The whine of 3 NS locos and a manifest freight fighting gravity are muffled by the geography as NS 162 descends from Ridgecrest into the Old Fort Loops on Halloween evening.

About 5 minutes after my previous photo, the NCTM special is now passing the bottom of High Fill in the opposite direction, having lost nearly 100 feet in elevation through the lowest of the loops... (more)

Passengers on the Southern Loops! It's hard to imagine the weather could have been any nicer for the North Carolina Transportation Museum's 2010 fall foliage excursions. This year's rare-milage tr... (more)

Passengers on the Southern Loops! It's hard to imagine the weather could have been any nicer for the North Carolina Transportation Museum's 2010 fall foliage excursions. This year's rare-milage tr... (more)

Autumn Leaf Special from the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer to Asheville and return.

The beautifully restored ex-Southern station at the foot of the Old Fort Loops.

Looking like a scene out of an impressive model railroad, the North Carolina Transportation Museum "Blue Ridge Special" is dwarfed by the surrounding peaks as it climbs toward the summit at Ridgec... (more)

Fog turns to rain as low clouds move into the valleys of the Blue Ridge mountains near Old Fort, NC. Westbound manifest 135 is just beginning its ascent of the steep grade toward Asheville known a... (more)

Rain drops sit on barbed wire as empty wood chip hoppers creep downhill in the background. Just another day of mountain railroading here in western North Carolina.

Sometimes it can be hard to visualize the steepness of a grade or changes in elevation. This is not one of those times. NS 135 is entering the Old Fort Loops as the rain comes down hard, and after... (more)

After meeting an empty woodchip train in downtown Old Fort, NS 135 has begun its climb toward the summit of the Blue Ridge on a foggy Halloween Day 2009.

Passengers on the Old Fort Loops! In this aerial view, we see the North Carolina Transportation Museum's "Blue Ridge Special" crossing Mill Creek on a bridge most folks never see.

The mountains of western North Carolina are cloaked in clouds on this spooky Halloween Day 2009, as 67E nears the end of its tortuous descent of the Southern Loops.

The North Carolina Transportation Museum's "Blue Ridge Special" is now out of The Loops but still deep in the forest and climbing uphill toward Ridgecrest.

Having safely reached the bottom of the Old Fort Loops, 67E cools its heels on the main while waiting for a meet with 135.