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Riding the Hook and Eye

On Friday, October 30 Irene and I drove 97 miles to Etowah, TN, to ride the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s (TVRM) Hiwassee Loop excursion train. It boards just south of Etowah at the Hiwassee Ocoee State Park and travels east through the Hiwassee Gorge and the famous spiral loops to Farner, TN. George has heard of and known about the hook and eye route as it was sometimes called for years, but we just found out that an excursion train is operating on it. The “eye” in the name is obvious when you see how the train loops back through the trestle it just crossed like the threading of a needle, and “hook” came from a pair of sharp curves near Talking Rock, GA.

Anyone who has driven up US 411 from Cartersville, GA, to Knoxville, TN, would have noticed that a rail line follows the road all the way. Actually the road was built after the rail line, so it is the road that is following the rail line which was built in the early 1890’s. Today the line is owned by CSX railroad but was preceded by a long pedigree of railroads that went bankrupt or merged. The original plan was to connect Cincinnati with Atlanta. South of Etowah, TN, the line went through the Hiwassee River Gorge where construction was difficult and the narrow gorge required the line to be constructed using hand tools, black powder, and mules. At the east end of the gorge a new obstacle was encountered in the form of Bald Mountain where a 200 ft. climb was necessary to get the line out of the gorge. Originally Bald Mountain was ascended using a set of steep switchbacks, but later they proved to be an operational nightmare. The railroad then brought in an engineer from the Louisville and Nashville railroad who proposed to reduce the grade by constructing a spiral loop. Of note there are five of these loops in the United States, but the Bald Mountain loop is said to be the most spectacular because it encircles the mountain almost twice during the ascent.

The Hiwassee Gorge route got heavy use when copper ore was discovered in Copper Hill, TN. Trains hauled the copper and the sulfuric acid used to process it. South of Copper Hill the line continued on to Murphy, NC, Blue Ridge, GA, and Ellijay, GA. Somewhere between Blue Ridge and Ellijay George’s father saw his first train from atop a mountain ridge about two miles from the family home. He was born in 1900. From Ellijay the line continued to Talking Rock, Jasper, Tate, Canton, and Marietta. In later years the Louisville and Nashville Railroad took over the line, and despite improvements, the extremely curvy mountainous route offered too many operational challenges for the L&N’s main line operation between Cincinnati and Atlanta. So, in 1906 a new straighter, faster line was opened from Etowah to Atlanta. It immediately became known as the “new line,” and the Hiwassee Gorge line became known as the “old line.” The new line is the route that is paralleled by U.S. 411 as mentioned earlier. From Etowah it routed straight down to Tennga, GA, and on to Chatsworth, Fairmount, and Cartersville. The L&N also at this time moved their Atlanta Division to Etowah and built shops there. Today there are still multiple tracks at Etowah, and its prior prominence also accounts for the large station that still serves the community as a railroad museum and community center.

Copper mining kept the old line profitable during the 20^th century, but the closing of the mines in the 1960’s foreshadowed the abandonment of the old line by the CSX. George had relatives in Copperhill, and he remembers visiting as a child and seeing the stark, barren hillsides stripped bare of vegetation and trees by sulfuric acid fumes. All of that has been cleaned up and new trees planted.

The CSX received permission from the FCC to abandon the line in 2001. Local interests and rail buffs under the banner “Old Line Coalition” worked to save the line with the idea of operating an excursion train, but CSX placed a 1.6 million dollar price tag on the line making the future look bleak. The successor to the Copperhill mining company that was designated to head up the restoration of the copper basin saw the significance of the line to the community and offered to carry a mortgage until the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association could take over. The Overhill Association is a local multi-county nonprofit promotional agency for the region.

The challenge still remained as to who would operate the excursion train. The end of the CSX era resulted in poor maintenance and the need for expensive repairs. At about this time the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) decided to upgrade their power generating turbines. They have a hydro-electric generating facility called Apalachia (yes, spelled with one p) about midway in the gorge and also the dam supplying it about 8 miles away. The water is piped to the generating plant.

