Charleston Living Magazine Nov-Dec 2021

BUZZ | ROAD TRIP
they return to the Bryson City Depot.
Bryson City is abuzz with magical smiles
and laughter from kids and adults wearing
pajamas around town waiting to board the
train for the experience. When train-goers
see Santa and the North Pole, excitement
fills the air. It’s a win for everyone, as so many
wonderful memories are made. Once at the
North Pole, they will see the Hero Boy and
Elves as well! It’s a special transformation of
the year-round train operation.
Originally known as The Murphy
Branch, a former branch line of the Southern
Railway between Dillsboro and Andrews, the
iron rails brought new life to the mountains
of Western North Carolina in 1880. In a time
when mercantile business was scarce and
only a few commodities of bare necessities
were around, landlocked mountaineers began
receiving knocks on their door from floods
of salesmen who peddled oil lamps that superseded
tallow candles and New England
“factory cloth” to replace scratchy, uncomfortable
homespun. From door to door, they
sold books, pump organs, enlarged pictures,
jewelry, lightning rods, baubles and doodads.
The turn of the 20th century brought
about four daily services between Asheville
and Murphy. The rail line experienced its
heaviest use during wartime, in the early
1940s when the massive Fontana Dam was
constructed. Thousands of carloads of cement,
equipment and other materials
reached the construction site by rail on a spur
line built from Bushnell to Fontana. Huge
shipments of copper ore from mines in the
western end of North Carolina and Copperhill,
TN, increased the line’s tonnage. In the
1920s, ribbons of concrete crawled through
the mountains, linking towns together.
With the increasing popularity of the
automobile, passenger traffic on the railroad
declined, discontinuing all passenger traffic
on the Murphy Branch on July 16, 1948,
ending 64 years of service that had opened
Western North Carolina to the outside
world. When freight traffic dropped off by
1985, Norfolk Southern closed the Andrews
to Murphy leg of the Murphy Branch, and
the state of North Carolina purchased the
Dillsboro to Murphy tracks to keep them
from being destroyed.
The Great Smoky Mountains Railway
was formed in 1988. American Heritage Railways
purchased it in December 1999. Today it
operates as the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
(GSMR) and an upward of 200,000 passengers
enjoy the scenery and the experience
of a true operational railroad each year aboard
passenger excursion trains. Special themed
trains and events run at different times during
the year, including the Steam of the Smokies,
steam engine No. 1702, Western North Carolina’s
most historic steam locomotives with a
rich history and impressive engineering.
Premier Special Event Trains
» Uncorked Wine and Rail: Plan ahead
for February 2022! A pairing experience
with first-class dining offered certain days
throughout the season. Everyone receives an
exceptional meal paired perfectly with samples
of multiple wines and comes with a souvenir
GSMR wine glass to take home. Adults
Only.
46 | CharlestonLivingMag.com
(Above): Bryson City, NC gets into the holiday
spirit with families encouraged to wear pajamas
on the train. Left: The Swain County Heritage
Museum in downtown Bryson City, decked out
during the holiday season, lets visitors view a
restored log cabin porch, the 1887 church organ,
one-room schoolhouse desks, plus a children’s
activity area and offers free admission. Below:
Downtown Bryson City is a holiday wonderland
with holiday lights and festive shops downtown.