What's That Smoke Over There?

“Look at that smoke.  What is it?” he asked.

Thinking he was testing my firefighter knowledge, I tried to size it up by the color.  

Before I could even utter an answer, he had taken the interstate exit straight into downtown Johnson City, TN.  He knew what it was.  And it wasn’t a structure fire.

A steam engine.  Pulling an excursion train.

Train buffs with cameras in hand lined the right of way.  Onlookers waved to passengers.  We joined them.

The Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society & Museum partnered with Norfolk Southern for a weekend of passenger train excursions.

Locomotive #4501 had stopped in Johnson City before continuing its Bulls Gap journey. 

And our timing was perfect!  

Locomotive #4501 chugging down the tracks in Johnson City, TN June 27, 2015

This man cannot pass up a train viewing