Big South Fork Scenic Railway

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Ready to see the sights. What sights? We’re on the Big South Fork Scenic Railway.

train engine
Diesel engine on the trail

Currently the train is pulled by this diesel engine. They’re renovating a steam engine that will be used in the future. I’m not sure which is better; smelling diesel smoke on the ride or having smoke and ash rain down from a steam engine.

rock walls
Narrow slot for the train

They clearly didn’t waste a lot of effort creating clearance for the train when they cut the bed through the hills here.

rock walls close by
Keep your hands in the car here

I didn’t get the closest shot of the rocks. I should have looked at the sides of the train to look for scrapes from the train wobbling.

rock shelf
I thought I saw a gnome

Someone set up a colorful garden gnome on this rock shelf in the hillside. My cell phone camera couldn’t shoot fast enough and we were past it.

Blue Heron history placard
The stop on the train

The train’s sole destination is the somewhat historic Blue Heron coal and lumber camp. This placard explains some of the history.

coal tippler
Tippler for grading and loading coal

One feature of this camp was this very advanced coal tippler. At the time it was built it was the most modern I think in the world. Unfortunately the coal seams here weren’t as abundant as thought.

There was a small museum associated with this camp but not a lot of attraction.

Biltmore

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Fountain on the wall at the Biltmore

Nat and I visited the Biltmore as part of the BMW RA rally there. We even managed to carry Sammie along.

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Statue of Pan next to the pool

The pool has been filled in to restore things to original.

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White tree frog in one pool

It was fun looking for critters in the garden pools.

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On the roof of the Biltmore during tour

This is Nat taking pictures on the roof of the Biltmore during the Architect’s tour.

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A grotesque on the roof