I'm planning a trip to Dollywood, for their 25th anniversary. Had to postpone my round trip excursion, after some home expenses, so now, I'm thinking this might be a less expensive way to go. Anyway, what would be the best way to get to Pigeon Forge, from the Fort Worth area?
Best way to Pigeon Forge?
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caravanman
Engineer
Best way to Pigeon Forge? Get hold of a dove and some spray paint, perhaps?
Ed
Ed
MikefromCrete
Engineer
You can't get there from here.
If you are thinking of a train, there aren't any that go anywhere near the place. Best bet is fly to Knoxville and rent a car and drive three hours.
supergrandmother
Train Attendant
To Pigeon Forge by train???? Are you serious? I live about one hour west of PF and the closest place for me to catch the train is in Atlanta....a good 3-4 hour drive south. There might be a stop in North Carolina on the eastern side of PF that would be a little closer but I don't think so. The Crescent or maybe one of the Silvers would be the only trains even remotely close to this area.
Notelvis
Conductor
If you drive three hours from Knoxville, you'll overshoot Pigeon Forge by a couple of hours! It's maybe 45 miles tops from the Knoxville airport.
But yes, from Ft. Worth I'd recommend flying..... you could probably get a decent fare on Southwest to Nashville and rent a car there..... and it is about a three and a half hour drive from the Nashville airport.
If you really want to take the train, the easiest 'close' Amtrak station is Atlanta where you would need to catch a city bus, transfer to the MARTA subway train, ride to the airport, rent a car, and then drive four hours...... By the time you've just gotten from the train station to the airport in Atlanta you could have flown from Dallas.
But yes, from Ft. Worth I'd recommend flying..... you could probably get a decent fare on Southwest to Nashville and rent a car there..... and it is about a three and a half hour drive from the Nashville airport.
If you really want to take the train, the easiest 'close' Amtrak station is Atlanta where you would need to catch a city bus, transfer to the MARTA subway train, ride to the airport, rent a car, and then drive four hours...... By the time you've just gotten from the train station to the airport in Atlanta you could have flown from Dallas.
You're right - I was thinking Nashville.
C
Ctim2
Guest
the closest you get to by rail to Pigeon Forge is from Charlotte, NC or Atlanta, GA both appx 4 hours. But first you have to get to the Crescent.... from Fort Worth, TX; hmmmm I don't think so
Devil's Advocate
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I'm having a hard time understanding why you would go out of your way to take a not-so-scenic train that still leaves you roughly seven hours short of your destination. Not to mention that Pigeon Forge is an ugly, tacky little town that makes me want to gag. The one and only thing I can recommend there is the Old Mill. They seem to have figured out a way to make a whole meal out of corn, which was a bit of a curiosity for me. Just beware of the various anti-social processes that may develop sometime after a visit. :unsure: :giggle:
http://www.old-mill.com/
http://www.old-mill.com/
G
Guest
Guest
Let me second/third/fourth etc. the above posters that you probably dont want to try to get there via train! Flying SWA is an excellent idea/then rent a car and drive! Actually there are lots more interesting places to go in this area of the country, even Knoxville and Chattanoga are more interesting places! Nashville also has lots to see and do and they could use the money/visitors too after the Big Flood earlier this year! Mem phis is a looooong way from Eastern Tenn, you dont want to go there and then drive IMO! :help:
J
John
Guest
As a train lover and someone who lives in Western NC, lived in Atlanta and has been to Dollywood/Pigeon Forge many times, here is my take:
1) You'll need a car unless you plan to take tours. Even then traffic can be a real pain in that area unless you go off-season.
2) Train requires you to do some real inconvenient exertions and high expense. Like others have suggested, Atlanta is your best bet. It has the Crescent arriving/leaving during daytime. If you can find away to get to the Southwest Limited, you can get to New Orleans, stay overnight then take an all-day (but not late night ride to Atlanta. It is foolish to go to ATL airport as someone has suggested. Better to rent a car there and drive.
3) Some places are just plain not convenient by train. PF and Dollywood are such places. Fly to Knoxville (best) or Chattanooga and rent a car.
1) You'll need a car unless you plan to take tours. Even then traffic can be a real pain in that area unless you go off-season.
