Mileposts of the 3Cs Railroad
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Page Contents
Charleston Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad Estimated Mileposts
The original 3Cs was planned and marketed to be 625 miles from Ashland KY to Charleston SC. However, the railroad’s name implies a longer line from Chicago to Charleston, whether it was built or instead used trackage rights.
Here are estimates of what the 3Cs Railroad mileposts would have been had it been completed. We do know the exact length of some segments in North and South Carolina. However, quite a few segments in all states were never constructed, thus an exact length and location of the mileposts will never be known.
For the Chicago to Ashland segment, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway line was used to calculate the mileposts.
Additional CC&C 3Cs Mileposts information to be added soon
| Chicago IL | 0 | |
| Peru IN | 113 | |
| Muncie IN | 177 | |
| Cincinnati OH | 275 | Shortest route between CHI and CIN, shared with C&O |
| Ashland KY | 420 | South bank of the Ohio River |
| Shelby KY | 534 | |
| Kingsport TN | 641 | |
| Johnson City TN | 667 | |
| Bostic NC | 792 | |
| Charleston SC | 1045 |
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.
- Associations and their Archives
- ACL & SCL Railroads Historical Society
- Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
- Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society
- Carolina Clinchfield Chapter National Railway Historical Society
- ET&WNC Railroad Historical Society and their Facebook Page
- George L. Carter Railroad Historical Society (Johnson City Railroad Experience)
- Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
- Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society
- Southern Railway Historical Association
- Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
- Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
- Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
- Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
- Books
- Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
- Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
- Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, and ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘
- Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
- Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
- Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
- Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
- Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City‘
- Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘
- Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
- Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
- King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
- Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
- Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
- Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
- Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
- Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
- Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
- Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
- Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
- Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
- Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
- Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
- Young: ‘Appalachian Coal Mines and Railroads In Color,’ Volume 1: Kentucky and Volume 2: Virginia
- 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:
- Websites:
- Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Diesel Shop
- HawkinsRails.net
- Multimodalways
- StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- SteamLocomotive.com
- VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia
- 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
