You may have heard a lot about it, but if you haven’t hiked the three miles from Saluda to Melrose, then you really haven’t seen the “Saluda Grade.”  Now you can, when a Z-scale diorama of the Saluda Grade is brought to the Saluda Historic Depot on May 20, to be on display as a highlighted tourist destination at the depot’s museum.

Built by the Apple Valley Railroad Model Club, building this size of a model was indeed a challenge. The AVMRC began in 1984 with seven members and has grown to 98 members today. Moving into the Hendersonville train depot in 1995 after a three-year project, and partnering with the city to restore the depot, it has become a tourist attraction in the 7th Avenue Historic District.

Today, the club has three train layouts and a small museum on display and attracts hundreds of visitors every week. The club is comprised of mostly retirees from all over the country who moved to the area when they retired. There is also a small but growing contingent of junior members — kids under age 18 — who the club hopes will continue the love of the hobby throughout their lives.

This group was the best to build this model of the Saluda Grade because of the club’s amazing array of talents which translates to high quality models and well built layouts that are both attractive to visitors as well as solid functioning. Some of the structures are museum quality and the members constantly look to replace older, lower quality items with high quality pieces.

Over the past four years they have built dioramas for the Heritage Museum in Hendersonville, the DuPont State Forest visitors center, and the Brian Rehabilitation Center. Each one has received high marks for quality and visitor interest. They built the larger HO scale Saluda Grade Diorama in the Hendersonville Heritage Museum.

The Saluda Grade diorama starts one-half mile east of downtown Saluda, continues down the three-mile Saluda Grade, and ends at the east end of Melrose which was the staging area for trains running the grade. It is set in 1950 when both diesel and passenger trains ran throughout the Southern Railway system.

It demonstrates the difficulty of getting a train safely up or down the mountain and, since people cannot see very much of the grade from the road, shows where the tracks actually are on the mountain.

“The diorama is built using Z scale model trains which are a scale of 1:220 and even though they are tiny, we cannot build the grade truly to scale because the room in the depot is not big enough. So, we use ‘selective compression’ which means compressing areas where there is not much of importance or repetitive scenery features to shorten the overall distance without losing the overall effect we are trying to create. Also, we have tried to be as authentic as possible with structures and terrain through the use of topographic maps and Google Earth software,” says Larry Morton, president of the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club.

“The Saluda Grade deserves this recognition because it is well known among railroad fans across the country and it is the steepest mainline railroad grade in the USA where 27 men were killed by runaway trains in the early days of its existence. The financial and engineering struggles make for some very interesting stories which have led to several books and magazine articles over the years. The towns of Tryon and Saluda would not exist if it hadn’t been for the railroad coming through the area. Today it sits dormant but the entire track is still in place,” says Larry.

“When I learned that a group of citizens was looking to purchase the depot and turn it into a railroad museum, I knew I wanted to help that dream come true and I volunteered our club to assist in building displays that would attract visitors. I received a warm welcome from the board and we proceeded from there. Today I consider many of the board members as friends and watching their progress in developing the museum is rewarding and inspiring. I’m sure I will remain involved with the project long after the diorama is installed,” Larry continues.

The cost of materials for the diorama is privately funded by Dr. Fred McConnel, a lifelong fan of the Southern Railway and especially the Saluda Grade. The design and construction is donated by the members of the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club in Hendersonville.

“Anyone who is a railroad fan will definitely enjoy the depot and its contents and for those other folks, it’s an interesting story of the struggles that people will endure to accomplish a goal. The Saluda Grade is not visible from any roads and not easily approached by foot, so this is the only way to see the challenge it presented to the railroad. It was the last piece of the railroad between Charleston, S.C. and Cincinnati, Ohio to be built,” says Larry.

“The board members of the Saluda Historic Depot feel that this new diorama will become a tourist destination for railroad enthusiasts and anyone interested in the heritage of small mountain towns and how they got their beginnings. We are truly indebted to Dr. Fred McConnel who has contributed so much to the depot and funded this project, and to the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club for meeting the challenge of a Z-scale model that will fit nicely in the main room of the depot and easily collapses when we need the space for other events,” says board chair, Judy Ward.

The Saluda Historic Depot is open Thursday to Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. and is located at 32 W. Main Street, Saluda, NC 28773.

For more information please contact Cathy Jackson at 828-817-2876, cathy@saludalifestyles.com, or Judy Ward at 828-674-5958, judyward@charter.net.

– article submitted by Cathy Jackson