One of the many stories about The Saluda Grade. This grade, which crests at Saluda, NC, is the steepest standard gauge railroad grade in the United States.

Saluda Historic Depot presents Train Tales as a FREE program on the third Friday of each month. This clip is a portion of the presentation by Lee Atkins presented on 6/17/16.

"Saluda Train Tales" with Greaton Sellers and Charlene Pace. This 2016 presentation was recorded live at the historic train station on Saluda’s early boarding homes, inns and hotels.

Saluda Train Tales is a free monthly event to educate the community of the importance of Saluda’s railroad history and the Saluda Grade.

Some 400 movies were produced in North Carolina in the silent era, 1900-1929, a fact that seems to be almost unknown today. North Carolina films were made by major motion picture companies, local producers and itinerant filmmakers. Film historian Frank Thompson gives this overview at Saluda Train Tales of that forgotten cinematic legacy, concentrating on films made in Western North Carolina, particularly in Asheville and, in one case, right here in Saluda and Tryon. Thompson's presentation is illustrated with clips from two surviving features produced in Asheville in 1918 and 1921 as well as by extremely rare images of other films made in our section of the state. Frank Thompson is a film historian and writer, the author of more than forty books and hundreds of articles, interviews and reviews in newspapers and magazines. Since moving to Asheville in 2015, he has devoted himself to researching the silent film era in North Carolina. This has, so far, resulted in one book, "Asheville Movies Volume I: The Silent Era" (2017). His most recent book was 35 years in the making and issued only as an edition limited to 198 copies: "Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman" (2018), co-written with John Andrew Gallagher. Thompson has served as writer and producer on many television shows and has produced, written and/or directed several documentaries. As an authority on film history, Thompson has provided audio commentary for many classic films on DVDs and Blu-Rays and has appeared onscreen in numerous documentaries and television specials. He lives in Asheville, N. C.

At Train Tales, R. Clark Thompson recounted several stories about growing up in Saluda, NC. Some were taken from, "Whangdoodles on Diaper Hill: My Childhood in Saluda", published in 2018 .

Buy your copy at the Depot and help keepSaluda Historic Depot and Museum alive. This short story (3:30) from Train Tales outlines author, R. Clark Thompson's relationship with the Saluda Depot. In fact, he owned it for a while and deeply wondered if the community would ever support it as a museum.

His grandfather designed the railway bridges in Cuba and his family had a presence in Saluda since the late 1800's. David Twiggs talked about his family's history at the Saluda Historic

Depot. Here's a condensation of his presentation at Saluda Train Tales.

Growing up in small town America. Listen to Charles O. Hearon, III tell his experiences in Saluda as a boy.

Presented by author, Mike Lassister and film maker, Scott Galloway, both a coffee-table book and PBS special came of this exploration of North Carolina's small towns.

Join the audience at Saluda, NC's Historic Depot for a look at what's important and what we may be losing in America.

Saluda NC and the railroad in the Civil War

Pearlie Mae Suber Harris, daughter of a Baptist minister who grew up in Saluda NC in the 1940's. Amid racial segregation, Harris moved with her family to Saluda in 1940 and grew up near the railroad tracks. During this time, the Saluda Depot had a Black and a White waiting room. Segregation, as in most of the South, was prevalent. Mrs. Harris describes life in the town of Saluda well before the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Education, although rare for young Black women in the 40’s and 50’s, was a powerful theme throughout Pearlie Mae’s life. She graduated high school in 1953 and left Saluda to find work in Greenville. At that time, she was given the opportunity by Mrs. Simpson (of the Belks-Simpson department store chain) to attend Barber-Scotia College. Pearlie would go on to become a beloved teacher in the community for the next 39 years. She earned her Masters degree from Furman University, where she also later receive an honorary doctorate. In 2020, Pearlie was also honored as the subject of a large-scale mural in downtown Greenville, celebrating diversity and education.