In word and picture this volume details the awesome drama: How the Southern Railway Organization met an emergency. On July 15 and 16, U.S. rainfall records were shattered when more than 22 inches of rain fell on the already saturated North Carolina mountains during a 24-hour period. An estimated eighty to ninety percent of this deluge rushed down the mountainsides into the region’s already swollen streams and rivers, which crested high above their normal flood stages.

Numerous bridges and spans were damaged or destroyed, and 686 miles of Southern Railway track in Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina were taken out of service due to damage. Of the four lines running into Asheville, North Carolina, only one—the Murphy Branch—remained operational.

Within days crews were repairing the damage. Within a few weeks tracks were relaid, bridges rebuilt, and the trains were running again. Over 100 stirring photographs accompany this tale of a devastating natural disaster and the incredible human accomplishment that followed. It is a volume no railroad library should be without.