For the weekend of September 12-14, 2003 the famous #1925 Shay, formerly of the  Graham County RR, now of the NC Transportation Museum, was near her home tracks in Western North Carolina. She was the star of the show along the former Southern Railway Murphy Branch, now operated by the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
    On Thursday, September 11, a photographers' special was chartered for fifteen individuals on the ferry move from Dillsboro to Bryson City. The "World's Fastest Shay" traveled the 20-odd miles in a whopping 6 1/2 hours, including numerous photo stops. Enjoy the photos below, and support your North Carolina Railroad Heritage.

   ABOVE. It's 7am and we are west of Dillsboro. The Shay is "racing" out of Cowee Tunnel onto the river bridge, where 31 chained convicts died in 1871 while floating on a raft being used to construct the bridge.

    ABOVE. There are not many better places to  be than the cupola of a caboose, especially in the North Carolina mountains behind a steam locomotive. Here, we pass a farm near the 54 Milepost.

  ABOVE. The grand old lady stretched her legs like they haven't been in decades. Here, she is eastbound, thundering across the Tuckaseegee River west of Bryson City.

Support NC Railroad History by visiting the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Dillsboro, the North Carolina Railroad Museum in Bonsal, Tweetsie Railroad in Boone and any of the NRHS chapters in the state.

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