We have seen an old Fort Wilderness Rail Car. So, why dont we take a look at the Fort and see what evidence we can see of the old railroad?
One of the best places to see the old rail bed is between the 700 and 800 loops. There is a stretch of track that is very clear here. The rails are gone, but the ties and rock remain.
If you head out toward the pet walk area from the 700 loop, and turn right, behind the 700 loop, you can see where the tracks continued on through the woods, along the back of the 700 loop. From here, the trains would curve around, and stop at the Settlement Depot.
For the past few years, the area where the track entered the woods behind the 700 loop has been so overgrown that it was impossible to go more than a few feet into the woods. There have been reports of clearing going on in this area, but on my most recent visits, I still found it impossible to follow the old tracks very far at all.
It was not always like this. While the train was before the TCD gangs time at the Fort, the tracks were clear enough to walk in the early years of our visits to the Fort. We often would start out behind the 800 loop, and walk the tracks all the way to the Settlement where we would visit the petting zoo. But, it has been a long, long time since we have been able to do that.
Well, on this visit, I found that a combination of clearing, and die-back of some of the vines and brush from this past cold winter has opened up a larger stretch of the old tracks behind the 700 loop.
Please join me as we take a look.
Talk about a stroll down memory lane . . .
Our journey begins here at the pet walk entrance from the 700 loop:
From here, you just a walk a little bit, and you will clearly see the old rail bed. This is what it looks like if you turn to the right, where the tracks ran behind the 700 loop:
Do you see that fallen tree lying across the track in the background of the photos above? That was pretty much where you used to hit a solid wall of vines, thorns and brush.
But, on this visit, as I walked up, there was clearly space to continue forward:
You can see in the photo above, that there are a lot of dead vines and plants currently. I am sure this will not last for long. Now that it is warming up, it wont be long before these tracks get obscured again.
And, this is what you see just past that fallen tree:
These tracks are not very far from the campsites in the 700 loop. In fact, here is what you see if you turn your head to the right here:
Up to this point along the old tracks, there are a lot of missing or partially buried ties. Along this portion of the track, however, the ties are quite visible, and appear to be in better condition:
Now here is something that I found to be quite interesting. It was always my understanding that at this point on the trains course, the tracks curved to the right, and the trains would continue on to the Settlement Depot. But, if you look at these next two photos, you will see that the track splits here, with one set of tracks going off to the left, and the other continuing on straight ahead:
Do you see the two sets of tracks? One is off to the left, and you can see the other set just right of the center of these photos, under the small trees. I never knew about this. I dont think the train went anywhere in this area other than the Settlement Depot. And, my understanding is that the trains were kept in a building somewhere up near the Outpost area. So, I am not sure what this split track is all about here. But, there are definitely two sets of tracks, and here are some photos of each set:
As you can see in these photos, the vegetation closes back in around the tracks here. I think you could probably press through here, and find your way to the Settlement Depot. But, I didnt. The mosquitoes were bad, and I had already had enough of them from my swamp adventure. So, this is where I turned back. Here we are heading back along the 700 loop:
You can see the campers in the 700 loop from here:
Here we are heading out:
And, this is a shot of what the old rail bed looks like between the 700 and 800 loops. In this photo, the 700 loop is to the left, and the 800 loop is to the right:
In my next post, we are going to look at the old railroad path in a completely different part of the campground. A part that even TCD had not visited before. And, I will be reporting on a discovery that will be of major interest to any train buffs out there. And I have some pretty cool photos to share, too. If I do say so myself.
TCD