The rail line was the obvious way to deliver the transformers, so TVA agreed to rehab the line east into the gorge as far as the powerhouse, a distance of 13 miles. Seizing the opportunity, the TVRM started operating an excursion train as far as the powerhouse in 2004. These trips were very popular. Not long afterward, the Overhill Association was approached to haul an iron ore byproduct of copper smelting from Copper Hill to Etowah. The shipments were forwarded by CSX to an ocean port for export. This deal afforded the opportunity to rehab the old line all the way to Copper Hill, but the operation lasted only six months due to increasing shipping costs and less demand for the product.

So, at this point Tennessee Overhill owns a scenic rail line in good condition from the state park near the western entrance of the gorge to Copper Hill, and it has an amazing rail fan attraction in the spiral loop, so what to do with it? The answer was to partner with the TVRM who has been conducting rail excursions all over the southeast since 1963, and that is what we have today.  

The Park Car

There were several cars on the train with very interesting histories, but I want to focus on just one, the one that made this trip irresistible – the park car Algonquin Park. The park car is a beautiful beaver tailed dome sleeper/lounge that ran on the Canadian Pacific’s “Canadian” streamliner between Toronto and Vancouver. George fell in love with it in 1977 when he and Irene traveled across Canada on the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific railways before VIA. It was on the tail end of the famous Canadian streamliner – you saw it in the movie “Silver Streak.”

The CP ordered 18 of these rare cars from the Budd Company in 1954 and most still operate on VIA today. These cars are named for Canadian provincial parks, thus the name. These cars had an observation lounge in the rear, a dome overhead, and bar below the dome, followed by a drawing room and three double bedrooms. This one was named the Algonquin Park. It was sold in 2004 to Mr. Bill Harmon of Saginaw, Michigan, who attempted to use it as a time share property. Owners would purchase a one week vacation interest in the “property,” and ride the rails. The company failed, but its website is still online: http://www.luxuryrailcarsales.com/ Mr. Harmon still owns the car but now leases it to the TVRM. George and Irene and friends rode in another park car in 2005 when they took a Via train from Banff to Prince Rupert Canada. So, another ride in it was irresistible once we found out it was only 97 miles away.

What to Look for in the Movie

First you will see pics of the quite large Etowah depot and grounds as well as interior pictures. Then on the train right away you will see us cross the Hiwassee River, and on the other side you will see a local river rafting company, then some track maintenance equipment followed by a road crossing and house. About half way into the gorge we come to the Apalachia power house where workers come out to greet the train. You will see the giant pipes coming down that bring the water from the dam 8 miles away. I did notice as we left the power house that one of the workers put a “frog” on one of the rails. A frog is a small clamp-on device intended to derail a train before it can do damage to something ahead. Security measures are now pretty tight in electric utility facilities, and I guess they want to make sure no runaway train crashes into the facilities. Next we cross Hwy 98 and then the Apalachia dam can barely be made out through the trees. Then comes the famous loop at Bald Mountain before we stop at a siding in Farner, TN, to couple the locomotive to the other end of the train for the return. When we get back to the Apalachia powerhouse, you will see a TVA helicopter that has landed.

PLAY MOVIE

More West Palm Beach/John Prince Park

 

During our stay at John Prince Park, George and Irene attended the Florida Federation of Garden Club’s two-day class, the 59th Annual Tropical Short Course.  The morning sessions had programs on Everglades conservation, photography of flora and fauna, gardens by Raymond Jungles (a garden designer), and food forest gardening.  Interestingly, Raymond Jungles designed Naples Botanical Gardens which we plan to see while we are in Naples. The afternoon program both days was floral design presented by noted Florida designers who are National Garden Club floral instructors. 

The class was held at Mounts Botanical Garden, Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest public garden. Mounts’ gardens and programs provide the best horticultural and botanical information available related to South Florida’s unique plants and environment.  We enjoyed walking through the garden during breaks and after the class each day.

         

         

         

Orchids grew in many trees in the garden as well as huge staghorn ferns.

                  

                  

Mounts Botanical Garden is certainly a place to visit again.  We enjoyed the garden, the Tropical Short Course, and meeting garden club members from the area.

