var title         = 'Austinville to Bertha';
var intro         = 'This ride was an out and back ride from the area of Austinville VA to Foster Falls VA and then to Bertha where I had stopped on an earlier ride.  There are several points of interest on this leg of the ride which include: <br><br>1. Austinville Park dedicated the Steven F. Austin who onced live in Austinville and became the \"Father of Texas\" and was part of the family that ran a lead mine in the area.<br><br>2. A shot tower that produced lead shot.<br><br>3. Foster Falls which is one of the headquarters for the New River State Park and offers a primitive campground, horse rental, canoe rental, canoe launching, larger boat launching ramp, an old orphanage building (closed) and old Foster Falls Station.';
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var majorCaption  = new Array( 'Steven F. Austin Park in Austinville VA', 'Left to right the flags are Republic of Texas, United States, Commonwealth of Virginia', 'Front of monument to Steven F. Austin in Austinville VA.', 'Back of Steven F. Austin monument', 'The roof of the rest area at Austinville VA', 'The entrance, if going south on the trail, to the New River Trail at Austinville VA... my car on the right.  When I came back I was \"parked in\" by two SUVs and a pickup truck.  Luckily the ones behind me came along shortly after I got back.', 'The gate on the northbound side of the road at Austinville VA.  This is the direction I was riding.', 'The New River Trail just north of the entrance at Austinville VA', 'This tunnel just north of Austinville had a recreation of the device that was hung above the tracks near any low clearence like a tunnel.  This is not an exact representation.  The real thing would have had chain hanging down and would have been further away from the obstruction.  This device would warn anyone on the roof of the train car, like a brakeman, that he needed to get down before being hurt by a low clearance obstruction.', 'This tunnel and the others on the New River Trail were carved from rock hard enough to not need lining.  If you look close you can still see discoloration on the rock face above the opening that was caused by engine smoke.', 'Looking back from the other end of the tunnel.', 'North of the tunnel a few miles is another rest area with covered table, bike rack, horse rail and toilet.  This toilet was a portable one.  I only saw two or three portable toilets on the trail.  Most are permanent.  ', 'The rest of the rest area.', 'A short bridge over Indian Branch', 'Rapids on the New River Trail near Austinville VA.', 'This is the bottom of the I-77 bridge a few miles north of Austinville.  This is one of the few places on the trail where one could hear automobile noise.', 'Near Foster Falls VA is this shot tower where shot was produced by dropping molten lead 150 feet into a kettle of water.', 'This is a diagram of how the shot was produced.  The tunnel a the bottom is now closed but was originally about 25 feet below the level of the trail.', 'A shot looking back at the I-77 bridge over the New River.', 'The shot tower which was closed for repairs for more than a year is now open again.  This was taken inside the tower looking down the drop hole toward where the water kettle 75 feet below had been.  I was shooting through plexiglass and which caused the glare.', 'Looking up the tower you can see the area where the stove was that was used to melt the lead.  The molten lead was dripped through a sieve that cause it to form droplets of the correct size.  One can climb the steps... I didn\'t.  This looked like something out of \"National Treasure\".', 'The tower from ground level of the parking lot.', '', '', 'Site of Jackson\'s Ferry.  It is my understanding Jackson\'s Ferry has nothing to do with Gen. Thomas Jackson of the Civil War.', 'Just north of the shot tower I saw this guy/gal on the trail.  I think the cool, damp ground caused the snake to become very lethargic and unable to finish crossing the trail.', 'The snake is a Black Rat Snake.  Fairly harmless to humans.  The head was about as big around as my tumb and the body about the size of my index finger.  It was about 2 1/2 feet long.  When I rode back the other direction the snake was gone.  ', 'The pier of an abandoned bridge.  There was no marker to identify the nature of the bridge.', 'The rest area coming into Foster Falls.  Foster Falls Virginia is the headquarters of the park.  It has a train station that is now a visitor center.  The headquarters area also has a primitive camp ground, horse livery, canoe livery, two boat ramps and the site of an orphanage that once was the home of a railroad barron.', 'Ahead you can see the old Foster Falls station which is now a visitor center and sales rooms.', 'Next to where I was standing is the horse livery where you can rent a horse.', 'Looking back from exactly the same location is the canoe livery where you can rent a canoe.  The campground is just through the trees to the right.', 'The canoe livery again.  The little spur trail you can see had a sign that said, \"no bicycles horses only\".  ', 'This is a spare rail holder.  When the early trains ran this line they had frequent rail problems that required fresh rails.  These little stands kept the new rails off the ground and straight until needed.  Originally they had a cashe like this at each mile post.', 'Foster Falls Station.  The block signal was the only one I saw on the entire trail.', 'My understanding is that this building, up the hill from the old rail line, was originally build by a railroad barron and then taken over and used as a state orphanage.  The building is now closed and in need of repairs.', 'Back down the hill at the station some horses were going by...', '', 'This ride was done in late May.  There were lots of wildflowers.', 'And old home along the trail just north of the Foster Falls station and still considered in Foster Falls.', 'Previously I had a photo of the canoe livery where one could rent a canoe and launch a canoe or kayak.  This launch area was for larger boats like bass boats and john boats.', 'Having completed this leg of my rides I came back through the tunnel and took another photo. ', 'I\'m glad the tunnel caught my attention and slowed me down.  I missed this going the other way.  This is a cave, appeared natural but who knows, that had an iron grid over the opening and a shiny steel door in the side of the grid.  I have no idea what the cave\'s relationship to the railroad was but the iron door appeared to be old.' );
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