What Can You Discover on a Mini Road Trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway?

[jtbell]

I'm in Johnson City, Tennessee for the "Big Train Show" again, almost exactly one year after my last visit. This year I'm staying two nights, so as to have a whole day to drive each way, and a whole day here.

Yesterday I drove up through the North Carolina mountains, with a detour along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell.

Smoke from the current wildfires in Nova Scotia has made its way down here, unfortunately.

Note the low monument in front of the observation platform.

Part way down from the summit, I hiked a bit along a trail that follows the roadbed of a railroad that operated from about 1911 until 1919, carrying timber and tourists. After logging ended, the roadbed was used by a privately-owned motor road, which was in turn superseded by the current state-built road after the Blue Ridge Parkway was built.

 

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After leaving Mt. Mitchell, I drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway to an overlook that promised a view of the "Clinchfield Loops" that carry the former Clinchfield Railroad (now part of CSX) up the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge via a series of sinuous curves interspersed with tunnels.

Alas, (no) thanks to enthusiastic shrubbery, this is what I actually saw:

 

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Today I started out by visiting the "Big Train Show" and the nearby George L. Carter Railroad Museum, both on the campus of East Tennessee State University. I've posted pictures from last year's visit so I'll refer you to those and simply add a couple of new things from the train show.

This year there was a huge layout that I don't remember seeing before.

It included something I've never seen in a layout before: a Waffle House, which I eat at occasionally on my road trips (not this one, though, at least not yet ).

At the museum I learned that today was their last day at their current location, in an ETSU building. The university is going to demolish the building as part of a construction project. The museum had already been looking for a new location because they've run out of space at the old one.

But they haven't said yet where they're moving... just "watch the web site."

Maybe next year I'll be able to report the outcome.

I'll add a couple more stops after I return home tomorrow.

 

[Bystander]

Today I started out by visiting the "Big Train Show"

What gauge?

 

[jtbell]

What gauge?

Most or all of the common model gauges were represented among the vendors and the club displays. HO, O/O27, S, N, Z. I didn't see any layouts with garden-railroad gauge, but there was at least one vendor.

I don't have a layout (no space for one at home), but I like to look at stuff and buy books and timetables. I got lucky yesterday. I was browsing several carts of used books priced at $5 each (per book not per cart) when the vendor came out and added to the signs, "BUY ONE GET ONE FREE". He must have wanted to cut down the amount of stuff to haul home that afternoon (last day of the show). Within minutes I was jostling for position with five other guys. I came away with a half dozen books for $15. Most of them probably sold for at least $40 in today's dollars when new, 40-60 years ago.

 

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After I finished at the train show and railroad museum on Saturday, I drove up the road to Bristol, which straddles the Virginia / Tennessee state line which runs down the middle of State Street, the main downtown artery. One side of the street is lined with Virginia and US flags, the other side with Tennessee and US flags.

Just past the railroad crossing at the edge of downtown, a large welcome arch spans State St.

I crossed the tracks to get a picture looking back toward downtown. A freight train came along, and stopped.

I waited... and waited... in the shadow of that building at the left. Cars turned off onto side streets. A guy crawled under the hopper car that spanned the street, dragging his bicycle with him. Finally I checked Google Maps, saw a bridge over the tracks a couple of long blocks to the left, and set out for it. I had to go a couple blocks further on State St. so as to get far enough from the tracks to enter the bridge. When I finally got on the bridge, the train was starting to move again.

By the time I got back to State St. on the other side, the crossing was clear. I could have just as well stayed put and waited. At least I got another picture out of my detour.

Near the crossing is a historical marker:

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum is a couple blocks off State St. Even though I'm into classical music, not country, I would have visited if it wasn't getting late in the afternoon. I'll keep it in mind for my next trip up here.

 

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Across the street from my parking spot:

 

[berkeman]

I drove up the road to Bristol, which straddles the Virginia / Tennessee state line which runs down the middle of State Street

Since the two sides are in different states, do they have different Zip Codes? Different phone Area Codes? Just curious...

