Nearest and Dearest: The Chattanooga Choo Choo

Is that the Chattanooga choo choo?
Track twenty-nine
Boy, you can gimme a shine
I can afford
To board a Chattanooga choo choo
I've got my fare
And just a trifle to spare

You leave the Pennsylvania Station 'bout a quarter to four
Read a magazine and then you're in Baltimore
Dinner in the diner
Nothing could be finer
Than to have your ham an' eggs in Carolina

When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar
Then you know that Tennessee is not very far
Shovel all the coal in
Gotta keep it rollin'
Woo, woo, Chattanooga there you are

There's gonna be
A certain party at the station
Satin and lace
I used to call "funny face"
She's gonna cry
Until I tell her that I'll never roam
So Chattanooga choo choo
Won't you choo-choo me home?
Chattanooga choo choo
Won't you choo-choo me home?

Not quite the Chattanooga Choo Choo

When I was a little girl, we drove to Florida on vacation. On the way we passed through Chattanooga, Tennessee. My brother and I begged to be allowed to go on the Incline Railroad and my dad was so-o-o-o close to letting us do it but my stepmother was scared that the train would break loose and we would all die so we didn't get to go.

Thirty plus years later and I finally got the opportunity to ride that railroad with my girls and my husband on a fall weekend get away in October.

Though if the truth be told I might have thought we were going to die. It is a long way up is all I have to say.

The website touts the following about the railroad:

"Known as “America’s Most Amazing Mile,” The Incline’s trolley-style cars climb

through the natural beauty surrounding historic Lookout Mountain at a breathtaking

72.7% grade – straight up! Sit back, relax and enjoy the scenic views of the mountains and

valleys from the observation windows on the train"

Bud and the the oldest and the youngest might have enjoyed a relaxing ride on the way up and the way down. However Abby and I sat together gripping our seats (and each other) with white knuckles as I tried to calculate just how far the railway car would fly when the brakes didn't work and we came careening down.

We finally made it to the top only to be shown that there are multiple braking systems and some very powerful mechanisms that make the Incline Railroad cars go. I felt kind of foolish for a second but decided if you were not scared at all then you were probably more foolish than I.

I will have to say though that the view from the top was absolutely worth the ride. My grandparents came here on their honeymoon and stood on top of this very mountain.