The GC is long gone. It was scrapped a year or two after we ran the last train in November 1983. If you do not see the rail in some of the crossings, a few bridge piers, or the jeep trail down the back side of the mountain to Topton you would never know it was there. The furniture factory is still in bussiness but the sawmill has been closed for a decade now. There were a few logs in the mill pond a couple of years ago. Most of the mill still stands and is a recycling center for the county. The shop building was being used as truck shop, perhaps also by the county, the last time I was there. The Bear Creek depot is a private residence.

The last go round in 1982 and 1983 we ran an ex ACL SW 8 and were working on the 1925. I got to help complete the overhaul I started in 1982 at Bear Creek with JW in Spencer 16 years later.

For the record I am the last in a long line of Graham County Railroad employees. I literally closed the door on the last day. It was Susan's father (my wife) who designed the depot at Bear Creek and oversaw the building of the tourist complex.

John Bohon

jhbohon@yahoo.com

> The last go round in 1982 and 1983 we ran an
> ex ACL SW 8 and were working on the 1925. I
> got to help complete the overhaul I started
> in 1982 at Bear Creek with JW in Spencer 16
> years later.

> For the record I am the last in a long line
> of Graham County Railroad employees. I
> literally closed the door on the last day.
> It was Susan's father (my wife) who designed
> the depot at Bear Creek and oversaw the
> building of the tourist complex.

> John Bohon

John,
A couple of questions for you. I have a photo of the SW-8 in the GC grey and red, but what was it's original number on the ACL. Also, having been a rider on the GCRR in the summer of 1964 with my family (my first exposure to steam power was CG 1925!) and having ridden the BCJ operation a couple of times, I have often wondered what equipment was on display at Bear Creek Junction and what happened to all of it. The locomotives have been much discussed, but the postcards I have from the BCJ days show that there was quite a collection of passenger cars used for various purposes. Do you have a list of what was there and where they all went after BCJ shut down? Thanks.

Stephen


ssyfrett@bellsouth.net

> John,
> A couple of questions for you. I have a
> photo of the SW-8 in the GC grey and red,
> but what was it's original number on the
> ACL. Also, having been a rider on the GCRR
> in the summer of 1964 with my family (my
> first exposure to steam power was CG 1925!)
> and having ridden the BCJ operation a couple
> of times, I have often wondered what
> equipment was on display at Bear Creek
> Junction and what happened to all of it. The
> locomotives have been much discussed, but
> the postcards I have from the BCJ days show
> that there was quite a collection of
> passenger cars used for various purposes. Do
> you have a list of what was there and where
> they all went after BCJ shut down? Thanks.

> Stephen

Stephen,

I was never in Graham County before 1982 but I have seen the same post cards you have and much of the equipment was still there. One car was moved out in the mid to late seventies or possibly the very early eighties. This was an observation car call the Queen and Cresent. It was a Southern car but I do not know where it went. The GE 70 tonner used by the operators in 1974 and 1975 also left about 1980. I know it was moved while the railroad was closed but I am not sure about the Queen Cresent.

There were five outside braced wooden boxcars used for museum displayes. They held a collection of large photos and displays depicting logging in Gramham County. The photos were moved inside the depot and displayed on the walls in 82. These cars were scrapped by the post railroad era owner of the Bear Creek property about 1987. I do not know their heritage.

The dinner was a Nickel Plate car in it's original configuration as best as I recall. It was nicely refurbished and converted to stationary use before being brought to GC. Behind it was an RPO that was used for storage and refrigeration equipment. I do not remember where this car came from. My wife also remembers this car being used to hand cancel letters when she was young. You would walk up to the side door of the car, hand them the letter, and they would hand stamp it with a Bear Creek stamp and put it in a slot to be mailed. Behind that was a combine that came from the Wabash if I remember correctly. It is interesting to note that while switching the display tracks during construction of BCJ these cars got away and went rolling down the 3% grade toward Robbinsville. Wilson Carpenter gave chase in his car and reported they were going 60 MPH when he caught up to them. They finally rolled over on the sharp curve leading to the bridge over Talula Creek at Anthony Branch. The cars still had the bent grab irons and dents from this derailment. All of these cars were scrapped at the same time the boxcars were.

A Southern outside braced wooden caboose was on the depot end of the number 2 display track. It was displayed as a caboose. The caboose was scrapped along with the rest of the cars in the late eighties. All of this equipment was considered a museum and you bought your ticket to go on the tour in the Queen Cresent.

The only other peice of equipment there during my time on the railroad was the ex Brimstone RR three truck shay number 36. It was purchased about 1974 and was to be restored as the second engine and used while the 25 received a much needed overhaul. The 36 was sold to a private individual and moved to Cass. I think Cass is now the owner of the 36.

There were at least four other passenger cars at Bear Creek in the sixties. I think one was a Miluwakee car, possibly off the Hiawatha, and another may have been ex C&NW. Susan remembers one of the cars being a Pullman.

The SW 8 was number 16 on the ACL as well as the GC. It was leased from Republic Locomotive of Greenville, SC and they had at least one sister. I think it was the 17.

That is about all I remember. Perhaps Wayne Laepple or Jim Wrinn can jump in and fill the voids.

