Abandoned Railways: Saluda - North America's Steepest Grade
Learn more about Saluda Grade:
Learn more about the Madison Incline:
Our first episode of Abandoned Railways features the world-famous Saluda Grade. Spanning 2.7 miles from the bottom of the grade at Melrose to the crest at Pace’s Crossing in downtown Saluda, the “Mountain of Challenge” averages an estimated gradient of 4.7%, peaking at 5.1% while gaining an elevation of 606 feet. With the grade railbanked since 2001, the City of Saluda hasn’t seen rail traffic in nearly twenty years — but the residents of this great community still remember the trains. What was once a bustling mainline railroad between Asheville, North Carolina and Spartanburg, South Carolina, is now a lonely, idle stretch of mountainous railroad. Covered in kudzu with multiple track washouts, Saluda Grade is slowly being reclaimed by Mother Nature.
Also featured in the film is the Madison Incline, the steepest line-haul, non-cog standard gauge railroad in North America. Opened in 1841 along the Ohio River in the City of Madison, Indiana, the incline gradient has been in existence for nearly 180 years. At 5.89%, this incredible feat of engineering proved to be a challenge for its operators and was last used in 1992. Today, the incline has become a popular hiking trail and can be accessed from dawn until dusk. Though the railroad has no intention of using the incline in the near future, the tracks remain in place in case they are ever needed again for service to downtown Madison.
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Copyright 2019. Any illegal reproduction of this video and its content is strictly prohibited. Full legal action will take place if necessary if reproduced or licensed without expressed written permission from Delay In Block Productions.
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Please excuse the advertisements. Through the Google Adsense program, the advertisements help me pay for the trips I take to capture the trains.
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-DIB
Welcome to Saluda Historic Depot & Museum, N.C.
Your invitation to visit Saluda's treasure: it's old train station.
What the Historic Saluda Depot has become is remarkable. See a diorama and film showing the entire Saluda Grade, famous for being dangerously steep. Thanks to Drayton Blackgrove's professional drone video showing it.
There's a photo spot where you can stand on the tracks with the train coming right behind you! (Inside the building and yes, it's reasonably safe.)
And Saluda Train Tales, some on YouTube, are free events that have become very popular in town. They take place every 3rd Friday from March to December.
All Free and supported by donations, volunteers and the community. More at
Thanks for stopping by.
Train Tales: Carolina's Railroad Heritage
Carolina's Railroad Heritage: What's Gone and What's Still Here, presented at the Saluda Historic Depot by Rodger Stroup.
This illustrated presentation traces the history and remains of North and South Carolina railroads.
Visit:
Dr. George Jones Guest Speaker at the Save Saluda Historic Depot Fundraiser Launch
Dr. George Jones spoke at the March 15, 2015, official launch of fundraising efforts to purchase the historic depot in Saluda, NC. A group of citizens formed in 2015 to make up the Saluda Historic Depot Committee (Board).
The depot sits on historic Main Street at the crest of the steepest mainline standard gauge railroad in the United States. The current depot building, built in 1903, is at least the second depot constructed in Saluda. Moved to its current location on Main Street in 1983, it originally sat further out of town. This particular structure is also a contributing structure on the National Register of Historic Places in the listing for the Saluda Main Street Historic District.
Once the depot is purchased, the Historic Saluda Committee will spearhead efforts to open a train/historical museum within its walls.
This video was filmed by Cindy Stephenson Tuttle, Chair, Historic Saluda Committee.
Lee Atkins - Soapin' the Rails 6 17
One of the many stories about The Saluda Grade. This grade, which crests at Saluda, NC, is the steepest standard gauge railroad grade in the United States.
walking down the saluda grade railroad to waterfalls
hiking the saluda grade railroad we always try to hike it 3 times a year just to see the damage that mother nature leaves upon it!!! It's a beautiful hike especially in the fall. and we plan on getting more like this up soon!
Flight down the Saluda Grade Rails (Old Version see below)
NOTE: this video is updated here:
Thanks to the music of the Carburetors and GIS mapping from google, here's a trip down what once was the nation's steepest, Class-1, mainline railroad grade.
Seeing this rail path leaves little to imagine about the train wrecks that plagued these 3 miles of rails between Saluda and Tryon in western N.C. from the 1880's to December, 2001.
Visit the Saluda Historic Depot at
The Carburetors music at
Thanks for your visit.
Trains heading east toward Saluda Grade in 2019
Actually, this train is an unusual move of empty hoppers to be stored on the Blue Ridge Southern, which uses only the northern section of the old Southern main line between Spartanburg, SC and Asheville, NC. The train is passing through Hendersonville, NC here, near the old station.
This former mainline includes the famous steep 5% grade up to Saluda, NC from Spartanburg. The section through Saluda has been mothballed, not abandoned, since 2001. Saluda has a nice museum in the old train depot which has been relocated to the historic downtown area.
