If you're into loops, check out the old Clinchfield RR between Spruce Pine, NC and Ashford, NC.Shooshie wrote:Haha! I thought the same thing when I was there. I wondered what it's like to tell people you live at Old Fort, and to hear the same wisecracks over and over all your life. Probably why there aren't a lot of people living there!Tritonemusic wrote:I can't help it...I must admit that I was quickly skimming and read that as "Loops for Old Farts." Perhaps because I am an old fart and do occasionally use loops.Shooshie wrote:..."Loops at Old Fort,"
The loops at Old Fort are amazing. In order to get over a mountain, the Southern Railroad created a winding track 13 miles long to travel 3 miles. The track keeps looping back to almost the same place, but a little higher each time. It's not as famous as Tehachapi Loop between Mojave and Bakersfield, California — which is still one of the most amazing bits of railroading on the planet, but technically the Old Fort Loops rank right up there with Tehachapi, with an even steeper grade. It's in North Carolina, about a half-hour's drive east of Asheville. From Old Fort you follow Mill Creek Road (Old US 70) north-west into the hills. Pretty soon you come up on Andrew's Geyser, next to Round Knob Lodge. In Google or Apple Maps, you'd zoom out a little at Andrew's Geyser and you'll see the tracks outlining a floral shape, where it keeps tracing the basins of hills and valleys, returning almost to its starting point, but at a higher level. The quickest way to find it is to look up Andrew's Geyser, North Carolina in Google Maps, or Round Knob Lodge in Apple Maps. It'll take you almost to the center of it.
YouTube has many videos of it, but it doesn't lend itself to video except from the air. Trees block the various levels. But if you were there in winter, you'd see a lot more. (leaves gone from trees) Nevertheless, it's still quite a sight, when you can see the train right above you, and hear the engines returning again and again while you're still watching it. If you drive further up Mill Creek Road, you can find better vantage points from which to observe their passage.
There are many other railroad "loops" in the US, including
• Big 10 Curve west of west of Denver, where the BNSF track hits the Rockies
• some big curves on the UP/AT&SF at Cajon Pass
• Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania
• Georgetown Loop Railroad in Colorado
• Austin Loops at Iron Ridge, Montana
And many, many more. They usually mean spectacular scenery, since that's what made them necessary in the first place. As tourist sites go, they're usually off the beaten path, and not that many people know about them, except for rail fans. They make for worthy treks!
Shooshie
A guided tour via google maps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo5RiztRA3o