Eastern Railroad Discussion > Former L&N "Hook" and "Eye" status?

Hello, being from the western part of the country I think this is my first post on the eastern forum. I don't know alot about it, but I was wondering what is the status on the former L&N line between Blue Ridge, GA and Etowah, TN? This is the line with the "Hook" and "Eye" loop. I know the Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad runs part of it, but that's about all I know.

Who runs it? Owns it? ETC.

Any and All help is appriciated, Thanks in advance.
Traingeek087

Georgia Northeastern/Blue Ridge Scenic operates the line from Marietta to the Georgia/TN state line, and this portion is owned by the state of Georgia. The only traffic north of Whitestone, GA of which I am aware is the Blue Ridge Scenic excursion train. No operations from the state line to Copperhill, TN. From Copperhill to Etowah, TN the line is leased to an operating arm of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. They run passenger excursions as the Hiwasee River Rail Adventure, and occasional freight service to Copperhill. There have been on again, off again freight moves of copper tailings from the long closed copper mill at Copperhill, and freight car storage in the yard there. Freight power is GMTX GP38-2s, and the HRRA usually uses a GP7 in a NC&StL red and yellow paint scheme.

Here is a link to information on the excursion train:

http://www.tvrail.com/hiwassee/

Mike Derrick
http://www.shortlinesusa.com

So the line is technically complete, and two seperate tourists railroads cover the entire line? My intent on the inital post was to find out if it was still all complete which it seems to be.

I have seen videos in past years where there have been NARCOA motorcar trips on the entire line. I wonder why there haven't been speeder trips on it lately?

Traingeek087

That's correct. The line could still be run from Etowah to Marietta in theory. There is no middle section removed that would prevent it. GNRR/BRSR does not have operating authority past the state line and the excursion train only goes as far as McCaysville, which is just south of Copperhill. The two excursions only cover a portion of the line, though. South of Blue Ridge is all freight operated by the Georgia Northeastern.

Mike Derrick
http://www.shortlinesusa.com

Also, I might add on the speeder trips, it may be that when the Etowah to Copperhill portion was out of service, they only had the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway train with which to coordinate. On a weekend day in the summer, to hi-rail the entire line, they would have to dodge a round trip on the BRSR, then possibly two round trips on the HRRA. There may just be too many active trains out there to entertain the idea of a parade of speeders on the line these days. That said, it certainly could be done in the middle of the week or in the late fall/winter when the excursion trains only run on special trips and leave some weekend days open with no runs on either end.

Mike Derrick
http://www.shortlinesusa.com

Small correction: Copperhill, TN and McCaysville, GA are actually two parts of the same town (just like Bristol, VA/TN). The train from Etowah stops on the north side of the Grand Street grade crossing, and the train from Blue Ridge stops just south of it, so if you ride them both you'll essentially get the whole line from just south of Etowah, TN down to Blue Ridge, GA.

As an item of interest, the state line actually cuts through a grocery store in McCaysville, so the back third of the store contains beer, wine, and liquor (which in Tennessee can be sold in grocery stores, but not in Georgia), but the cash register is in Georgia. Apparently, that's okay, although the liquor has to come in through the back door, which is in Tennessee.

GA can sell Liquor at stores. They might not have wanted to pay to states fees. The engines when they pull to the platform are in TN.