Last year I donated a dollar a day to the local PBS television station WUNC-TV here in the Raleigh/Durham area and as a part of the drive I got some free gifts from the Scenic Railroads television show as well as 4 free tickets to ride on the excursion train at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad (GSMRR) in Bryson City, NC. So in September we planned a trip to the Smoky's for the Thanksgiving Holidays. We arrived at the GSMRR Friday morning around 8:45am in preparation for our 10:30am departure. Check-in was at 9:15am, so this gave us some time to walk around and capture some images, once we checked in and got our tickets at the depot counter we enjoyed a visit at the train museum and shop.

Here are photos from the GSMRR trip. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

GSMRR Bryson City Depot	GP9 #1755	GP9 #1755
Ryan posing with GP9 #1755	GP9 #1755 wheel set	At the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC)
Caboose Generator Car	GP9 #711	Ben and GP9 #711
GP9 #711	GP9 #711	Polar Express Ticket Display

Since we had about an hour to burn before the departure we toured the GSMRR train shop and museum and we really had a great time visiting both. The shop sells a lot of t-shirts, fleece pull-over's, hats, signs, Thomas The Tank Engine stuff, cards and collectibles. But it also has a large inventory of Lionel, HO and N scale equipment in addition to a large balsa wood collection.

Behind the Bryson City Depot is the Smoky Mountain Trains museum and gift shop. This place has over 7,000 pieces of Lionel™ engines, cars, and track side accessories lining the walls full of display cases filled to the gills, and also has two complete layout displays. Admission to the museum is free with paid tickets to a GSMRR excursion.

Here are some photos from inside the museum. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

Ben & Ryan at Museum Entrance	Southern Passenger on Layout	Benchwork Billboard
Buddy L Outdoor Railway Loco	Southern Woodside Boxcar	Southern Square Window Caboose
Container Yard	Layout and Southern Passenger	Passenger Station
Southern Passenger on Curve	Southern Passenger on Curve	One of Many Display Cases
Smaller Layout Action	Monique and Ben at the Museum	Southern Tank Car
Penn RR Flat Car with Load	Sante Fe De-Construction	Burlington Route GP-7