October Heritage Day

JOHNSON CITY — The George L. Carter Railroad Museum at East Tennessee State University will feature the railroads of the South on Saturday, Oct. 27. The Heritage Days program, scheduled on the final Saturday of each month, will present not only the legendary Southern Railway, but the many lines of the Southeast, from the Carolinas to Florida and outward to New Orleans.

“We have always had Southern Railway-oriented Heritage Days in the past, and we have been expanding the program to allow for more variety for our visitors,” noted Geoff Stunkard, Heritage Days coordinator. “This will be a special day for fans of all southern and southeastern railroads. Between the vacation traffic that rode the passenger trains, to great produce, both domestic and imported, they played a major role in the national transportation scene.”

The lines in Johnson City were all major carriers that linked the South and North, the Southern Railway toward the Eastern Seaboard and the Clinchfield toward the Midwest. While the Southern Railway truly served the South, the Clinchfield linked to the seaboard and Atlantic Coast lines, both railroads that stretched into Georgia and Florida. Other Southern operations included the regionals like the Florida East Coast, the Nashville, the Chattanooga and St. Louis, and the Central of Georgia, as well as such national lines as the Illinois Central, Louisville and Nashville.

The Mountain Empire Model Railroaders (MEMRR) club and the George L. Carter Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society will be Heritage Day hosts. Some will show off personal equipment on the museum’s massive 24x44-foot HO scale model display, which was recently equipped with the dynamic Rolling Thunder sound system. Mountain railroading films will be shown.

Located in the Campus Center Building at ETSU, the Carter Railroad Museum is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and includes model railroad layouts, a children’s activity room and ongoing programs. Heritage Day is held the last Saturday of each month. There is no admission fee, but donations are welcome. 

The museum is also seeking artifacts for its displays, including the newest addition dedicated to the “Tweetsie” line, the ET&WNC, which will be open for guided tours during event days. In addition to the displays, there is a growing research library, and an oral history archive is being established as part of the museum’s programs. For more information, visit www.etsu.edu/railroad.

Members of the George L. Carter Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and MEMRR coordinate the exhibits. For more information, visit www.memrr.org or www.glcarternrhs.com.

The Carter Railroad Museum can be identified by a flashing railroad-crossing signal at the back entrance to the Campus Center Building. Visitors should enter ETSU’s campus from State of Franklin Road onto Jack Vest Drive and continue east to 176 Ross Drive, adjacent to the flashing RR crossing sign.

For more information about Heritage Day, contact Dr. Fred Alsop at 423-439-6838 or alsopf@etsu.edu.  For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.

Media Contact:
Amanda Mowell
mowella@etsu.edu
423-439-4317