Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
Is there an Amtrak option that would take you across the mountain passes to better roads for your start?
You know why many people think Amtrak isn't worth the money the government spends on it? It's partly because the answer to this question would be, take the train from Charlotte to New Orleans, and then north to Memphis. Zero passenger train service is available in middle and east Tennessee, and the mountains of North Carolina.
And BTW, we call them "gaps" in the southern Appalachians.
Back to the O.P.; where are you trying to ride, and what's the stretch you're hung up on? There may be better ways to get there, and someone here might know of one.