In my opinion one of the most under-appreciated scenes of Christy is the train on its way to El Pano, TN. It gracefully rolls across a bridge with a dark black smoke that floats into the sky.
In times past I’ve searched and located dozens of scenes for a different TV series. I always looked for a combination of three main markers. It could be the identical landscape, certain businesses, or even the specific mistake a brick could have on a building. Christy is historic for East Tennessee and I feel it’s important to track some locations down because they may never be located in the future. A train is specifically seen in two episodes, the Pilot and Echoes. The producers must have thought it was an important scene since it’s a part of the TV theme. It’s an iconic and memorable scene for every episode.
Looking at maps including railroad maps, I did find a very promising bridge on the Little River, but I just wasn’t entirely sure. It just seemed a little too urban in my mind. I contacted a couple of train tours in Western North Carolina and Northern Georgia but nothing matched up or I got no response. Over the past several months with hours of searching I felt like I needed a bit of help. After contacting the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad tour, I was directed to the Tennessee Valley Railroad. I corresponded with Mr. Steve Freer, the operations supervisor of the museum. I was surprised to learn he was a Christy fan too.
They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee and offer various unique train rides and of course a museum you can visit. But let’s get back to the matter at hand. A lot of the crew from the TV show and train crew have died and history is slipping from our hands. In terms of entertainment and filming, there is something called “call sheets”. They provide information of who, when, and where you are suppose to be when filming. They often include the date and time an actor is suppose to have their makeup done, lunch times, you name it. Who knows if these call sheets still exist for the location of the train scene? If they do, they may never come to surface or perhaps they never created this particular one.
Mr. Freer with the same 4501 Locomotive, reimagined and renumbered as a GM&O locomotive.
Mr. Freer mentioned the scene in question was filmed in Alcoa or Maryville and always heard it was filmed on the “Alcoa Branch”, a line on the Norfolk Southern railroad. Instead of Chattanooga it was a lot closer to Knoxville, TN. The train used was the 4501 Steam Locomotive which has a lot of history in and of itself. It was built in October 1911 and has been repainted different colors over the years. It’s come in and out of retirement for use. You can view more of the locomotive here: Number 4501-Three Decades of Excursions.
He recalled a specific date, Saturday, July 17, 1993. On that day the NRHS, or National Railway Historical Society ran from Chattanooga to Richmond with the 4501 Steam Locomotive with some Norfolk Southern diesels behind it. On that day, Mr. Freer was on the train “cutting coal” which is shoving the coal down from the pile to where the firemen could pitch it into the firebox to keep the train rolling. You can actually see Mr. Freer in this Youtube video at the 3:45 mark in the back of the cab. He mentioned it is very likely the scene in question was filmed the day before or the day after July 17, 1993. B-roll from this time was likely used for the Echoes episode as it departs towards the fictional “Freedom, Kentucky.”
Mr. Freer agreed that my original assessment of the location of the bridge was probably correct. It is a Pratt Truss bridge located in Alcoa, Tennessee which overpasses the Little River, about 1,500 feet from the Old Knoxville Highway. As of 2025 you can get a glimpse of the bridge at the Co-op Rd public boat ramp located at Co Op Rd, Rockford, TN 37853. At this location you will be looking west. It’s important to note however, that it was filmed looking east, which is currently on private property. So you’ll certainly see a different landscape. The exact GPS location of the bridge is 35.848186769297335, -83.94572349741318.
The current satellite imagery and on the ground view has a lot of vegetation. So the line of sight from the camera location to the bridge didn’t logically add up. You wouldn’t have been able to film it. So to further my “investigation” I used Google Earth for historical satellite imagery. After 30 years later, well things change. Especially the growth of trees, woods, brush, etc. The black and white satellite snapshot of the area was taken on March 16, 1992. This specific view as well as one taken in 1997 shows they had a clear line of view to film the scene. You can see this at the bottom left of the bridge and the boat ramp is located at the far right. The 3D view is the clincher, as it all adds up to be the location where this iconic Christy train scene was filmed. You can view all of the train exterior scenes here: Christy Train Scenes.