The train sat in Old Fort for around 30 minutes to give rail fans plenty of time to take photos and videos.
MIKE CONLEY PHOTOS, MCDOWELL NEWS
Cathy Moore, the local leader for the grassroots effort to bring passenger trains back to McDowell County and western North Carolina, looks at a set of plans that detail the repairs made to the railroad.
This railroad worker stands on the front of the locomotive in Old Fort.
A crowd waits at the Old Fort Depot to welcome the train back.
MIKE CONLEY PHOTOS, MCDOWELL NEWS
At around 10:45 a.m., the freight train arrived in Old Fort, and it stopped in the middle of town.
After around 30 minutes in Old Fort, the train continued its way west toward the Loops around Andrews Geyser, traveled through the mountain tunnels and made the steep climb up to Ridgecrest.
Eighteen months after Hurricane Helene tore up the railroad between Old Fort and Black Mountain, a Norfolk Southern freight train once again rolled through McDowell County and made its way through the historic Old Fort Loops as it headed west up the mountain.
Cathy Moore, the local leader for the grassroots effort to bring passenger trains back to McDowell County and western North Carolina, looks at a set of plans that detail the repairs made to the railroad.
After around 30 minutes in Old Fort, the train continued its way west toward the Loops around Andrews Geyser, traveled through the mountain tunnels and made the steep climb up to Ridgecrest.