Southern Ts-1 class Mountain 1490 is serviced at Asheville in 1939. The USRA-design Light 4-8-2s worked passenger trains in both directions, via the Knoxville Division to and from Knoxville, and also on the Asheville Division via the Loops and Old Fort, and via Saluda. This photo was taken by the late Frank Clodfelter, a noted Asheville Division engineer, photographer and author.
When you say the word Saluda to some of the most senior members of Norfolk Southern crews and even those who have retired from the railroad, it still brings up images of the steepest grade on a standard gauge line in the United States at 4.24%.
