Andrew’s Valley Rail Bikes

 Fifty years ago, when I was still an active Methodist minister, I lived in the small town of Andrews, North Carolina as I was assigned to the church there.  At that time the Southern Railway trains came through town each day.

The train stopped coming in the 1990’s and the tracks were sold to the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad.  They run historic tours out of Bryson City, some thirty miles east of Andrews but their tours do not come this far.  So, in 2024 the Andrews Valley Rail Bike Tours started using this track.

We came to Andrews and spent the night in an Air B&B made from an old red caboose.  A nice adventure in itself.  Next morning we went a few hundred yards to the railway station for all our instructions.

Trish and I took this trip back when they first opened and always wanted to do it again.  On our first trip there were six or eight cars but this time we were on a sold out trip with sixteen pedal cars and three powered cars.  Business has boomed with a new station and, of course, gift shop.

We got on our way in the front seats of our four person rail bike.  We had two other passengers in the seats behind us who also were to pedal.  I was called the “driver” as it was my job to work the brakes and the electric booster when needed.  Soon we were on our way.

Once started we were spaced way out from other cars. Here is one of the carts to show what they looked like.

We traveled nearly five miles with some fair uphill grade until we came to a 300 yard plus tunnel. The tunnel was crafted in 1894 totally by hand as the layered shale was too dangerous to use dynamite. We explored the tunnel, with the flag above the opening,  while we had a picnic break and they turned all the cars around.

We crossed five trestles on the trip, including this one that comes  right out of the tunnel. This was an engineering feat in 1894 as the tunnel itself is on a six degree grade.

After pedaling uphill to get here, the trip back was mostly gentle coasting.  

This is a great adventure and we recommend it to anyone, especially in October when the leaves are in color.