2) Train requires you to do some real inconvenient exertions and high expense. Like others have suggested, Atlanta is your best bet. It has the Crescent arriving/leaving during daytime. If you can find away to get to the Southwest Limited, you can get to New Orleans, stay overnight then take an all-day (but not late night ride to Atlanta. It is foolish to go to ATL airport as someone has suggested. Better to rent a car there and drive.
3) Some places are just plain not convenient by train. PF and Dollywood are such places. Fly to Knoxville (best) or Chattanooga and rent a car.
Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
I went last summer and we took the train to Charlotte then drove from there. I don't remember the drive being to bad.
I've been looking at the stops in north carolina actually, and if I rented a car at gastonia, the drive from there is only 190 miles. According to mapquest, its 236 miles from atlanta. Is there anything bad about this route?
MikefromCrete
Engineer
Well, you would get in at 12:56 a.m. (assuming you're traveling northbound on the Crescent or 3 a.m. if you're southbound). It's an unmanned flag stop and your chances are probably not good that you would (1) find a car rental agency in the town at all, and (2), if there is one, it would probably wouldn't be open in the middle of the night.
You could take the Texas Eagle to San Antonio, then Sunset to New Orleans, Crescent to Gastonia. Or going the other way, Texas Eagle to Chicago, Capitol Limited to Washington, Crescent to Gastonia. A long way around no matter how you do it. Some places just can't be reached by train easily.
Devil's Advocate
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I did a quick check and it looks like you could walk less than a mile to the Knights Inn in Gastonia and spend the night there. Then walk less than a mile further down to the Enterprise car rental location the following day. But are you sure you're up to this? Forgive me for saying so, but I'm not really getting the resourceful self-reliant vibe from your posts. This is also the kind of route where you'd want to be sure everything is going to be open and ready for you when you think it is. Don't just rely on mapquest or google maps or whatever, be sure to verify everything is up-to-date and make sure you have a Plan B and C for when things go wrong. Flying to Atlanta and renting a car is almost foolproof simply because there are so many options to consider if anything goes haywire. On the other hand, taking a train to a tiny town's unstaffed flag stop in the middle of the night requires a bit more planning to make sure everything goes smoothly. This isn't the 1970's and hippies no longer get a free ride from freight trains and stationwagons.
Map Link...
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haolerider
Conductor
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2004
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- 1,436
Not a good idea at all. Gastonia in the middle of the night at that station is not a safe thing to consider. Also, the Knights Inn is not a great property. Fly and enjoy your time - don't complicate it with these kinds of arrangements.
Its normal for me to walk a mile daily, so the walk wouldnt be a problem, but is there any way that I could get there at some other hour?
Devil's Advocate
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As I understand it your choices are 1AM and 3AM. Unless you let go of the train or pick another station. I'm a huge rail advocate, but that doesn't mean it's always the best way to travel, especially in a country that has let most of its passenger rail network die off long ago. I'm all for making your own path but you might want to reconsider this routing.
G
Guest
Guest
Please heed the advice you are getting here! You do NOT want to be walking the dark in the middle of the night in a small Southern City to a dubious motel! (Bates Motel? )There is no bigger advocates for passenger rail than the posters here, believe it when we tell you to fly/drive from convient/daytime cities that have been mentioned already!
)There is no bigger advocates for passenger rail than the posters here, believe it when we tell you to fly/drive from convient/daytime cities that have been mentioned already! 
TVRM610
Conductor
I'm not sure what the goal of your trip is but Birmingham AL is a great choice as far as time frame. There is a rental company that will pick you up/drop you off at the train station in Birmingham (I'll have to get the name, my family has used it before), and the train runs in and out of Birmingham at a decent time frame during the day. Birmingham is not much further than Atlanta, and is much more manageable traffic wise.
If however... your wanting extra time on the train.. Atlanta works too.
As for Dollywood... I've been many times since I live close by and it is a lovely park. They have most likely have the most legitimate train ride of any theme park in the country, with real, hand fired, coal burning, Baldwin Locomotives running up some nice grades (3.4 % i think.. maybe 4.1%? can't remember). The park attempts to be more of a "Disney" style park then a six flags. If you have any specific questions about Dollywood.. feel free to ask me either on here, or a PM. I know the park very well... oh and you'll have to stop by and say hello to Miss Lillian the Chicken Lady! ha. Have fun!
