Program planned for Friday’s Saluda Train Tales

From 1830 to the mid-20th century, railroads were the primary means of moving people and products across the state. While hundreds of miles of track have been abandoned since the 1950s, remnants of bridges, tunnels, cuts, culverts, and roadbeds still remain.

Rodger Stroup with the South Carolina Railroad Museum will show examples of structures like roundhouses, water tanks, coal bunkers, and maintenance sheds, as well as trackside vignettes and historic railcars that were once common but are now rarely seen on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Saluda’s historic depot.

Rodger Stroup is the past chairman of the South Carolina Archives & History Foundation and works as a volunteer at the South Carolina State Museum and the Historic Columbia Foundation. He is the curator of the South Carolina Railroad Museum, the superintendent of railroad operations and a certified conductor on the museum’s railroad, the Rockton, Rion & Western Railroad.

“With so many part time residents in Saluda with permanent homes in South Carolina, we think there will be a lot of interest in learning about the South Carolina railroad and the role it played in bringing passengers and freight through western North Carolina,” says Judy Ward.

Saluda Train Tales is a free monthly event to educate the community of the importance of Saluda’s railroad history and the Saluda Grade. These events are at the Saluda Historic Depot, 32 W. Main Street, Saluda, NC.

If there is inclement weather, please contact Judy Ward at 828-674-5958 or judyward@charter.net or Cathy Jackson at 828-817-2876 or cathy@saludalifestyles.com for schedule updates.

– article submitted by Cathy Jackson