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Bryan Smith's Collection
 
12/25/2024
 
 
 
 
 
By:Bryan Smith
Dates:11/1/1980 - 11/1/1980
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Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica is gently unloaded from the cass it travels in.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:39:01 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  402   Comments: 1
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica is off it's traveling cars and onto rails and ready to roll.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:39:44 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  319   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The cars used to haul the Best Friend of Charleston replica are seen next to the depot at Blakely GA. The car on the right with the doors that look like wings carries the locomotive itself. The boxcar carries the tender and the coaches.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:42:49 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  378   Comments: 1
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica is off it's traveling cars and is ready for a day of excursion runs.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:43:28 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  323   Comments: 0
The Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  The Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica right as it appears from it's traveling cars. The stack folds down to allow it to fit inside the cars it travels in.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:44:03 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  271   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica is ready for a day of excursions. Note the engineer in costume and the approaching train in the right side of the photo. Everyone was made to move back while the freight passed.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:44:46 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  293   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica gets ready for a day of excursions. While it had been built to operate from steam power, on this day the steam engine was out of service. They did build a fire in the boiler for a more authentic look but power was provided by a diesel engine housed in the box on the tender. It is barely visible in the photo.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:45:33 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  320   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  Getting ready for a day of hauling passengers.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:46:21 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  254   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  Check out the crowds waiting to take the one block long excursion. Southern generated a lot of positive feelings toward the railroad on this day. Makes you wonder why they mothballed the train. Southern strictly forbide the train to pass over street crossings, to prevent any possibility of a collision with a motorist, or to operate on the mainline, to prevent a collision of a much more serious nature.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:47:08 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  278   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  More views of the crowds waiting to get on. It was this busy all day long.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:47:58 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  262   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The classic pose that you see in paintings and drawings of the original. The engineer tipping his hat to onlookers.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:48:35 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  326   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  Local officials take a rnde on the Best Friend of Charleston replica. The fellow with the gun is Ellis Thompson, special agent for the railroad while the person to the right is Jack Waters, the trainmaster for this area at the time.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:49:14 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  294   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  Getting ready for a day of short excursion runs. The man on the right whose head partially obscures the "Entrance" sign is Tom Soloman. He was railfan extraordinare from Headland AL and accompanied me on many of my early fan trips, including a trip on Amtrak't Floridian from Dothan to Birmingham and return. (Rolling into the trainshed at Montgomery while riding a dome coach.....but thats another story). He was an accomplished painter and several of his works hang in banks in Headland. He was an extremely kind and gentle person who lit up in the presence of anything railroad. He taught me much concerning railroads and was a very patient teacher.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:49:59 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  288   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The train getting ready and another shot of Mr. Tom Solomon (bottom right next to exhibit car). He was railfan extraordinare and accompanied me on many early fantrips. He was his happiest near a rail line and expression on his face reflects that here. He has passed on and was an extremely kindly gentleman who is missed.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:50:36 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  294   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The crowds are moved back to allow Southern train #167 to pass by. The Best Friend of Charleston replica has been moved from the passing track, where it operated this day, to the house track to protect it from passing pulpwood loads on the freight.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:51:21 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  286   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  Westbound Southern train #167 passes the Best Friend of Charleston replica as it sits safely on the house track and out of harms way. The lead unit on the freight, 2882, is of the original Norfolk Southern Railway.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:52:04 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives:  SOU 2882(GP38)
Views:  538   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The engineer of the Best Friend of Charleston tips his hat to the real thing as they pass by.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:52:47 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives:  SOU 2882(GP38)
Views:  658   Comments: 0
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica and the exhibit car are seen in this shot.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:53:28 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  295   Comments: 0
Interior of exhibit car
Title:  Interior of exhibit car
Description:  This was taken inside the Southern Railway exhibit car. This display shows the laying of ribbon rail.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:54:03 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  329   Comments: 0
Interior of Exhibit car
Title:  Interior of Exhibit car
Description:  This shot shows the full length of the exhibit car. It usually travelled with the Best Friend of Charleston replica and provided a quick education to modern railroading.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:54:36 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  278   Comments: 0
Interior of exhibit car
Title:  Interior of exhibit car
Description:  Another view of the interior of the exhibit car with displays of the state of the art aspects of railroading at that time; computerized yards, ribbon rail, and solar powered signal systems.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:55:09 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  276   Comments: 1
Best Friend of Charleston
Title:  Best Friend of Charleston
Description:  The Best Friend of Charleston replica is gentlz lowered from it's traveling cars onto the rails.
Photo Date:  11/1/1980  Upload Date: 12/4/2005 6:19:28 AM
Location:  Blakely, GA
Author:  Bryan Smith
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  372   Comments: 0


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