As I stood on the ex-ET&WNC right-of-way that is now Old Railroad Grade Road on that mid-October afternoon in 1995, I wondered if someone riding the early ET one hundred years before had seen the same beautiful display of fall foliage that was so impressive to me. So, the scene above was included my collection of over 1,100 photos that I have taken in the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR area since 1989.

Doing historical research and shooting photos to be used for drawing maps and model plans has left me with many photos that probably only I would care anything about seeing. Let's face it, how many folks would want to know how many rivets were used on the end truss of the Blevins bridge? Many of my photos are of peripheral things along the line dating back to ET times. Bridges, homes, businesses, people, convention attendees, scenery and modern day scenes from old photos. All of these add up to the ET&WNC experience.

I only get over in the ET area once a year, and I have to shoot in whatever weather or lighting conditions that present themselves. So I have to shoot lots of things, and hope to get something I can use. I missed the convention in 1995, but went over to the area in October of that year and am convinced that October is the best time to visit the area without the weather being a nuisance.

I am presenting these photos in no particular subject grouping, except for one group of bridge photos. This is merely the order in which I shot them. Just click on any year in the index to the left to see small versions of what is available, then if you find something that grabs your interest, click on the small version to see the full size photo along with some commentary (or meaningless drivel) about it. If you like what you see, or even if you don't, drop me an e-mail and let me know what you think.

The hard part of this album was picking through all the photos and including the few that I thought might be of interest to some of you. A limited amount of web space means either a limited amount of pictures, or limiting the resolution or size of the photos, or in some cases both. There are many, many photos I would have liked to include in this album, but space did not allow me to do so. Some may be fascinating to you, some as dull as dirt. I would love to have a web page with nothing but old photos, but then, that's what books are for. You won't find very many pictures of the Tweetsie Railroad here simply because it's so easy to get photos of the Tweetsie. What you will find are photos from some out of the way places, photos that maybe some hard-core ET fans have already seen, but that someone who has not ventured off the beaten path or has never been in the ET area may not have seen. My hope is that everyone will find something new to them. If you've seen what I shot in a photo, then maybe it will bring back memories. If you haven't seen it, perhaps it will spark your curiosity and imagination. It may even inspire you to visit the area, and if you aren't already
a fan of the ET&WNC, maybe you will be.

Anyway, I'll let you, the viewer, be the judge. Enjoy.