More Birds at John Prince Park

Near the end of our two weeks at John Prince Park, while bicycling in late afternoon, we again enjoyed seeing birds along the lake shore including a great blue heron.

                         

                         

A female anhinga, fishing with her neck above water – giving her the nickname snake bird – caught our attention.

         

After getting wet, the anhinga “hangs out its wings” to dry, resting on a low hanging branch with its neighbors.

         

         

Along the shore we saw some moor hens and also a flock of ibis.

                   

         

At our RV site, we were eating lunch outside when George saw a great egret land behind our coach causing Irene to run for her camera.

         

Back to West Palm Beach/John Prince Park

We’ve been coming to John Prince Park, a Palm Beach county park, for several years now.  It’s located in Lake Worth and the park has a campground, walking/biking trail around Lake Osborne, playgrounds, and playing fields. Our favorite sites are on the lake where we can frequently see birds.  It’s a great place to bicycle right from our RV site.
         
         
We often see birds as we bicycle, causing frequent stops.  It’s part of the enjoyment of the park.  One day we saw a limpkin . . .
           
Wood Storks, both old and young  . . .
                          
A couple of great egrets . . .
                          
                          
And a male anhinga.  (The female has a light-colored neck).  The anhinga is often seen perched on a snag above the water, with its wings half-spread to dry.
         
We saw another creature along the shore of the lake also, not a bird but a quite large iguana which we watched for a while, trying to get a better photo.
         
                          
         
                        
Our patience paid off – the iguana posed for the camera!  We complain about deer in our gardens at home, but in south Florida, iguanas are a big pest.  I guess I’d rather meet up with a deer in my yard than an iguana!
Another place we enjoy bicycling is the Lake Trail in Palm Beach which was the first 'road' in the town of Palm Beach.  It runs along the Intracoastal Waterway and provided a five-mile paved path stretching from Worth Ave (in the south) to Indian Road (in the north) for Flagler's hotel guests (brought to Palm Beach by his railroad) to stretch their legs and scope out the social scene. Nicknamed 'The Trail of Conspicuous Consumption,' it is sandwiched between two amazing views –  Lake Worth lagoon to the west, and an unending series of mansions to the east.  It’s a great place to bicycle and enjoy the views!
         


         
         


  
         

Port Charlotte–biking and more

 

Bicycling is one of our winter Florida pleasures, and the Port Charlotte area has some good bicycle trails.  One day we ate lunch in Punta Gorda, just south of Port Charlotte, and bicycled the waterfront trail there.  It ran beside the bay for a ways with the north and southbound Tamiami Trail bridges in view.

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The palm trees lining the trail also added to the pleasure of bicycling here. 

                                                

           

Another day – a warmer day – we went to nearby Boca Grande to bicycle and explore the area.  We rode to the beach and the lighthouse on the bike trail and stopped to see pelicans on the pilings of an old pier.

         

         

         

And of course we enjoyed seeing the beautiful bougainvillea.throughout Boca Grande.

         

Near where we parked there were some rather striking trees – Cuban Laurel, a type of ficus – that grow can 50 feet high and and almost as wide.

                        

We saw some more Cuban laurels as we were bicycling and paused for a photo.

         

We biked back downtown along side the railroad and ate lunch at the Loose Caboose  restaurant in the former railroad depot.  It was a sunny and pleasant day – a good day for a bike ride.

         

         

Venice, north of Port Charlotte, has a number of great bike trails. We parked at the nature center and rode along the Venetian Waterway Trail into Venice.

         

         

The downtown is marked by a colorfully planted area with shops and restaurants where we had lunch. The plants and palm trees make it a very pleasant place to eat and linger.

         

         

         

In addition to bicycling, we saw a couple of movies while we were in Port Charlotte, American Sniper and Selma.  We also went to the farmer’s market in Englewood where we got several delicious bakery items and a jar of honey.  Orchids and other plants were for sale, and a man making paella attracted a number of onlookers..

         

On a couple of evenings we returned to the RV park as the sun was setting and stopped near the clubhouse to capture the ending of the day.