Torrents and trestles in Toccoa and Tallulah
The second, from Gulahiyi at Ruminations from the Distant Hills, remembers a 1977 flood that killed 39 people at Toccoa Falls College.
First, the railroad; the Murphy branch of the Southern Railroad is a long, lonesome and fragile strand of rails. It is the only railroad line west of Asheville, and it connects a string of small towns that once depended on it for their existence. That the line itself still exists is remarkable. Southern says it is still profitable as far as Sylva, and the Great Smoky Mountains Railway owns the line on west to its terminus in Murphy.
As I understand it, state law says it can’t be abandoned, so if the GSMR were to close up shop, ownership would revert to Southern.
Coming west, the line leaves Waynesville and climbs up to Balsam, which once boasted the highest railroad depot east of the Rockies. Balsam is still home to a railroading throwback – the grand, century-old Balsam Mountain Inn. The 42,000 square-foot inn, which had 100 rooms when it opened, was one of many such grand hotels that the railroad served. The line then drops down a serious incline (for rail) into Sylva, crossing and re-crossing Scotts Creek over dozens of trestles as it comes.
Tabler’s description of the Tallulah Falls Railway describes similar countryside.
An excerpt:
Perhaps the most distinguishing single characteristic of the Tallulah Falls Railroad was its fascinating variety of trademark trestles. Forty-two of these massive wooden wonders had to be negotiated along the scenic journey, each having to bear the full weight of a 140,000 lb. locomotive and its heavy load. It is these forty-two trestles which created much of the line’s personality, and more than any other single feature dramatically reflected the type of country that the TF served – rugged, wild and often dangerous.
The trestles of the Tallulah Falls Railroad were quite varied. The shortest of the trestles was approximately 25 feet in length, while the longest is generally considered to be the 940 feet long scenic wonder which skirted the rooftops over the town of Tallulah Falls. The only exception to the wooden trestles along the line was the massive 585 feet long steel and concrete bridge spanning Tallulah Lake.
Recent wet weather — the first such weather in the southern mountains in a few years — brought to mind for Gulahiyi the dam break just over 30 years ago.
He has a link to video from Toccoa Falls this week, and some nice photography of his own.
Tags: Appalachia, appalachian history, Balsam, balsam mountain inn, Franklin, great smoky mountains railway, mountains, Scotts Creek, southern railway, Sylva, tallulah falls, wnc railroad
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