Railroads Across the Appalachians

Appalachian Region: Great Beauty and Economic Potential

The Appalachian Mountain region of Kentucky, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and the Virginias has a rich heritage of very successful and legendary railroads. The beautiful mountains provide extensive natural resources and financial opportunities which are enabled by an extensive network of railroads. But it was not always this way. In 1870, the Appalachians were virtually void of railroads and twenty years behind the rest of the country as far as transportation and commerce. From northern Virginia to the middle of Tennessee, a distance of over 600 miles, no railroad had traversed the mountains at 90 degrees.

Photo by Roger Puta: B&O Capitol Limited at Harpers Ferry VA in 1969

Baltimore & Ohio Capitol Limited 1969 at Harpers Ferry VA - Roger Puta

Bridging the Ohio River and the Atlantic Ocean

Initially, the goal of state and local governments and many businesses was to create trade routes to and from rivers and ocean ports. For example, Charleston SC wanted to bring more goods to their port. Cincinnati wanted to bring trade to their river docks. The farming, mining, coal, timber, and textile businesses in Appalachia needed a way to send their goods to these centers of commerce and transportation beyond just a horse and wagon.

Eventually these multiple interests and needs grew to an even grander singular vision for the Eastern United States around 1850, ‘let’s connect the Ohio River and the Atlantic Ocean with a new and much better means of transportation, a railroad.’ About this same time, the need for coal, and the great potential of mining and transporting coal in the U.S. and internationally was starting to be realized.

Railroad Fever

Photo: Roger Puta, Chessie System at Moss Run VA 1981

Chessie System Coal Trains at Moss Run VA - 1981 - Roger Puta

The transcontinental railroad had given our country a vision, a fever, of what the potential of rail transportation could be. For the Appalachian region, the vast coal, iron, timber, textile, and agricultural goods could be reaped and sold bringing much needed commerce to the depressed Appalachian area. In addition to the natural resources, the region was also the most direct route for the grand vision of laying rails from the Ohio River to the Atlantic Ocean, creating new commerce and replacing very slow, indirect, and inefficient canals, rivers, and wagon roads. But, building and operating a railroad across and through the mountain ridges was challenging at best.

Appalachian-Railroads.org

This website will chronicle the Appalachian railroads and their visionary entrepreneurs that tried, failed, and eventually succeeded in traversing the mountainous region. We will also follow the evolution of the railroads over time, as they were yesterday, and as they are today. Much of our focus will be on the Charleston Cincinnati & Chicago (3Cs), Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O), Clinchfield (CRR), Louisville & Nashville (L&N), Norfolk & Western (N&W), Southern Railway (SOU), and their predecessors and related lines. As a testament to the opportunities of building across the Appalachians and hauling both coal and manifest freight, these railroads were extremely profitable and did not experience the financial calamities most railroads experienced. These railroads by all measures were iconic and industry-leaders.

Photo: CSX in 2009. Further down the page, read Ron Flanary’s description about this train and the ‘popular’ photo spot at Poplar, NC.

Today, these early rail lines are now primarily owned and operated by CSX or Norfolk Southern Railroads, with some short line operators profiting by keeping the secondary routes operational. Over the months and years ahead, we will add much more information about the railroads and the region from both today and yesterday.

But for now, let’s continue our Appalachian Rail journey across time and across the mountains.

Next: 1870 Railroad Void

Read more on page 2: A Railroad Void

Home Page Sections: Home | Railroad Void | First Appalachian Railroads | Breaking the Mountain Barrier | The Appalachian Region and its Railroads Thrive. Website Sections: Appalachian Railroads | 3Cs | ET&WNC | Appalachian Cities | Railfan Guides | Abandoned Rails | Model Railroad | Sources & Resources

Ron Flanary Photo Above

A “popular” photo spot for photographers along the former Clinchfield Railroad is this curve at Poplar, N.C. This southbound coal train is not long out of Erwin but has been slowly grinding upgrade through the Nolichucky River Gorge (actually the Toe River by this point). The date is October 21, 2009. CSX had just started using DPUs running through on southbound coal trains on this route rather than a single manned pusher out of Erwin. The pusher would cut off here on the fly and return to Erwin for the next shove. The DPU set-up accelerated these trains quite a bit on the long pull to the top at Altapass, N.C. The partially graded but never built Johnson City Southern right of way is on the west side of the river (to the left here).

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 region, or model railroading.

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.

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