Perodically, the travel section at the newspaper that I work for (Charlotte Observer) calls up and asks for a railroad piece. Our travel editor, John Bordsen, tells me that he gets more feedback from three pieces. 1. Charleston, S.C. 2. Elvis-related and 3. railroads (in fact, John's favorite joke is that if we could ever get Elvis on a train from Charlotte to Charleston.... nah!).

So, I'm thinking that while things are slow during the holidays, I'll do a piece on the 10 best railway heritage places in the U.S. you shouldn't miss. The list will be national in scope as it usually gets picked up by the Knight-Ridder wire and run in many locations. I'd welcome suggestions from the board's participants. I'll make sure flimsies gets a copy when the piece runs... probably in the spring.

Jim

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

Here are a few that I would start off with.

Mt. Clare
East Broad Top
Northeast Corridor

Jim,

Here are my rail history 10 must-see's for North America. And they ain't exactly what you might think of... in no particular order...

1. Donner Pass summit - original alignment
2. Golden Spike site
3. Horseshoe Curve
4. B&O Museum and first 13 miles
5. LAUPT
6. Steamtown or Spencer
7. Cranbrook passenger train museum
8. Spiral Tunnels
9. Big Bend Tunnel
10. East Broad Top

Rob

trains@robertjohndavis.com

How about a list of 10 places in railroad folklore?

1. Casey Jones museum
2. Big Bend Tunnel
3. Kennesaw, GA
4. Golden Spike site
5. Kate Shelley bridge
6. The SR main into Danville - "Old 97"
7. Grand Central Station
8. NYC 999 in Chicago
9. B&O Museum for the Tom Thumb
10. Pullman factory

trains@robertjohndavis.com

1. B&O Museum at Mt. Clare
2. Cumbres & Toltec
3. East Broad Top
4. Horseshoe Curve
5. California State Railroad Museum
6. RRM of Pennsylvania/Strasburg RR
7. Steamtown NHS
8. Cajon Pass
9. Issac Walton Inn at Glacier NP
10. Either LAUPT or NYC's Grand Central. Leaning toward LAUPT

Honorable mentions (Gosh, it's actually agonizing to leave these out):

Grand Canyon RR/El Tovar
Promontory Point
Eads Bridge, St. Louis MO
Tehachapi Loop
Altoona RRM Museum/Inclined Planes (lump in with Horseshoe Curve above as one site?)
CSS&SB (last Interurban, street running)
Moffat Tunnel/Ca. Zephyr route
Cass Scenic RR
Valley RR (North Conway station plus both routes)



eledbetter@rypn.org

Or 5 places railroad-related places labor history:

1. Pullman, Illinois (Pullman strike, Debs)
2. Martinsburg, W.Va (start of strike of 77)
3. Sykesville, MD (first movement of troops by rail--to put down a labor action)
4. Homestead PA-- it was a rail-making mill
5. Matewan, W Va--to represent coal strikes

eledbetter@rypn.org

And maybe Rutland, VT too, where an inflexible union and a strike combined with an unimaginative management killed a railroad and inadvertently started the state-owned ROW trend.

> Or 5 places railroad-related places labor
> history:

> 1. Pullman, Illinois (Pullman strike, Debs)
> 2. Martinsburg, W.Va (start of strike of 77)
> 3. Sykesville, MD (first movement of troops
> by rail--to put down a labor action)
> 4. Homestead PA-- it was a rail-making mill
> 5. Matewan, W Va--to represent coal strikes


trains@robertjohndavis.com

Oh boy.....Apart from Spencer you mean?

CSRM and Promontory Point for transcontinental RR heritage. B&O museum for truly old stuff and interesting structures. Either IRM or NMT for sheer technology collections. CATS and / or EBT for narrow gage systems not operating as tourist lines like D&S. D&S if you want a big tourist line. A joint ticket on Georgetown Loop and Royal Gorge for civil engineering marvels.

Railtown 1897 for a complete shortline junky beautiful roundhouse facility. Spencer or Steamtown for a highly restored mainline roundhouse facility. Savannah for an unrestored and extremely historic mainline roundhouse facility.

I am not sure if I like Cass or the remains of the Crowell Lumber Co as logging heritage. Being a rusty iron fan Crowell fascinates me. Probably Cass would suit the General Public better.

AMTRAK as a whole system.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

> Valley RR (North Conway station plus both routes)

I *think* you mean the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway NH, as opposed to the Valley RR in Essex, CT. (Both are fine operations that I visit often.)

-Ed Lecuyer

Comming soon, Historical USGS topos at maptech.com
elecuyer@maptech.com

1. White Pass & Yukon
2. Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington
3. Grand Central Terminal
4. Denver & Rio Grande mainline - Denver to Salt Lake City (as viewed from the train)
5. Starrucca Viaduct
6. Horseshoe Curve
7. Cascade Tunnel
8. Santa Fe mainline - anywhere across Arizona and New Mexico
9. Durango & Silverton
10. Tie: East Broad Top, Steamtown

Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society
tstuy@eldcps.org

> I *think* you mean the Conway Scenic
> Railroad in North Conway NH, as opposed to
> the Valley RR in Essex, CT. (Both are fine
> operations that I visit often.)

> -Ed Lecuyer

Exactly. Apologies to all.

eledbetter@rypn.org

1. Cass, (wonder were I got that Idea)....Where else can you go in this country and see an almost complete company town??

2. EBT where else can you go and see one of the most complete shop complexs, and a working round house

3.C&TS.....Just because

4. I like the idea of the Northeast Corridor or really any part of Amtrak, Tourist railroads show what riding a train was like back then, but it's hard to make the conection if you haven't ridden one now.

5. George Town Loops- the incredible bridge

6. Steam Town- Support our National Parks

7. Strasburg & RMPA- Just seems like a good place to send Momma and little Johnny to ride a train and learn about them

8. Promontary Point

9. and at this point I realise I need to travel more, but I would say some of the big out west main line spots would be intersting, btu mostly a big museum or any thing that is in the same spot it was 100 years ago (and operating in the for of tourist line or muesum)

btrue@vt.edu

Roughly in chronological order:

1) Granite Railway - Quincy, Massachusetts. The first railroad in the US.

2) Baltimore MD area - B&O's Mt. Clare site, Thomas Viaduct and the old main line. Plus the PW&B President Street Station and B&O Howard Street Tunnel.

3) Altoona PA area - Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS. Plus Altoona Shops and Horseshoe Curve.

4) California - Donner Pass and the CP crossing of the Sierra. Plus Sacramento...

5) Promontory Summit, Utah - Golden Spike NHS.

6) Hoosic Tunnel - Massachusetts.

7) Colorado - narrow gauge heritage at Silverton, C&T and Georgetown Loop. Plus Moffat Tunnel.

8) San Francisco, California - the world's last major cable car system, plus electric street railway.

9) Grand Central Terminal - New York City. Perhaps the finest station of its kind and the site of a major steam railroad electrification. Plus, the NYC subway system!

10) DL&W viaduct, Nicholson, PA. Still the largest poured concrete structure in the world? Steam railroad infrastructure at its pinnacle.

tr2manz@frontiernet.net

Videos

sales@gregschollvideo.com

Sorry my message got deleted.
Happy 1218 Day Jim!! Photo above.

Is this supposed to be contemporary train locations, sites of historical importance, heritage museums, or great tourist railroads.

I can make a better list knowing what you want.

By the way are we talking U.S. Only or North America....Don't forget the Spiral Tunnels on Kicking Horse Pass...CP in Western Canada!!!

Greg Scholl

Videos

sales@gregschollvideo.com