The Tennessee Association of Railroad Passengers has a new website at www.tarprail.org. It has great content on the City of New Orleans and some information on Nashville's new commuter trains that will start rolling in 2006. Take a look!
Any Tennesseans out there?
- Thread starter lepearso
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I am a Tennessean (originally) and will have to check this out when I get a few moments. Thanks for shairng. BTW, do you have a Chattanooga connection of some sort?
Do you ever visit TVRM in Chattanooga?
Do you ever visit TVRM in Chattanooga?
I live about 60 miles west of Chattanooga in an old railroad town. A local poem about our town contains the line "we're headed up the mountain and we're Chattanooga bound". I'm familiar with TVRM, though I have never been there to visit. Tennessee has several railroad attractions, and I hope to someday put together a web resource for prospective visitors.
Well, what town? I would very probably know it. I go back a long way and grew up in Chattanooga on the Nashville to Chattanooga to Atlanta line. My father was from Raus, a very tiny community near Tullahoma. Are you anywhere near that? I used to ride the train from CHA to Tullahoma a lot.
Let me know. I surely will have heard of your town , unless it is on a branch from the now- CSX mainline. (and I would still have the timetables from the 50's to locate it). That main from Nash to CHA to ATL was the Nashville, Chattanooga and St.Louis R.R. when I first knew it, then it was taken over by the Louisville and Nashville in 1957. From then on, mergered and mergered its way into today's CSX
I probably would not know anything about your town, but I bet I have heard of it. Cowan, Decherd, Estill Springs,are some of the mainline towns I can recall without a timetable in front of me.
Let me know. I surely will have heard of your town , unless it is on a branch from the now- CSX mainline. (and I would still have the timetables from the 50's to locate it). That main from Nash to CHA to ATL was the Nashville, Chattanooga and St.Louis R.R. when I first knew it, then it was taken over by the Louisville and Nashville in 1957. From then on, mergered and mergered its way into today's CSX
I probably would not know anything about your town, but I bet I have heard of it. Cowan, Decherd, Estill Springs,are some of the mainline towns I can recall without a timetable in front of me.
You obviously know the area! I'm from Cowan! My great-gradfather and several uncles worked on the railroad here. I have several good buddies that I grew up with who work for the railroad (CSX) today. Our history with the railroad in Cowan predates the Civil War! Have ever heard the names Vaughan Davis, Jim Prince, or Tommy Kinningham? They're ancestors of mine that were well known on the old NC&StL. They all retired in the late 70's.
No, don't know the people, just the former trains!!!
I have been to the present day restored station in Cowan. Eaten lunch at a nice place in the town, don't remember the name.
My maternal grandfather worked as a passenger train car inspector at Union Station in CHA but he died before I was born.
My first train ride ever was at age 3 on the Dixie Flagler overnight form CHA to Daytona Beach and return. I became hooked on trains at that itme, the rest is history.
Guess you know about the"mountain goat" which used to go up the hill to Sewanee. (I do not personally know about it,just heard of it and seen the old tracks, now largely removed.)
I have been to the present day restored station in Cowan. Eaten lunch at a nice place in the town, don't remember the name.
My maternal grandfather worked as a passenger train car inspector at Union Station in CHA but he died before I was born.
My first train ride ever was at age 3 on the Dixie Flagler overnight form CHA to Daytona Beach and return. I became hooked on trains at that itme, the rest is history.
Guess you know about the"mountain goat" which used to go up the hill to Sewanee. (I do not personally know about it,just heard of it and seen the old tracks, now largely removed.)
Well, I'm also the President of Cowan Railroad Museum, Inc, and we have been doing a great deal of work on the old station. I'll bet the restaurant where you ate was the Corner House. That place was the home of my late Aunt Jess. It's still in business! My sister owns a restaurant in town called Sernicola's. Look at the website visitcowan.com and you'll see what Cowan looks like today. It's a really neat place.
I've been away a few days, just now responding to you. I looked at the Cowan website and it was definately the Corner House (your aunt's old place) where my second cousin and I ate two or three years ago. We enjoyed it!! Small world!!
Do you remember any of the old passenger trains? The Dixie Flagler(renamed Dixieland in 1954) was discontinued in 1957 but the Georgian and Dixie Flyer lasted longer, as well as a night local from NASH to ALT. DId you ride any of them? NOTE: The Dixie Flagler (later Dixieland) and Georgian did not stop at Cowan, but the Flyer did, a dayitme stop in each direction.
The remant of the Georgian lasted until the day Amtrak took over. I was on it on its last trip out of CHA (to ATL) on May 2, 1971. Though it did not stop at Cowan it certainly passed through it, before reaching CHA. It was 2.5 hours late so it would have gone through Cowan in broad daylight.
