Graham County Railroad | Smoky Mountains Shay Steam Train on a Logging Shortline Railroad”

“Journey back to the mountains of North Carolina for the incredible story of the Graham County Railroad — one of America’s last logging lines, where Shay steam locomotives roared through the Smokies until floods and time brought it all to an end.”Join us for the March 1969 visit to the steam powered Graham County Railroad. This was an authentic logging shortline railroad that started operating in 1925 and represented railroading in the style of the 1920's when steam was king and mountain railroading was a way of life. This was real back woods railroading with livestock on the tracks and taking water from creeks. It connected Robbinsville, North Carolina, to the Southern Railway at Topton, North Carolina. The railroad was started by a group of mountain men who realized that Graham County timber could only be removed by rail. Substantial acres of Timberlands were purchase by different Lumber companies which fueled the startup of the railroad. The Western North Carolina Railroad completed the line to Murphy NC and that marked the opening of a vast area of previously inaccessible mountain timber. Portable saw mills invaded the Smokies back in the nineteenth century and made their mark in nearly every valley and hollow in the mountains. Logs were harnessed to oxen and skidded to mills. As more timber was cut it became necessary to devise better means of getting the logs to the mill. The invention of the Shay geared steam locomotive by Ephraim Shay revolutionized the logging industry. The Shay was able to climb grades and negotiate sharp curves and poor track that stopped ordinary trains. The Bear Creek Scenic Railroad was a short-lived tourist operation started in 1966 based in the western North Carolina mountain community of Topton. Tourist trains traversed the route of the much-celebrated Graham County Railroad. Graham County steam was used to haul passengers from Topton up into the Nantahala National Forest, to an overlook platform with views of the Nantahala Gorge. Freight trains continued along the full 15 mile route as far as Robbinsville, North Carolina. The short line ceased all operations by august 14, 1970 after its major shipper closed and freight traffic dwindled. Both freight and passenger trains resumed for two years in 1973 as Burlington Industries bought the line and began operating freight again. The #1925 would take over excursion runs for the Bear Creek Scenic but they ceased again after a bridge washout.The #1925 would have the honor of handling the very last revenue freight in May that same year. The line would reopen for operations yet again in 1982, but the Bear Creek Scenic Railroad would not return, and #1925 would be kept in storage. The line would last just another year before shutting down in 1983. In 1987, the GCRR tracks were taken up, and the following year, the #1925 would be donated to the North Carolina Transportation Museum.Happily, the four Shay steamers rostered by the Graham County have all been preserved.