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In a few weeks I'll hopefully be taking a much-anticipated trip to Nashville via Atlanta. That is, Crescent to Atlanta, overnight there and dinner with a friend (and tour the capitol, which I never did before!), then bus to Nashville. I'm a little anxious about the Greyhound bus--I hope the terminal in Atlanta isn't sleazy or anything (sounds like it's fine in Nashville) but what really has me worried is how I will fare on a 4-1/2 hr bus ride, since I'm a train person, not a bus person. But . . . we'll see!
In Nashville I'm staying in the Union Station hotel (with mixed feelings, I do think it's awful there is not train there any more, and no Chattanooga Choo Choo). I don't know that I'll have time, but I'd LIKE to try that new Nashville light rail if I can. Can anyone give me info on how to take a very short trip on it if I so desire? Right now I'm planning on taking a bus tour to the Hermitage with Grey Lines; otherwise, I'll mainly be with friends flying down (who have a car, and are getting the music tickets for night) or walking around Downtown and Midtown trying to jam everything I want to see into less than 3 days.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Schedules and much information can be found on www.musiccitystar.org It is not a light rail, but a commuter line, running on the old Tennessee Central between Lebanon and Nashville, 32 miles. I think it possible to go part way out and come back, but not to do the whole line without an overnight in Lebanon. Unfortunately, it does not go to Union Station on the Nashville end, but to its on station at the Cumberland River end of Broadway. Their station is not the old TC station, either, but a new station built close to where it was.
One item worth seeing is the full size replica of the Parthenon in Centennial park. Somewhere in the park is also NC&StL 4-8-4 576. I have been to both, but it has been quite a few years. Go to the NC&StL historical society for info on that one. They have a web site, but I don't remember exactly what it is. A search should find it easily, though.
4 1/2 hours means probably on I-75 / 24 all the way, with a stop in Chattanooga only. Should be reasonably good roads. The schedule farily well explains why the train is unlikely to return. The best ever train schedule was never under 6 hours, and that only for the Georgian and Dixie Flagler, which were essentially given the railroad except where one had to wait to meet the other. Current speed limits on curves, and it is a very curvey railroad, says that a practical schedule would be about 8 hours plus.
Posts: 2810 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Highlights of your bus ride, Ms. Sojourner, will be a short dip on I-24 into Alabama after leaving Chattanooga. If the bus can make it up the 5% grade to Monteagle summit, then it could almost coast the rest of the way to Nashville.
Although I have never stayed at the Wyndham Union Station, I have toured it; you will find the Front Desk area to be quite authentic. But by no means is that property "smack downtown". On my journey last April (auto) I stayed at a Marriott Courtyard near Vanderbilt U some one mile West of the Station.
I totally concur with Mr. Harris' thoughts regarding the restoration of any intercity rail through the region.
Posts: 9983 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Mssrs. Norman and Harris offer some good suggestions - and sadly all too true about potential Amtrak. If Chicago to Atlanta service is ever resumed I suspect it will go via the more direct NS line from Cincinnati to Atlanta via Knoxville. Another option would be to revive the Floridian route from Nashville to Birmingham and then over to Jax.
I know you will enjoy Nashville. As my grandparents were in nearby Clarksville I have visited on many occasions, most recently in June. The Music City star is a fun trip and shows that you can start a commuter operation without spending a fortune. We did a round trip, but in the afternoon starting at Lebanon. Perhaps your friends can drop you there. Or start from Nashville in the morning and have them pick you up at one of the stops. I think Mr. Harris is correct that you can make a RT if you go only part way. They have coordinated bus service at the station that meets the trains. One route will take you within a block or two of Union Station hotel.
You'll love the hotel, although when we were there they were undergoing extensive renovations and said it would be finished by November - hopefully before you arrive. If you have a cocktail in the lobby you can almost hear the announcement for the Pan American.
I would not recommend a room on the ground floor - one level below the lobby. While it is at track level all views have been blocked off and you will hear train rumbles. Much better to get a room on a higher floor and ask for track side (corner ones are the best).
In addition to the suggestions made, I would recommend a stop at the Ryman Auditorium - even if you're not a country music fan. To get you in the spirit, rent the movie - Walk the Line - very well done.
You might also want to see Belle Meade plantation. This is a centennial year and will give you a glimpse of southern life in another era. I see they are selling Tennessee country hams - pick one up, they're great and will take care of your salt requirements for a year.
