 | Diesel | (B-B) | GP35 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1964 | 29223 | - | Now CBR 1916 in Oregon | |
711 | Diesel | (B-B) | GP7 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1954 | 19104 | Chicago and North Western, Union Pacific | Abandoned at a field in Whittier, North Carolina | |
777 | Diesel | (B-B) | GP7 | Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) | 1954 | 19874 | Chicago and North Western, Union Pacific | Scrapped |
The railroad owns the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum in Bryson City, North Carolina; located across Greenlee Street from the Bryson City Depot. [18] [19] 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. [18] [19]
GSMR's No. 1702 steam locomotive was featured in the 1966 film, This Property Is Condemned , starring Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, and Charles Bronson. [16]
The famous train wreck scene in the 1993 Warner Brothers blockbuster movie The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones was filmed in Dillsboro along the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. [20]
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad was used in the filming of 1996 Warner Brothers comedy My Fellow Americans starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner; they stumble onto a charter train full of UNC-Chapel Hill fans headed for the NCAA Final Four.
Train scenes in the 1999 DreamWorks SKG film Forces of Nature starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock also were filmed on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
Jackson County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,109. Since 1913, its county seat has been Sylva, which replaced Webster.
Dillsboro is a town in Jackson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 232 at the 2010 census.
Bryson City is a town in and the county seat of Swain County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,558 as of the 2020 census. Located in what was historically the land of the Cherokee, Bryson City was founded as Charleston to serve as the county seat of Swain County when it was formed from parts of surrounding counties. It grew into an important local rail hub. Today the city serves as a popular tourist destination, lying just to the west of the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for outdoor activities in the Nantahala National Forest, and along the Nantahala River and Fontana Lake, and serves as the home of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, a heritage railroad that provides tours of the Nantahala valley. The popular Nantahala Outdoor Center provides guide services for many of the outdoor activities in the area.
The EMD GP30 is a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada, including 40 cabless B units for the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cylinder engine, which generates 2,000 horsepower.
The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Railway's 1896-era Spencer Shops and devotes much of its space to the state's railroad history. The museum has the largest collection of rail relics in the Carolinas. Its Back Shop building of nearly three stories high is notable for its size, two football fields long.
Union Pacific 844 is a class "FEF-3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad for its heritage fleet. Built in December 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 844 is one of four surviving FEF series locomotives and the only one in operation.
The New Hope Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Bonsal, North Carolina operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., an all-volunteer, nonprofit, and tax exempt educational and historical organization.
The Murphy Branch is a branch line operated by the Western North Carolina Railroad, later the Richmond and Danville, Southern Railway, the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and today the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad. The branch runs between Asheville, North Carolina in the east and Murphy in the west.
The Great Smoky Mountains Expressway is a four-lane divided highway that serves as the main east–west corridor through Southwestern North Carolina; connecting the towns of Bryson City, Sylva and Waynesville to Interstate 40. Its establishment and funding was made possible by the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS), designed to generate economic development in previously isolated areas, supplement the interstate system and provide access to areas within the region as well as to markets in the rest of the nation.
An oil burner engine is a steam engine that uses oil as its fuel. The term is usually applied to a locomotive or ship engine that burns oil to heat water, to produce the steam which drives the pistons, or turbines, from which the power is derived.
Nantahala Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Bryson City, North Carolina. The brewery was founded in 2009 by Chris Collier, Joe Rowland and Ken Smith. It's located at 61 Depot Street, Bryson City, North Carolina, across the street from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad train depot. September 2023 - Nantahala Brewing Company is closed
Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it resides today for use on excursion trains.
Southern Railway 722 is a class "Ks-1" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in September 1904 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works to run on the Murphy Branch, where it hauled freight trains between Asheville and Murphy, North Carolina for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 1952, it was purchased by the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), alongside its sister locomotive No. 630, where they were served as switchers around Johnson City and Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Tennessee Valley Railroad No. 610 is a preserved S160 Class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation for the U.S. Army in March 1952. It is one of the last steam locomotives built for service in the United States and the last new steam locomotive acquired by the U.S. Army. As of 2023, No. 610 is owned by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
The Graham County Railroad was a logging railroad that began operations in 1925 and operated just over 15 miles of track.
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad 1702 is an S160 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in September 1942 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps during World War II. After the war ended, the No. 1702 locomotive worked on two railroads in Arkansas and one in Nebraska.
The Bryson City Depot is a train station located in Bryson City, North Carolina, United States. It serves as the only active station along the Murphy Branch, a rail line that traverses from Asheville to Murphy in Western North Carolina. Owned and operated by the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, it serves as both the begin and end point of various scenic excursion trains.