John Bohon


jhbohon@yahoo.com

John has it all pretty straight except for the diesels. The 70-ton GE came from Savannah States Docks as #102, if I recall. It was trucked out soon after I arrived in Robbinsville in the spring of 1982. As for the SW-8, it was ACL #17 that came to Graham County. The sister engine, #16, was also at Republic Locomotive Works in Greenville, in the old Piedmont & Northern shops, when I arrived on the scene. After the GCRR closed in the fall of 1983, #17 returned to Republic and both it and #16 were sold to a steel mill in Georgia or SC, I believe.

Incidentally, on my first visit to the GCRR in the summer of 1972, there were two small Heislers on the property that had come from an operation in Maggie valley, NC. I'm not toally clear on what happened to them, but I believe they both survive in the midwest.

K4s1361@hotmail.com

> Last time i counted there were more than
> just those two Shays running in the USA.
> Fastest in the country? Not proven yet. Jack
> Anderson's shay was clocked once at 18 MPH -
> glad I wasn't on board.

Er, I was in attendance at said drag race. I seem to recall the 1925's top speed being 18 point something.

It was impressive to watch. Jim knocked off the brake, the engine shook a bit, and then blasted off. I thought my camcorder was in fast-forward!

To be fair to Mt. Emily #1, I heard some discussion that their brakes don't come off as quickly as the 1925. The 1925, I believe, has been upgraded with 26L brakes. So over a longer distance they might have been faster, but in a drag race it's the time that counts, not the speed!

The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net

> Incidentally, on my first visit to the GCRR
> in the summer of 1972, there were two small
> Heislers on the property that had come from
> an operation in Maggie valley, NC. I'm not
> toally clear on what happened to them, but I
> believe they both survive in the midwest.

I think one of those Heislers is the one the East Carolina Chapter NRHS got and started to restore. Last I saw it, it was in pieces in Bonsal, NC.

The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net

Nope. The Heisler at Bonsal is a three-trucker that came from the Middle Fork RR in West Virginia. It was the last Heisler built, in 1941. The engines at Graham County were much smaller, as I recall, in the 25-ton range. Both were two-truckers. I seem to think they went to Oklahoma about 1973 or 1974, but are now at two separate locations out there somewhere.

K4s1361@hotmail.com

Steve,

If the response is correct, you might check out the Atlantic Steel Plant at Cartersville. I know they had several SW's some of SR decent. Also, the F's are now landlocked. Stay tuned.

Randy

minterjr@mindspring.com

> Incidentally, on my first visit to the GCRR
> in the summer of 1972, there were two small
> Heislers on the property that had come from
> an operation in Maggie valley, NC. I'm not
> toally clear on what happened to them, but I
> believe they both survive in the midwest.

Would these be #2 and #3 that migrated to the Whitewater Valley RR in Connersville, In?

lumpy72@msn.com

> Incidentally, on my first visit to the GCRR
> in the summer of 1972, there were two small
> Heislers on the property that had come from
> an operation in Maggie valley, NC. I'm not
> toally clear on what happened to them, but I
> believe they both survive in the midwest.

I didn't know that these engines were stored for a while at the GCRR. The Maggie Valley, NC operation was a 1960's amusement type line called the Highlander Railroad. Both of these little 2-truck Heislers came from the Santee River Hardwood Lumber Co. of SC. Around 1974 both went (apparently from the GCRR) to the Whitewater Valley RR in IN. Heisler 3 operated briefly at the WVRR and since the early 1980's has been the main power of the Silver Creek & Stephenson RR at Freeport, IL. Heisler 2 is still stored at the WVRR under private ownership.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

> I am not aware that 1926's boiler was
> "condemned" by the ICC.

Having a senior moment where that came from--I'll double check my notes/references tonight. Also, IIRC 1926 was smacked in the face by a runaway freight car and afterwards carried a Lima number plate from a different Shay (not from the GCRR) with a different number! Anyone remember the number? IIRC it was a 4 digit number starting with a 3.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

> Having a senior moment where that came
> from--I'll double check my notes/references
> tonight. Also, IIRC 1926 was smacked in the
> face by a runaway freight car and afterwards
> carried a Lima number plate from a different
> Shay (not from the GCRR) with a different
> number! Anyone remember the number? IIRC it
> was a 4 digit number starting with a 3.

> Regards,
> Jim Robinson

the number plate on 1926 was #3229. Was number plate from a narrow gauge shay on the Buffalo-Snowbird RR--aka the backwoods lumber portion of Graham County/Bemis Lumber Co--that had been scrapped years previously at Robbinsville.

Kevin

k_gilliam@bellsouth.net

The 26 was taken out of service by the ICC shortly before the 25 was wrecked. It needed firebox repairs, mostly sidesheets and patches in the door and throat sheets as I recall. Because they had no other power the GC received permission from the ICC to return 26 to service long enough to get the 25 back in service. I think they ran the 26 less than a month before stripping her of her cab and water tank to put on the 25. I was told that had the railroad continued to run the 26 would have been repaired eventually. This information comes from both the ICC inspector who took the engine out of service and Bemis Lbr. Co. management so I consider it pretty accurate.

jhbohon@yahoo.com