I have visited and ridden on various trains of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (http://www.gsmr.com) out of Dillsboro, NC and Bryson City, NC on various occasions but never previously expereinced what is depicted in this photographic sequence. On April 16, 2008 by sheer coincidence I was driving through the Nantahala Gorge and heard a train whistle. Looking back I realized that a train was approaching and, like any good rail buff, I pulled off to take pictures. To my surprise, the train stopped exactly where I was standing, a few passengers got off, and the crew proceeded to uncouple the engine. Talking to one of them, he said that it was an excursion run that went a bit further than normal to drop off some white water rafters and that they were going to turn the engine to take the train back to Bryson City. The photos below show the entire sequence. The engine is uncoupled, switched to a passing spur, returned on the adjacent track passing the train to another switch, returns to the mainline, and backs down the track to couple with the caboose and reverse the direction of the train to return to Bryson City.

Train approaching


Train stopped on mainline




Locomotive pulling away from the train


Passengers waiting on the caboose for the return of the locomotive


Locomotive passing the train on the adjacent siding




Locomotive headed North on the siding


Locomotive returning on the mainline




Backing to couple with the caboose


Completing the coupling and getting ready to return to Bryson City