Carter Railroad excursion
JOHNSON CITY (Oct. 9, 2018) – The George L. Carter Railroad Museum at East Tennessee State University and the George L. Carter Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society will co-host a train excursion on the Big South Fork Railway on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Passengers will ride the former Kentucky and Tennessee Railway 14 miles roundtrip into the Daniel Boone National Forest and the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, which offers spectacular fall scenic vistas, lush vegetation and mountain streams as it descends 600 feet into the gorge. The train will stop at the Blue Heron Coal Mining Camp, a National Park Service outdoor interpretive site.
Tickets for the excursion are $85 each and include the roundtrip bus ride to Stearns, Kentucky, roundtrip train fare on the Big South Fork Scenic Railway, a “coal miner” lunch box and admission to the McCreary County Museum.
The town of Stearns was built in the early 1900s and served as a logging and mining empire that would eventually control over 200 square miles of land, resulting in the creation of the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway and the first all-electric sawmill in the U.S. The Kentucky & Tennessee Railway once stretched over 25 miles into the Big South Fork River valley and operated 12 steam locomotives. It served as the primary passage not only for timber and coal, but also for workers and supplies going to camps along its line. The K&T, like many short line railroads, operated steam locomotives several years after the mainline railroads had switched to diesel power. In the 1950s, the Stearns Company closed several coal mines, and the K&T discontinued passenger service. Coal mining ceased along the K&T in 1987.
Ticket order forms for the train excursion and liability waiver forms are available at the Carter Railroad Museum, located in the Campus Center Building at ETSU, open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by visiting the George L. Carter Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society website, www.glcarternrhs.com and clicking on “Excursions.” A signed liability waiver form must accompany the ticket request form.
Passengers should arrive at ETSU's parking lot No. 22A on Go Bucs Trail (accessible from Jack Vest Drive off State of Franklin Road or South Greenwood Drive off State of Franklin Road) at 6:15 a.m. to be checked in and loaded onto the bus by 6:45 a.m. to depart promptly at 7 a.m. The bus will not wait and will not refund tickets for late arrivals.
Ticket requests are due by Saturday, Oct. 13. Make check or money order (no cash please) payable to George L. Carter Chapter, NRHS.
For more information about the excursion, contact Bill Beagen at 423-833-6906.
Media contact
Amanda Mowell
mowella@etsu.edu
423-439-4317