Every now and again, I take a break from my memoir to make new memories. Fall has long been my favorite time of year, and the changing hues in western North Carolina rival those of the mountain west. Opportunities abound for leaf-peeping expeditions.
When the colors peaked at the beginning of this month, my husband Barry and I ventured out with our neighbors for a rail-bike tour along the historic train tracks in Cherokee County. Andrews Valley Rail Tours bills itself as North Carolina’s first railbike adventure. It did not disappoint.
A crowd of folks climbed into sixteen railbikes lined up in front of the depot, where employees provided a safety briefing before turning us loose. Any worries about bunching up like bumper cars melted away when the staff allowed plenty of time between individual bike launches.
Because of the contraption’s electric assist feature, physical effort turned out to be minimal. Barry spent more time coasting and snapping photos than he did pushing his pedals. I occupied the driver’s seat on our four-seater. Steering isn’t required on tracks, of course, but I controlled the electric assist button and the handbrake for the nine-mile, hour-and-a-half journey. We needed no braking during the first half of the trip, which culminated in a six-percent grade—the only stretch where all four of us had to pedal to augment the electric booster.
Once we left the Andrews town limits, we tootled past widely-spaced backyards, and then across grassy meadows flanked by riparian woodlands along the Valley River. Between bridges over swift tributaries, we passed grazing cattle, a few sheep, a white-tailed buck with his harem, and a passel of wild turkeys. The clack-clack-clack of metal on metal provided a rhythmic backdrop to sporadic birdsong and distant rumbling farm machinery.
We dove into a forest that lined both sides of the route, the grade gently lifting us through soft orange, yellow, red, tan, and green-leaved hardwoods. The overcast day muted their tones, lending an almost dream-like quality to the landscape. Rounding a curve, we felt the incline steepen enough to require more leg effort.
“We’re almost there now,” I encouraged my crew. “Keep pedaling.”
We crossed another bridge and I caught a whiff of mossy vegetation clinging to rocks hugging a waterfall on the creek below.
The Valley River Tunnel came into view before our legs tired. I felt the air temperature cool as we pedaled into the mouth of the hand-hewn passageway, toward the light at the other end. Drops of water sprinkled down from the rough ceiling. Tour staff waited twenty yards beyond the tunnel, where we disembarked and watched them connect the bikes for a motorized push by a gas-powered “speeder” to a turnaround point beyond our field of vision.
The tour leader gestured toward a handful of picnic tables down a short trail to a clearing overlooking the river. “Take a half hour break. You can eat a snack and take some pictures, and then meet me at the tunnel entrance for a bit of history.”
After checking out the overview, my companions and I walked on the tracks to the tunnel, where leadership awaited. According to our guide, prison labor and workers from the Southern Railway used basic tools to hand-carve the Valley River Tunnel through solid rock. Work began in 1890; it took until 1894 to complete the project. Constructed as part of the Richmond and Danville Railroad’s expansion through the Blue Ridge Mountains, the 364-foot-long tunnel was a significant engineering feat of the late 19th century, built to facilitate rail transport through the rugged terrain of the Andrews Valley and connect remote areas of western North Carolina to larger markets, supporting the region’s timber and agriculture operations.
The original ties remain in place within the tunnel, which protected them from weather. Outside, the steel plates that hold the wood ties in place were often reused when the ties were replaced. Many of those plates have dates stamped on them. The earliest one I found bore a 1929 mark.
When we returned to the rest area, our turned-around railbikes awaited us in reverse order, which placed ours, the Hogwarts Express, near the front of the line. Staff launched us once again, allowing for even more distance between railbikes to prevent us from running over one another on the way down. Still, I had to brake frequently to keep from rear-ending the slower bike ahead of us.
The gorgeous scenery flew by and we soon ended up back at the depot, where the tour company treated us to a free libation at their nearby brewery. The hard cider is a definite winner.
Cheers, and I wish you all a Happy Autumn!
Photo by Barry Benson
#appalachianmountains #autumn #railbike #adventure #makingmemories
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