Louisville Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad
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Page Contents
Louisville Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad – LC&C
The Louisville Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad (LC&C) was the first railroad to attempt to connect the Ohio River with the Atlantic Ocean through the Central Appalachian Mountains. The LC&C was initially envisioned as a line from Charleston SC to Columbia SC, Asheville NC, Knoxville TN, Lexington KY, and ending in Cincinnati OH. States began to charter the railroad as early as 1835.
Knoxville Railroad Convention
A Railroad Convention was held in Knoxville TN in 1836 to show support for the Charleston to Cincinnati line. As usual there were lots of ideas and opinions on the route the railroad should take, and also what its name should be.
Louisville Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad
It was finally decided that the name of the railroad should be the LC&C, and Louisville KY was added as an additional terminus. But, because of continued disagreements, it was never able to obtain a charter from every state it traversed, which delayed and wounded the effort. Eventually the financial panic of 1837 made it impossible to obtain the funding needed to build a lengthy railroad, much of it through mountains.
South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company
Instead, the LC&C purchased the existing South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1839 and operated it during the 1840s and beyond. The SCC&RRC was a 136 mile line from Charleston SC to Hamburg SC.
Before and after the Civil War, additional lines were built from:
- Branchville SC to Columbia SC
- Kingsville SC to Camden SC
- Hamburg SC to Augusta GA
This construction created a railroad that connected the major cities of Charleston SC, Columbia SC, Camden SC, and Augusta GA.
However, the railroad did not financially prosper and entered receivership and reorganization in 1881.
It eventually emerged as part of the Southern Railway in 1896.
Links for Additional Information
For More Information – Sources and Resources
The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.
- Association: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
- Association: Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society
- Association: Carolina Clinchfield Chapter National Railway Historical Society
- Association: ET&WNC Railroad Historical Society and their Facebook Page
- Association: George L. Carter Railroad Historical Society
- Association: Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
- Association: Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Association: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Association: Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
- Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
- Book – Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad, The Old Reliable
- Book – Drury. The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book – Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
- Book – Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway
- Book – Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians’
- Books – 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 – Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review’
- Book – King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
- Book – Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
- Book – Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad’
- 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 – Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History’
- Book – Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
- Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
- Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
- 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: VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia
- Website: WvncRails.org – North Carolina and West Virginia Railroads
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
