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| (Photo by Amy Quail) The newest addition to the Smoky Mountain Railroad is a functional drive-in movie theater. [Order this photo] |
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The ever-changing Smoky Mountain Central Railroad, located in The Depot on the Clay County Fairgrounds, has been a favorite at the fair since 1947.
"The railroad will never be finished, we are always making additions. We modify old displays and make new ones every year," said Jim Bonnstetter.
New this year is the drive-in movie theater complete with a working DVD screen and playground with a motorized merry-go-round.
When Ben Sanders noticed a vacant booth where a Yankton, S.D. radio station was supposed to be, he set up his train set in its place and has been displaying it there ever since.
The railroad was torn down in June of 1999 and rebuilt using nearly 95 percent of the old scenery.
The first track in the new building was installed in June of 1999. Today the layout has over 4,000 feet of track, over 250,000 feet of wiring,1,500 buildings and over 1,000 cars, trucks and tractors.
This fun and always changing attraction is something the entire family can enjoy together.
I love the creativity! I am glad model railroading is alive and well in ya'lls part of the country---Sadly where I live in Georgia they are few and far between. However, we do enjoy seeing the big ones that run very near where we live...listening to the sound of the trains in the night are music to our aging ears...