Category: Travel

This train used to run from downtown Hendersonville, Main Street to Laurel Park. You could get on the train at the corner Main Street, in front of Hunter’s Pharmacy, then ride up the north side of 5th Avenue at speeds up to 25 miles per hour.

A. Smith, the developer Laurel Park, got the franchise to put in train service in 1904, the tracks were laid and the train began operation by the spring of 1905. For 5¢ you could ride in the open-air car to Rainbow Lake. In high season, a flat car was towed behind to bring luggage and other goods up the mountain. The train had no turn-around. It backed back down the track.

A dummy engine was a steam engine enclosed in a wooden box so that it would look like a coach. This was common then, when a train operated on city streets. They thought this would be less likely to frighten horses. Continue reading Laurel Park Street Railroad Company – The Dummy Line – Hendersonville History