The George L. Carter Museum is promoting a fall excursion through the Great Smoky Mountains.
Fred Alsop, museum director, summarized where the trip will be and what locations will be seen.
“We currently have two charter buses. The buses will be going to Bryson City, North Carolina, first to go visit the Smoky Mountain Train Museum there,” Alsop said.
After arrival at the Smoky Mountain Train Museum, riders will depart for a train excursion that travels nearing 4 hours to the town of Dillsboro, North Carolina. Then, after arrival in Dillsboro, the train will circle back around toward Bryson City. The train ride will be 30 miles long.
“To get there and back at a reasonable time, we will leave around 7:30 in the morning and leave Bryson City to make it back to Johnson City around 8:30 that night,” Alsop said.
“The neat thing about this train ride is that it passes the Tuckasegee River,” Alsop said. “There was a movie with Harrison Ford back maybe 20 years ago called “The Fugitive.”
Alsop went on to explain that part of the movie involved the fugitive being captured and imprisoned on a train. After the fugitive was imprisoned, the train derailed and fell into the river.
“The locomotive they used in the movie is still in the river,” Alsop said. “Our train ride will pass by that scene set in that movie.”
The George L. Carter Museum takes a trip each semester; last semester had the first trip since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We did a trip to Knoxville in May 2022,” Also said. “For about two years we were shut down. We’re for the first time getting back to these trips.”
Limited spots may be available for the fall excursion. Tickets can be bought at the Carter Railroad Museum at 113 Campus Center Building, only on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The deadline to purchase tickets is Sept. 23.
For more information on the George L. Carter Railroad Museum, contact Fred Alsop at alsopf@etsu.edu.