The Blue Ridge Southern currently operates the line a few miles north of Saluda between Flat Rock, south of Hendersonville and Asheville.
I happened to catch an unusually long train of empty hoppers near Fletcher, NC on my way to visit the Apple Valley Model Railroad layout in the historic Hendersonville station. The train (I counted 152 empty hoppers) was being pushed east through Hendersonville for storage on the old mainline in the neighborhood of Flat Rock. I had to use my cell phone for the video.
Going Up Saluda Grade
Saluda Grade in Polk County, North Carolina gains 606 feet (185 m) in elevation in less than three miles between Melrose and Saluda. Average grade is 4.24 percent for 2.6 miles (4.2 km) and maximum is 4.9% for about 300 feet (91 m).
M.A. PACE STORE SALUDA NC FOX 21
Flight Down the Saluda Grade Rails
The Carburetors music and mapping from google earth offers an historical trip down what was the nation's steepest, Class-1, mainline railroad grade. It ran 3-miles from Saluda, NC to Melrose then Tryon, NC.
Seeing this rail path leaves little to imagine about the train wrecks that plagued these rails in western N.C. from the 1880's until the grade was closed in December, 2001.
Visit the Saluda Historic Depot at
The Carburetors music is at
Thanks for visiting.
Train Tales - NC Transportation Museum
Rail Operations volunteer, Lucas R. Safrit presented an overview of steam and diesel power from the N.C. Transportation Museum, formerly home of Southern Railway's Spencer Shops.
Early railroading and engines that pulled the Saluda Grade are featured in this 30-min. presentation.
More about Saluda's Historic Depot:
More about the NC Transportation Museum:
Produced by:
Durham,NC-Kenly,NC
Trucking from Durham,NC to Kenly,NC
N&W 611 on Saluda
A look at the 611 steam locomotive on the famous and steep Saluda Grade in western North Carolina. This trip was in late 1994, one of the last trips for the 611 following the announcement of the end of the Norfolk Southern Steam Program in October of that year.
Train Tales with Bob Loehne
Fascinating stories of railroading and the Saluda Grade told by video producer, Bob Loehne. Recorded as part of the Depot's monthly, Train Tales - a free series that's open to the public at the Historic Saluda Depot.
Info:
The Weldon Railroad & Civil War Chicago Pt. 1.
Authors John Horn, Theodore Karamanski, and Eileen McMahon joined us to discuss their new books on the battles for the Weldon Railroad, and the Civil War in Chicago.
Carolina Southern Pulling Red Hill
Here we see one of the last revenue runs before the shutdown. The Leslie 3 Chime was reduced to a 2 chime after it hit a low tree limb the day before.
DATE: 8/26/11
2015 Historic Saluda Tour of Homes
The Historic Saluda Committee (HSC) invites you to explore some of the oldest homes and places in Saluda. Photos are from the June 6, 2015 Historic Saluda Tour of Homes and Places. Tours are held to support projects of the HSC. Proceeds from this tour benefited the Save the Saluda Depot project, where the Historic Saluda Committee plans to have a museum featuring the train and it’s history of the tracks of Saluda Grade, the steepest single gauge railway in the United States. The museum will also showcase the rich and interesting history of Saluda.
Visit: or email historicsaluda@gmail.com
Music:
Shake That Little Foot: Shake That Little Foot is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
Saluda Grade - Eric Congdon Hiking Jams
Original composition filmed on location in Saluda, NC.
For more music and video visit ericcongdon.com
Thx for watching!
Train Tales: North Carolina's Silent Films
Some 400 movies were produced in North Carolina in the silent era, 1900-1929, a fact that seems to be almost unknown today.
North Carolina films were made by major motion picture companies, local producers and itinerant filmmakers.
Film historian Frank Thompson gives this overview at Saluda Train Tales of that forgotten cinematic legacy, concentrating on films made in Western North Carolina, particularly in Asheville and, in one case, right here in Saluda and Tryon.
Thompson's presentation is illustrated with clips from two surviving features produced in Asheville in 1918 and 1921 as well as by extremely rare images of other films made in our section of the state.
Frank Thompson is a film historian and writer, the author of more than forty books and hundreds of articles, interviews and reviews in newspapers and magazines.
Since moving to Asheville in 2015, he has devoted himself to researching the silent film era in North Carolina. This has, so far, resulted in one book, Asheville Movies Volume I: The Silent Era (2017).
His most recent book was 35 years in the making and issued only as an edition limited to 198 copies: Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman (2018), co-written with John Andrew Gallagher.
Thompson has served as writer and producer on many television shows and has produced, written and/or directed several documentaries. As an authority on film history, Thompson has provided audio commentary for many classic films on DVDs and Blu-Rays and has appeared onscreen in numerous documentaries and television specials. He lives in Asheville, N. C.
More about Frank Thompson:
Saluda Historic Depot & Museum, here: