John T. Wilder
- Home Page
- Appalachian Railroads: AT&O | B&O | BR | C&O | Chessie | CNO&TP | CRR | LC&C | L&N | NC&StL | N&C | N&W | OR&C | SOU | VGN
- Charleston Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad: History | Locos | Maps | John T. Wilder | Railfan Guide
- ET&WNC: History | Maps | Locomotives | Timetables | A. Pardee | G. Hardin | T. Matson
- Appalachian Railroad Cities: Asheville | Cincinnati | Erwin | Johnson City | Knoxville | Lynchburgh | Roanoke | Spartanburg | and more
- Railfan Guides
- Abandoned Lines & Railroads
- 3Cs Model Railroad: CRR, SOU, ET&WNC & the 3Cs
- Sources & Resources: Scholars & Authors | Books | Museums | Organizations | Links
- Appalachian-Railroads.org: Site Map | Editor
- Related: Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
Page Contents
John T. Wilder
Union General, Entrepreneur and Innovator
Whether as a military man, or as a businessman, John T. Wilder was a natural leader and innovator. For example, it was both his exemplary skills in leadership and innovation as a Civil War Union Officer that made sure his men had the latest weaponry such as the Spencer repeating rifle. Since the Army did not supply those rifles at that time, Wilder’s leadership persuaded his men to personally purchase those rifles, and thus they won their battles and are now forever known as the ‘Lightning Brigade.’
In business, Wilder’s leadership and innovation made him a noted expert in hydraulics, even creating new inventions and holding patents by the time he was 30 years old.
Once he reached the age of 60 years, Wilder had been a General and war hero, a Mayor, a visionary entrepreneur, a successful businessman, an investor, a government official, a real estate developer, a Father to a large family, and as it relates to the 3Cs, he was a railroader. Most of his biographies summarize all those accomplishments simply as Union General and Post-War Industrialist.
Charleston Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad – 3Cs
After the war, Wilder moved to Tennessee and rekindled his early business successes, building an ironworks and the south’s first two blast furnaces at Rockwood TN. One of their products was rails for the construction and reconstruction of railroads. With the discovery of iron along the mountainous border of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, Wilder moved to Johnson City TN to build a blast furnace and related businesses. It was said that Johnson City had the potential to be a Pittsburgh or a Birmingham when it came to steel and foundries.
In addition to the iron in the region, there were also extensive coal reserves ready to be mined in nearby Southwest Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. With the economic potential of all these natural resources and the businesses they could enable, it became clear to Wilder that a railroad was key to unlocking this economic potential.
Thus in 1884 he started to develop the plan to create a railroad from the Ohio River to the Atlantic Ocean, running directly through the center of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and their vast iron, coal, and timber natural resources. The railroad would initially run from Ashland KY to Charleston SC, with Johnson City being the midpoint and headquarters.
Wilder was the visionary and driving force behind the Charleston Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad, the 3Cs which was chartered in 1886.
More Rails Across the Appalachians information will be added to this page and website in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any questions, see any edits that should be made, or have any content you are willing to share. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in Appalachian Railroads, the 3Cs, the region, or model railroading.
Links for Information
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/john-t-wilder
- http://www.stateoffranklin.net/johnsons/tweetsie/wilder_scox.pdf
For More Information – Sources and Resources
The following are wonderful resources for those interested in Appalachian Railroads. They also serve as sources of information for Appalachian-Railroads.org
- Association/Archives: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Association/Archives: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
- Book: Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book: Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi: The Southern Railway
- Book: Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’
- Book: Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’
- Book: Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’
- Book: King: ‘Clinchfield Country’
- Book: Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’
- Book: Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book: Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’
- Book: Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’
- Book: Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’
- Book: Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazine: ‘Trains‘
- Magazine: ‘Classic Trains‘
- Website: Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website: HawkinsRails.net
- Website: StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website: RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- Website: SteamLocomotive.com
- Website: WvncRails.org – North Carolina and West Virginia Railroads
- Video: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1
- Video: Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
- Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Articles: ‘Johnson City Comet‘
- Article: Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps and track charts
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.