Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (reporting mark GSMR) is a heritage and freight railroad based in Bryson City, North Carolina, United States. It is owned and operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc. The railroad operates excursion trains on the former Southern Railway's Murphy branch line between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. The GSMR is one of the most popular tourist railroads in the United States, with about 200,000 passengers each year.

This article is about a tourist railroad in North Carolina. For the defunct east Tennessee short line railroad, see Smoky Mountain Railroad.
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
Overview
HeadquartersBryson City, North Carolina
Reporting markGSMR
LocaleWestern North Carolina
Dates of operation1988–present
PredecessorSouthern Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length53 miles (85 kilometers)
Other
Websitewww.gsmr.com

Background
The GSMR's Bryson City Depot in 2008

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.

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). (Several miles of the line from the far western end of the Nantahala Gorge to Andrews are out of service). The GSMR eventually would become one of the most popular tourist railroads in the United States with about 200,000 passengers each year.[3] The railroad also has transported freight via an interchange with the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad in Sylva near Jackson Paper Manufacturing.[4]

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, over an unresolved dispute with the Dillsboro Town Council the GSMR decided to relocate the headquarters from Dillsboro to Bryson City and close the Dillsboro depot.[5] However, the Tuckasegee River excursions between Dillsboro and Bryson City continued, with the trips originating in Bryson City and laying over in Dillsboro.[5]

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak caused the GSMR to suspend operations.[6] However, they resumed on June 4, 2020, with provisions for public health such as social distancing.[6]

Equipment

Locomotives

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 it's original GP30 car body) No. 2467, a GP35 (upgraded to a GP38-3M retaining it's original GP35 car body) No. 1009, a GP38-2 No. 2668, and their two newest diesels, GP38-2 No. 2335 and F9A No. 4210.[7][8]

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.[5] 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.[9] Afterwards, the restoration work of No. 1702 began in mid 2014 and completed in late July 2016 with the locomotive reentering excursion service.[10]

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 from The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum of Chattanooga, Tennessee in late 2000. In May 2023, GSMR announced that restoration to operating condition had commenced. The locomotive will be converted to burn oil like 1702.[11][12]

In 2010 the railroad purchased a third steam locomotive, a former Swedish State Railways 4-6-0 #1149,[13] 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[13] in Union City, Tennessee.

In 2020, GSMR retired GP7 No. 711, and GP9 No. 777. The two units were purchased by YouTuber, Jimmy Davison (Best known as MrBeast), who used no. 777 in a train vs. tank stunt for a YouTube video. Then he used 711 for a different stunt in a later video. Both videos were uploaded onto 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.

Current locomotive roster
Locomotive details[14][15]
NumberImageTypeWheel ArrangementClassificationBuilderBuiltSerial NumberStatus
1702Steam2-8-0S160Baldwin Locomotive Works194264641Operational
722Steam2-8-0Ks-1Baldwin Locomotive Works190424729Undergoing restoration
1751Diesel(B-B)GP9Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)195519968Operational
1755–Diesel(B-B)GP9Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)195621359Operational
2467–Diesel(B-B)GP30-3Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)196328092Operational
1009–Diesel(B-B)GP38-3MElectro-Motive Diesel (EMD)196429006Operational
2668–Diesel(B-B)GP38-3Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)197137275Operational
2335–Diesel(B-B)GP38-2Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)19727342Operational
4210–Diesel(B-B)F9aElectro-Motive Diesel (EMD)197137275Operational

Retired locomotives

No. 777 was retired in early 2020 and No. 711 in early 2022.

NumberImageTypeWheel ArrangementClassificationBuilderBuiltSerial NumberStatus
711–Diesel(B-B)GP9Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)195419104Abandoned In field
777Diesel(B-B)GP9Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD)195419874Scrapped

Towns and attractions served

Smoky Mountain Trains Museum

The railroad owns the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum in Bryson City, North Carolina; located across Greenlee Street from the Bryson City Depot.[16][17] 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.[16][17]

GSMR's No. 1702 steam locomotive was featured in the 1966 film, This Property Is Condemned, starring Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, and Charles Bronson.[14]

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.[18]

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.

Incidents

See also

References
  1. "History". Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. American Heritage Railways. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  2. Majors-Duff, Lisa (March 9, 2000). "Attraction's new owner has big plans for Great Smoky Mountain Railroad". The Sylva Herald and Ruralite. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  3. "10 Fun Facts About the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad". Watershed Cabins. December 28, 2020. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  4. "Freight Services". Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. American Heritage Railways. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  5. Plott & Plott (2021), p. 187.
  6. "A timeline: COVID-19 pandemic hits one-year mark in N.C." Smoky Mountain Times. March 10, 2021. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  7. Plott & Plott (2021), p. 185.
  8. "Great Smoky Mountains Railroad adds another engine to fleet". Smoky Mountain Times. January 6, 2021. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  9. "GSMR Steam Engine #1702 Restoration Update". Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. American Heritage Railways. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  10. Kays, Holly (August 3, 2016). "Renewed steam engine service excites Bryson, Dillsboro business owners". Smoky Mountain News. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  11. "Great Smoky Mountain Railroad to restore Southern No. 722 to operation". Trains. Kalmbach Media. May 21, 2023. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  12. "Southern Railway No. 722 restoration work begins at GSMR". Trains. Kalmbach. August 2023. p. 40.
  13. Karlsson, Lars Olov (2013). Ånglok vid Sveriges normalspåriga enskilda järnvägar. Del 2. MBJ–ÖVJ (in Swedish). Malmö: Frank Stenvalls Förlag. p. 154. ISBN 9-789172-661875.
  14. George & Strack (2012), pp. 147–149.
  15. George & Strack (2012), p. 176.
  16. "Great Smoky Mountains Hosts HRA Spring Meeting". HeritageRail News. HeritageRail Alliance. May 15, 2017. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  17. "Smoky Mountain Trains Museum". Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. American Heritage Railways. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  18. George & Strack (2012), p. 47.
  19. Hodge, Rex (August 22, 2017). "8 injured, bus driver charged after collision with Great Smoky Mountains train". WLOS. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2023.

Bibliography
  • George, Michael; Strack, Frank (2012). Passage Through Time: The Official Guidebook (3rd ed.). Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
  • Plott, Jacob; Plott, Bob (2021). Smoky Mountain Railways (1st ed.). The History Press. ISBN 978-1-4671-4459-9.
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