 

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Per Wikipedia:

Bristol TN
Zip codes: 37617, 37620, 37621, 37625
Area code: 423
Mayor: Vince Turner

Bristol VA
Zip codes: 24201, 24302
Area code: 276
Mayor: Neal Osborne

On the VA side of the street near my car, I passed what looked like a cannabis dispensary, and wondered about the legal situation in the two states. Per Google, it appears that in VA, possession of max 1oz and use in private is legal, but sale is legal only in registered medical cannabis dispensaries, and purchasers must have a doctor's prescription and a state-issued card. In TN, possession and use are still illegal, although currently there are legalization bills in the legislature.

 

[berkeman]

On the VA side of the street near my car, I passed what looked like a cannabis dispensary, and wondered about the legal situation in the two states. Per Google, it appears that in VA, possession of max 1oz and use in private is legal, but sale is legal only in registered medical cannabis dispensaries, and purchasers must have a doctor's prescription and a state-issued card. In TN, possession and use are still illegal, although currently there are legalization bills in the legislature.

"Hey, pass the word. Party was supposed to be at JT's house tonight, but you-know-who is coming so party is moved to berk's house across the street instead..."

 

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I guess if you cross State St. from VA to TN, you can get into trouble for more things than jaywalking.

 

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On my way home on Sunday I passed through Greeneville TN. The eastern part of Tennessee had strong pro-Union sentiment at the beginning of the Civil War.

Note the name Andrew Johnson. Yes, that Andrew Johnson, who became Lincoln's vice president, then president after Lincoln's assassination, and most (in)famously the first (and for a long time only) president to be impeached by Congress.

Although he wasn't born in Greeneville, it was his long-time home, and is now the location of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.

There's a surprising amount to see here, considering that Johnson is widely considered one of the worst presidents in American history. Some of his descendants worked hard to preserve his physical legacy (homes etc.).

First, there's a replica of the cabin in which he was born in 1808 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

After he arrived in Greeneville in the 1830s, he worked as a tailor. His shop is preserved inside the Historic Site's visitor center.

Across the street is the house where he lived during this early period.

 

[jtbell]

After Johnson started to rise in the political world, he bought a larger house a couple of blocks away, the "homestead". His family and descendants lived here until 1956.

Johnson died in 1875, and was buried on top of a hill about a mile away.

Fortunately, one doesn't have to hike up all those steps. There's a road up to the top.

The plot contains other family members, up to his great-granddaughter who died in 1992, and gave tours of the homestead until 1976.

In 1906, the Johnson plot became part of a national cemetery which now has graves of veterans from the Civil War through Afghanistan.

 

[Astronuc]

After I finished at the train show and railroad museum on Saturday, I drove up the road to Bristol, which straddles the Virginia / Tennessee state line which runs down the middle of State Street, the main downtown artery. One side of the street is lined with Virginia and US flags, the other side with Tennessee and US flags.

I love Bristol VA-TN or TN-VA. I been through there many a time, usually on a road trip.

 

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Talks chugging along to bring passenger rail back to Bristol (WCVB.com)

The video thumbnail in this report shows the station from the opposite side as my picture. Note the ENTERING VIRGINIA sign in the street median. This is the north side of the intersection with State St.

The proposed train would be an extension of the current Amtrak route from Washington DC to Roanoke.

 

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On my way home from Greeneville, I stopped briefly in Marshall, North Carolina, about 20 miles north of Asheville on the French Broad River. It's a small place with a bunch of restaurants, bars and gift shops. Most of the homes are up in the hills, so all you can really see are the few blocks of Main St. parallel to the river and the railroad tracks, and the bridge across the river.

If you decide to spend the night here, you can go to jail.

That's it for this trip. I might have another one coming up in a couple of weekends, depending on the weather.

 

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Here's another view of Marshall, from a TV station break tonight.