Friday, May 6, 2022

Saluda visit

 Our trip to Saluda NC.

The rock shop was closed, but shared it's lovely geraniums with everyone outside.




Apparently Wednesdays the town of Saluda goes on siestas. As we had visited Thompsons Market in the past, we didn't even try to see what was happening there. Here's an older post of that visit.

What do you call an angel that's also a mermaid? Maybe a Mer-gel? Ange-maid? We had such fun window shopping at Heartwood Gallery. It was a slow day, according to the hostess. It was ok with us, because we found some lovely treasures, and just looked!

Jane Voorhees was represented, a watercolorist from Asheville NC.



All the eating establishments were closed. A lot of them had construction crews working - perhaps getting ready for the big Arts and Crafts outdoor event May 21...with 90 vendors!

We finally found the Green River Bar-B-Q. And our vegetable plates were full of lots of fun tastes!

Mine (at bottom of photo) had sweet potato fries, Bar-b-q pork & beans, sweet and sour tomato and cabbage slaw, and baked potato salad.  Delicious!


Saluda is known for the steepest railroad grade as trains come into the mountains.

Saluda Grade is the steepest standard-gauge mainline railway grade in the United States.[1] Owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway as part of its W Line, Saluda Grade in Polk County, North Carolina, gains 606 feet (185 m) in elevation in less than three miles between Melrose and Saluda. Average grade is 4.24 percent for 2.6 miles (4.2 km) and maximum is 4.9% for about 300 feet (91 m).

Captain Charles W. Pearson was assigned to select a route for the Spartanburg and Asheville Railroad to ascend the Blue Ridge front; the area where the rolling hills of the Piedmont end at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Despite numerous surveys, no route was available for a railroad to ascend the mountains at a tolerable grade, and the best route followed the Pacolet River valley and gorge. The line begins its climb at the bottom of Melrose Mountain, where Tryon is today, at 1,081 feet (329 m), and continues on the south side of the Pacolet valley. At Melrose, the Saluda Grade begins and climbs to the town of Saluda, cresting in the center of town at an elevation of 2,097 feet (639 m).

Because of accidents involving downgrade runaway trains in the late 1880s, the then Southern Railway built two runaway safety spur tracks. These were originally manned junctions, which were always switched to a 60-foot (18 m) pile of earth, which could stop downgrade runaway trains. Only upon hearing a whistle signal from the downgrade train would the signalman manning the spur junction throw the switch to keep the train on the main line. In later years, CTC signaling was installed along with automated switches and timer circuits for the one surviving runaway safety track at the bottom of the grade at Melrose. Trains running downgrade were required to maintain 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) when approaching the runaway track switch. This would allow a timer circuit to determine if a train was under control, in which case the switch from the runaway track at Melrose would be aligned to the mainline. But for speed greater than 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) the switch would remain aligned for the runaway track. Saluda Grade was one of the few grades in the country where uphill trains could travel faster than their downhill counterparts. Most uphill trains had to double or triple the grade, splitting the train into sections to be taken up the grade to Saluda one at a time and reassembled there for the rest of the trip to Asheville.[2][3]

Norfolk Southern suspended freight traffic between East Flat Rock, North Carolina and Landrum, South Carolina in December 2001,[4] thus ceasing operations on the Saluda Grade. In April 2003, Norfolk Southern severed the line from the rest of its system by placing mounds of dirt over the tracks and disconnecting the rails at mile posts 26 and 45.

Source: Wikipedia

My mother's father worked in Texas as a conductor on the railroad. So there's a connection here.

Sharing with Skywatch Friday.

Today's quote:

To create a work of art is to create the world. —Vassily Kandinsky


22 comments:

  1. Hello,
    Your visit to Saluda looks fun. Sorry a lot of places were closed, you did find a nice place for lunch. The art work is pretty, I like the angel mermaid and the painting. Take care, enjoy your day and happy Mother's Day weekend. .

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    1. Good to hear from you here, Eileen! It was part of our trip to see the Pearson's Falls, and we were definitely hungry! I ate almost all my food on that plate! Happy Mother's Day to you!

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  2. ...what a fabulous little town!

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  3. Salad looks like a lovely place for a stroll and some lunch.

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    1. It has a nice little town center, but we had to drive across a bridge over the tracks to get to our bar-b-que place for lunch...not far though

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  4. Oh what wonderful places to see!
    I like the wood fence behind the geraniums, it's a nice touch!
    That bistro is a great place to enjoy a meal. The decor looks instagrammable!

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    1. The setup with flowerpots and fence all done in grey really did set off the bright pink geraniums. Too bad it was closed, as I like to look at crystals and pretty rocks. My friend Helen was reading the menu for the Bistro...I didn't even look at it. I was hungry and wanted an open restaurant!

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  5. Barbara, So you don't think that an 9 foot tall skeleton wearing a grass skirt is weird! Very funny! Too bad Saluda was pretty much closed up, and on a Wednesday too. That is weird! Interesting about the railroad and the Saluda grade. Railroads, locomotives, trains, rail cars and depots are all on my 'hot' list of interests. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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    1. I guess I couldn't tell quite how tall the skeleton was~! OK, very much weird. Glad you like the history of trains. The Saluda station is now some kind of store...which was closed also during our visit. In the past it was part of a garden center and gift shop. We shall see its latest development!

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  6. I love that old market and vintage-looking downtown area. You could film a movie there!

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    1. Oh that's a good thought. I'm curious what it will be like with 90 vendors along the street...and wonder where all the cars would park on the 21st!

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  7. Monday closings I'd understand but Wednesday? At least it looks like you found a great BBQ spot to remember for the future.

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    1. Yes, it was a fun lunch...after missing some of our favorites!

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  8. What a sweet town! Lots of tourist towns are so sweet!

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    1. I don't know that they rely on tourists, like Black Mountain where I live. With the railroad no longer running there, I guess they must!

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  9. Replies
    1. I returned after 4 years...my friend kept track of the last time we walked the waterfall walk and visited Saluda. That time we also went to Tryon. Not this time though.

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  10. Replies
    1. I used to take day trips a lot more often than I do these days. Fortunately Helen has a hybrid car which gets good gas mileage.

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  11. That’s pretty remarkable about the railroad.

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  12. Mondays seem to be the day off in more town and country places around here. It was new to me when we arrived. Of course, all of the chain stores ar open, so this is mostly in the older downtown, and I expect that it is beginning to change.

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There is today, more than ever, the need for a compassionate regenerative world civilization.