I’m on a business junket to Charleston, SC in a couple of weeks…any interesting railfan locations in the area? Anything of historical interest i.e. the Best Friend of Charleston?
I used to be stationed in Charleston, SC.
The Best Freind is no longer in Charleston, presently on loan to NS. The storage building on Ann Street? downtownis still there, easily identifyable by the tracks thatlead out of the building.
There are a few railyards, unfortunately the belong to the railroading antichrist, CSX. Still not bad to watch.
There are a few small branch sidings near the harbor that make for some interesting railfanning, especially watching intermodal loading from ship to train out near the IMAX theater on the waterfront.
There is often some interesting railfanning to be had near the Naval Base. I would not recommend lurking around or having a camera on hand though.
There are lines running past the base, often with long freights. There is a bar just outside the main access gate that has a porch that is near the tracks, which makes for some real fun times: Drunken sailors and trains, it can be tough to determine which is louder.
There are a few hobby shops of interest, the best of which is a store called Just Trains which is on Rivers Highway (US 52), which runs from Downtown Charleston through North Charleston (which is where Just Trains is located.) and around the area.
While you are in Charleston, there are some other locations that I would recommend:
There is a Navy museum in Mount Pleasant, SC called Patriot’s Point (just across the river from downtown), which is home to the USS Yorktown (CV-10) a WWII carrier, the USS Clamagore (SS-343) a late WWII diesel submarine, and a CG Cutter, and a Destroyer, along with a really nice Vietnam exhibit.
Fort Sumter is a nice place to visit. Boats leave Patriot’s Point on a routine basis and provide tours of the place where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
Taking a nice stroll downtown is always a fun idea, many old buildings to look at, I would recomment parking in a garage, as it is cheaper than using the parking meters, and there is a rather nasty met
Thanks very much James for the detailed response.