Do you remember any of the old passenger trains? The Dixie Flagler(renamed Dixieland in 1954) was discontinued in 1957 but the Georgian and Dixie Flyer lasted longer, as well as a night local from NASH to ALT. DId you ride any of them? NOTE: The Dixie Flagler (later Dixieland) and Georgian did not stop at Cowan, but the Flyer did, a dayitme stop in each direction.
The remant of the Georgian lasted until the day Amtrak took over. I was on it on its last trip out of CHA (to ATL) on May 2, 1971. Though it did not stop at Cowan it certainly passed through it, before reaching CHA. It was 2.5 hours late so it would have gone through Cowan in broad daylight.
G
Guest_timetableflagman
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What's happened to Tennessee's Rail Plan? Also, what about the high-speed corridor proposed for Nashville to Atlanta? Of course, Nashville now looks like it'll be getting some regional commuter service. Why not connect it to Knoxville, Memphis, Chatttanooga, Bristol, Virginia's Lynchburg and Georgia's Atlanta, Macon and Savannah?
We need a cross-route connecting the rather North-South oriented routes and more directly connecting the Southeast with Chicago's national train connections. Maybe making a link with North Carolina is a good option by way of Salisbury with their trains to the Wilson and Rocky Mount connections to Florida and the Northeast and the Crescent through Atlanta to the Southwest.
We need a cross-route connecting the rather North-South oriented routes and more directly connecting the Southeast with Chicago's national train connections. Maybe making a link with North Carolina is a good option by way of Salisbury with their trains to the Wilson and Rocky Mount connections to Florida and the Northeast and the Crescent through Atlanta to the Southwest.
Tennessee's rail plan is merely a discussion point to make the State Department of Transportation look like it's doing its job. Despite the warm reception these guys received at EVERY meeting they held across the state, nothing else has happened, and there certainly has not been any discussion of developing a funding mechanism.
Tennessee politics are jam-packed with a failed TennCare program, a budget on the brink of going bust, and State Senators getting sent to jail for accepting bribes. Needless to say, there's no time to discuss real transportation solutions. Only just enough time to resurface a bunch of roads that don't need resurfacing.
All of this holds true for the Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta high speed rail line as well.
However, on the good side of things, the first leg of Nashville's commuter rail service will start rolling in the Spring of 2006. You're right that it should extend to places like Knoxville and Chattanooga. That will come in time, I think. We have to start small, and we have to start somewhere.
As far as tapping into other state or regional plans, we should do that. However, the State DOT is not open to new ideas, especially if it involves cooperating with other states. We had proposed tapping into the planned Virginia service into Bristol and extending it Southward into Chattanooga, Huntsville (AL), and Memphis. Of all the long-distance ideas we've discussed, that one has the most potential. From a political standpoint, there's more support for that idea than any other.
We're looking for some project leaders in TARP to help advance some of these project ideas. Any takers?
Tennessee politics are jam-packed with a failed TennCare program, a budget on the brink of going bust, and State Senators getting sent to jail for accepting bribes. Needless to say, there's no time to discuss real transportation solutions. Only just enough time to resurface a bunch of roads that don't need resurfacing.
All of this holds true for the Nashville-Chattanooga-Atlanta high speed rail line as well.
However, on the good side of things, the first leg of Nashville's commuter rail service will start rolling in the Spring of 2006. You're right that it should extend to places like Knoxville and Chattanooga. That will come in time, I think. We have to start small, and we have to start somewhere.
As far as tapping into other state or regional plans, we should do that. However, the State DOT is not open to new ideas, especially if it involves cooperating with other states. We had proposed tapping into the planned Virginia service into Bristol and extending it Southward into Chattanooga, Huntsville (AL), and Memphis. Of all the long-distance ideas we've discussed, that one has the most potential. From a political standpoint, there's more support for that idea than any other.
We're looking for some project leaders in TARP to help advance some of these project ideas. Any takers?
G
Guest_timetableflagman
Guest
That Bristol-Chattanooga-Huntsville-Memphis route is roughly the old Tennessean line. I'm glad to hear it might have potential. It would be a good and potentially fast connection between Virginia and Memphis. Extended to Little Rock, it could connect with the Texas Eagle and beyond. On AMTRAK's system map, one might notice a need for connection between the City of New Orleans and the Texas Eagle at that (about halfway) point. That, along with a new Georgian of sorts could do a lot for AMTRAK's Southeastern connectivity and passenger attractiveness.
It is interesting on here for me to hear somebody who knows the "old" train names. Like "Tennessean" and "Georgian".Guest_timetableflagman said:
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