Woke to a clear cool morning and we slipped our lines from Shell Mound dock and headed northeast up the Nickajack Lake to Chattanooga just as the sun was rising over the mountain. While leaving we watched a very long freight train with three engines on the tracks across Nickajack Lake. We tried to count the train cars, but lost track after 80! We heard the trains yesterday evening, seeming to come one right after the other for hours. Must be a popular rail line. Soon after we started the river section narrowed with cliffs rising off the river and the waters deepened as we head into the Tennessee Valley Gorge. As we completed another bend in the river and went under the I-24 bridge, we could see the old Hale’s Bar Power Plant built in 1904-1913. This power plant was replaced in 1960 when the new Nickajack Dam and Lock were built. At the time of its construction Hale’s Bar was the second largest electrical plant, bested only by Niagara. The Tennessee River at this point has more t
Bill & Margie's Cruise