June 1989

This was the first get-together of the soon-to-be-formed ET&WNC Railroad Historical Society, with the meeting being held in Boone, North Carolina. For me, all of this was brand new and offered what seemed to be endless photo and research opportunities. The Gorge had been recently acquired by the Doe River Ministries, and was still in a rather raw and unmaintained state. Some of the equipment from the previous two failed business attempts continued to sit after decades of neglect, and hiking the weed-choked right-of-way was a fairly daunting task.