A CORPORATE PLT IN A KING AIR CROSSES RWY 23L AT TYS IN A NIGHT OP. HE HAD FAILED TO SEE THE TXWY SIGN; TXWY LIGHTS FOR TXWY A AND THE RWY EDGE LIGHTS. THE RWY HOLD SHORT LINE WAS BLENDED IN WITH THE TXWY A EDGE MARKINGS. 300 FT OF TXWY BLUE LIGHTS ON TXWY A AND THE TXWY SIGN HAD BEEN BLOCKED BY CARGO CONTAINERS. THE TWR IS ALLEGED TO BE TOO LOW FOR RWY VISION AT TXWY A6.

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ON APR/XA/98 AT XA15; I LEFT THE CARGO RAMP AT MCGHEE- TYSON ARPT. AS I TAXIED OUT ON TXWY R4; I MISSED THE TURN FOR TXWY A AND TAXIED ONTO THE EDGE OF RWY 23L. I KNEW THERE WAS TFC BECAUSE GND; TWR; AND APCH WERE ON THE SAME FREQ. I RECOGNIZED THE RWY EDGE LINE AND IMMEDIATELY CHKED FOR TFC. IT WAS OFF THE END OF THE RWY AT 200 FT AGL. I IMMEDIATELY ADVANCED THE THROTTLES TO FULL PWR TO CLR THE RWY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. THE OTHER PLANE INITIATED A GAR AND I WAS CLR OF THE RWY WHEN IT REACHED MY POS AS IT ACCELERATED. THE GND/TWR/APCH WAS NOT AWARE OF A PROB UNTIL THE GAR. I MISSED THE TURN FOR TXWY A BECAUSE THE TXWY SIGN AND 300 FT OF TXWY LIGHTS ARE BLOCKED BY CARGO CONTAINERS THAT ARE PERMANENTLY STORED ON THE RAMP. I HAD CONTINUED INTO THE AREA WHERE TXWYS A5 AND A6 JOIN AND MEET THE RWY. THIS IS A VERY WIDE; UNLIGHTED AREA OF CONCRETE WITH THE HOLD SHORT LIGHTS SPREAD FAR APART AND NO RWY LIGHTS VISIBLE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR SAID THAT HE IS STILL AWAITING A LETTER FROM THE FSDO. THE FSDO HAS SAID THAT HE WANTED A FULL RPT FROM THE PLT AND PICTURES RELATED TO THIS SIT ON THE RAMP BY TXWY R4. THE RPTR HAD TALKED WITH THE TWR CHIEF WHO IS AWARE OF THE PROB. THE REASON THE TWR DID NOT KNOW HE WAS EVEN NEAR THE RWY IS THAT THE TWR CAB IS TOO LOW. THE TWR CHIEF ALSO MENTIONED THAT THEY HAVE NUMEROUS PROBS WITH THIS AREA. NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE LIGHTS AND SIGNS BEING BLOCKED BY THE CARGO CONTAINERS BUT THAT THE TXWY EDGE LINE ON TXWY A IS ALSO THE HOLD SHORT LINE FOR XING RWY 23L AT TXWY A5-A6. HE SAID THAT ISN'T LEGAL. THE RPTR IS A RETIRED MIL PLT AND FEELS THAT WHEN HE MAKES A MISTAKE SUCH AS THIS; THERE IS REALLY SOMETHING WRONG.