trains

[Ridgerunner]

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived very close to the railroad tracks. Every night at 3 a.m. a train would come by with horn blaring and would almost jar him out of bed. After several weeks of being awakened every night, the man became accustomed to the noise and no longer was disturbed. Then one night for some reason the train did not come by. At one minute past 3 o'clock the man sat up in bed and yelled, "What was that?!!"

[SPLIT]

No one shared some train movie filming this week in Chattanooga. Seems George CLOONEY and Renee ZELLERGER were filming a new 1920's era,movie,LEATHERHEADS at the Tenn Valley RR Musuem. Some city scenery and musuem rolling stock cars were used in the shoot.

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by JMT

That is a beautiful train ride! Definitely worth the price.

Just over the mountains is the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad in Dillsboro NC. One of the neat things it passes by is the bus crash from the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford, which was filmed right there in the NC mountains and was a real crash--they could film it only once! The wreckage is still there.

There's also a fall train excursion from Nashville to Cookeville that's really popular.

There's a commuter train between Nashville and Lebanon, the only one in Tennessee (so far). In the mornings it goes from Lebanon to downtown Nashville, and in the afternoons it goes from downtown Nashville to Lebanon.

And firepower is right, the Nashville and Eastern Railroad is improving the train line between Cookeville and Monterey to allow freight trains to return to Monterey for the first time in 20 years. They're also improving the tracks between Lebanon and Cookeville to eventually allow regular passenger train service again all the way to Cookeville.

But what I really like is the paved trail they're building alongside the renovated tracks from Cookeville to Monterey. It's an absolutely beautiful trail up the mountain to Monterey, and they hope it'll become a tourist draw similar to the Virginia Creeper trail near the Tri Cities in Damascus, Virginia.

JMT, I'm glad you mentioned the Virginia Creeper Trail. It is great!

[jkmewright]

Originally Posted by firepower

But if you REALLY want to watch trains...Go to the Harriman/Rockwood area & go north along hwy 27. The area of the Norfolk Southern mainline there is known as the "Rathole". Named for this years ago because the line from Danville,KY to Harriman,TN had as many as 27 tunnels.Since a line relocation in the mid 60's it's down to 4 or 5 but there's still great railroading on the line.It's the main line between Cincinatti & Atlanta.Basically follows hwy 27 most of the way.Averages 25-30 trains every 24 hrs.Sometimes more. There's a city park in Onieda that sits right beside the rails.
firepower

Resurrected from the dead...

Firepower, we made the Harriman/Rockwood trip this fall and I tell ya, it was worth it! We chatted with the crews as they loaded and unloaded too. Great spot for train lovers

[firepower]

Originally Posted by jkmewright

Resurrected from the dead...

Firepower, we made the Harriman/Rockwood trip this fall and I tell ya, it was worth it! We chatted with the crews as they loaded and unloaded too. Great spot for train lovers

Ain't it though! Can't wait for the weather to warm up some. Gonna try and find a place called Camp Austin,between Wartburg & Harriman.Tracks run right beside the Emory River and a small recreation area.Take my 9 year old son & our fishing poles!


firepower

[jkmewright]

Sounds like fun! I think we are heading back up that way this spring. If you find it please let me know so we can scout it out too. Sounds like fun! Fishin' and trains!