All Aboard! History of a Beloved Train
September 20, 2023 I remember when the only way a person could get to Boone was to be born there.” These words of a homespun philosophy were credited to an anonymous speaker at a railroad convention over a century distant, although the quote is debatable among avid railfans who enjoy fond remembrances. “Hear that train a’commin through the valleys and up the mountain side?” Locals and visitors to the High Country of Western North Carolina have been able to answer in the affirmative since 1957, when the Tweetsie Railroad amusement park opened between Boone and Blowing Rock, and its high pitched horn signaled a limited 30-minute ride through the park. By Peter Morris
