The Heart of Bryson

Bryson City is a lovely misnomer. It has a courthouse, a newspaper, beautiful mountains and a train station, but little more to declare it a city. It is that train station that has put and kept Bryson on the map, and though it no longer functions as a commerical center, every fifteen minutes the railroad crossing lights flash and the gates are lowered in the heart of downtown. The depot is flanked by railroad-related stores and restaurants, such as Heaven's Railway bookstore and one of the top ten model railroad museums in the world. The main source of income for the station is tourism, both from families with children eager to ride The Little Engine that Could and from elderly couples from across the country touring the Appalachians. Engineers and conductors still carry pocket watches in their overalls, and songs of the bygone era of travel by train in America still carry through the station.