Another stop I would recommend is the Tennessee Central Railway museum - small but well done with quite a collection of rolling stock for the excursion trains they operate (check to see if one is going when you are there).
quote:Originally posted by palmland: If Chicago to Atlanta service is ever resumed I suspect it will go via the more direct NS line from Cincinnati to Atlanta via Knoxville. Another option would be to revive the Floridian route from Nashville to Birmingham and then over to Jax.
. . . .
I see they are selling Tennessee country hams - pick one up, they're great and will take care of your salt requirements for a year.
The Cincinatti to Atlanta line through Knowville is the CSX line. ex L&N. It passes about 30 miles east of Chattanooga. The Southland did it in about 12 hours for 450 or thereabouts miles. The Flamingo took about 14 hours.
The NS ex Southern (CNO&TP) line ran about 50 miles west of Knoxville, through Rockwood, and does go through Chattanooga. The Royal Palm at its best took about 10 hours, but was scheduled for 12 in the early 60's, even after all the rebuilding of the Rathole.
About the best Chicago to Atlanta time you could hope for by either route would be about 18 hours, with 20 plus more likely. About the same or slower than you could do on the former Georgian route Chicago - Evansville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta.
Tennessee country ham - food to die for. But with a tendency to high blood pressure, that might happen with a big piece. Like the old Jack Benny skit, when the stick up man says, "Your money or your life" Jack Benny pauses a long time and then says, "I'm thinking, I'm thinking."
Posts: 2810 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Sure enough the NS bypasses Knoxville - I rode the Royal Palm in 1965 shortly after the work on the rat hole line had been completed but before schedule changes - I think we arrived Chattanooga well over an hour early. It still had a sleeper and full diner but no obs.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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I parked adjacent to the Parthenon back in February when I was in Nashville to watch Vanderbilt play Kentucky in basketball! I would have sought out the 4-8-4 had the weather been warmer!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thank you all for your tips. I not only saw Walk the Line but have the DVD; wasn't it a great film? That long opening into "Folsam Prison Blues" was especially effective, muscially, for me; that's one of the songs on my #1 home-made train song CD (I have 3 now), the one CD I take on EVERY trip, and, in fact, is the song I always think of when I stand in on a station platform waiting for a train to rumble in, esp (because of the loud rhythm) a subway train. And when I phoned my husband from the Reno station platform for a "smoke stop" when I'm on the Zephyr, he twice now told me that he shot a man there. . . . I like bluegrass music a lot, but I'm not a big fan of current country music (by current, I mean since the 80s hahaha); however, I do love some of the old timers, a few of whom are still around, Cash, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Horton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Williams (Sr) . . . .
I definitely plan to go to the Ryman; in fact, I believe my friends have obtained tickets to see the Grand Old Opry show there, since from November thru February it is held there and not out in Opryland. I also am planning to see the Parthenon, and adjoining Centennial Park; would like to walk around Music Row in that area as well as walk downtown (where, among other things, I must tour the capitol, of course). Also, I may well get to Belle Mead same day as the Hermitage, if I take the Gray Line tour (since my friends have already been to both). So, I guess if I do all that (and I think I should), it's unlikely I'll have time for the commuter rail this trip. I was hoping I could take it for one quick ride to the first stop, just to ride it, as I did with the light rail in Denver. But I guess I'll have to save it for for another trip (when there is a train from Atlanta to Nashville tsk tsk).
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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I know there is never enough time to do everything but look into the Tennessee Central Railway Museum to see if they are operating one of their excursions while you are there. It would be over the same route as the Music City Star commuter train and beyond. As a bonus, they have a dome car!
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Does the Music City Star take the same route as the former "Broadway Dinner Train" which I rode about 10 years ago? (I may have asked this question previously in another thread)
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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RRRiich- Yes, for the first few miles. The Broadway Dinner train went to Stone River (about 10 miles) before heading up the Old Hickory Branch and then turning around. Old Hickory is the site of a still very active DuPont plant.
The Music City star continues on the mainline from Stone River to Lebanon, TN - a total of about 33 miles.
The track is owned by the Nashville and Eastern RR who purchased them from CSX. Originally this was Tennessee Central track. When they shut down in the 60's, This portion was bought by the L&N, the eastern half went to SRR and the Western Div (Nashville to Hopkinsville, KY went to the IC (later abandoned west of Ashland City).
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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