Love the stack talk, and the tone of her whistle! A question- Are the two diseasels more for "just in case" situations? Or actually needed to get the train from point A to point B? Also, can you link me to a map of the GSMR?
gsmr.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_Branch There is no route map on their home page. They operate over what was once the Southern Railway's Murphy Branch that ran from Murphy, NC to Asheville, NC. The GSMR has 2 trips, one is the Nantahala Gorge excursion which runs west from Bryson City to the Nantahala Gorge/Recreation area. The Tuckasegee River excursion runs from Bryson City to Dillsboro. Now from Andrews, NC to Murphy the state of North Carolina owns the track and susbsequently a GSMR train hasn't operated over that section for some time. There are 2 4% grades worthy of mention, one is westbound up the mountain from Dillsboro to Cowee Tunnel and the other is Red Marble grade which no longer sees trains. The fall trains are usually 14 or 15 cars, the other reason for the 2 Geeps on this trip was they pulled the train from Bryson City to Dillsboro......Dillsboro is home to the GSMR shops and Bryson City is their depot/tourist trap sorta speak.
Ken, I suspect that a Consolidation with a 14-15 car train full of foamers like thee-n-me needs a little help, doncha think?
Most of the cars are heavyweights, too. Maybe there is no place to turn the train or engine at the destination and the diseasels are used to haul the train back? Thanks for the video, Carnut&Trainnut2.