If however... your wanting extra time on the train.. Atlanta works too.
As for Dollywood... I've been many times since I live close by and it is a lovely park. They have most likely have the most legitimate train ride of any theme park in the country, with real, hand fired, coal burning, Baldwin Locomotives running up some nice grades (3.4 % i think.. maybe 4.1%? can't remember). The park attempts to be more of a "Disney" style park then a six flags. If you have any specific questions about Dollywood.. feel free to ask me either on here, or a PM. I know the park very well... oh and you'll have to stop by and say hello to Miss Lillian the Chicken Lady! ha. Have fun!
From Birmingham to Knoxville is just about 4 hours. Used to do that drive several times a year either going to the Alabama/Tennessee game or driving between TCL and NY. Pigeon Forge is at least 35-40 minutes from Knoxville. I too would be in the fly there camp on this one.
Tennessee Traveler
Conductor
Welcome to Amtrak-less Tennessee! And sliding along the Western border at night to Memphis is not really Tennessee. Memphis is more Mississippi or Arkansas. As a life long resident of Nashville I alway fly from Nashville to catch a train. Unfortunately, Tennessee is a motor vehicle type State. Without a car in Pigeon Forge would be absolutely no fun. You even need a car to get to Dollywood -- which is a very good place to visit especially if you like "American" music of the fifties to the eighties -- no hard rock or rap. There is also a lot of craft exhibits and "way of life" in the mountains experiences. I enjoy my occasional visits but be sure to experience Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede shore and many other shows. If you have been to Branson, MO, you have experienced Pigeon Forge. From an attractions and entertainment point of vies both cities are identical copies of each other. And you gotta have a car to visit Branson also.
With the poorly maintained freight rail tracks, insufficient Amtrak funds, and total lack of interest by Tennessee State legislatures, I doubt Amtrak or any other passenger rail service will be restored to Middle and East Tennessee ever. Our federal congressmen have for decades promoted and "begged" for a Florida train from Chicago to Florida via Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. The discontinued Chicago to Florida train came through Nashville but then took a doomed to failure route through Birmingham and Montgomery in Alabama. The interstates and population available to ride the trains are in Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon and the I-75 corridor to Orlando, Tampa and on to Miami.
With the poorly maintained freight rail tracks, insufficient Amtrak funds, and total lack of interest by Tennessee State legislatures, I doubt Amtrak or any other passenger rail service will be restored to Middle and East Tennessee ever. Our federal congressmen have for decades promoted and "begged" for a Florida train from Chicago to Florida via Nashville, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. The discontinued Chicago to Florida train came through Nashville but then took a doomed to failure route through Birmingham and Montgomery in Alabama. The interstates and population available to ride the trains are in Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon and the I-75 corridor to Orlando, Tampa and on to Miami.
This question reminds us of the lack of service in the southeast as noted last post.
Just for the heck of it I looked into my old timetables from the 50's and 60's to see what I could come up with.
First, there is no station listed at Pigeon Forge. This makes it all about Knoxville.
About the best I could come up with is leave Fort Worth about 7 am. on the Texas and Pacific and Missouri Pacific train to Memphis. A tight 7 pm-ish transfer to Southern RR Tennessean. Then Knoxville the next morning at 6.35.From there perhaps either the Greyhound bus, Trailways bus or Cherokee bus might have taken you. Of course keep in mind Dollywood probably did not even exist in this time frame.
There were routes via New Orleans and via Chicago and maybe others but I think via Memphis would have been the closest so many years ago.
Just for the heck of it I looked into my old timetables from the 50's and 60's to see what I could come up with.
First, there is no station listed at Pigeon Forge. This makes it all about Knoxville.
About the best I could come up with is leave Fort Worth about 7 am. on the Texas and Pacific and Missouri Pacific train to Memphis. A tight 7 pm-ish transfer to Southern RR Tennessean. Then Knoxville the next morning at 6.35.From there perhaps either the Greyhound bus, Trailways bus or Cherokee bus might have taken you. Of course keep in mind Dollywood probably did not even exist in this time frame.
There were routes via New Orleans and via Chicago and maybe others but I think via Memphis would have been the closest so many years ago.
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