Appalachian Mountain Gaps and Passes

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Gaps and Passes of the Appalachian Mountains

To cross the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountains, from the Eastern Seaboard to the Ohio River Valley, there are two major challenges. Whether you are on foot, on a horse, on a train, or in a car…..these two very beautiful, but very formidable natural impediments are:

  • the Blue Ridge Mountains which run from Chattanooga TN in the south all the way north to Harrisburg PA.
  • the Appalachian Plateau which spans from Birmingham AL to southern New York state. Specific segments of the plateau are also known as the Cumberland Plateau and the Allegheny Plateau.

If you are lucky, one might be able to use a water gap, such as the Potomac or James River to cross. There are also wind gaps such as Buford’s Gap near Roanoke VA. And of course the third option is to find the lowest mountain gap possible, which still means a railroad, a highway, or a hiker will still need to climb hundreds, a thousand, or more feet to go up and over the crest.

Map: United States Geological Survey

Rails Across the Appalachians

Seven railroads successfully built and operated routes across the Appalachians to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Ohio River. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was the first in 1852, the Clinchfield was the last in 1915. There were also unsuccessful efforts that included the Louisville Cincinnati & Charleston Railroad, the Blue Ridge Railroad, Atlantic Tennessee & Ohio Railway, and others.

Potential Water, Wind, and Mountain Gaps

While the following are not all of the potential gaps that could be used, these were the ones that were built, surveyed, or seriously considered.

Appalachian Mountain Crossings – Atlantic Ocean to Ohio River

The following are the seven railroads and dates that a connection was successfully completed from the Atlantic to the Ohio:

  • 1842 – Baltimore & Ohio Railroad – Baltimore MD to Moundsville WV (Cincinnati 1871)
  • 1873 – Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – Richmond VA to Huntington WV (Newport News VA in 1880, Cincinnati in 1888)
  • 1879 – Southern Railway predecessor lines – Charleston SC to Cincinnati OH
  • 1892 – Norfolk & Western Railway – Norfolk to Kenova WV
  • 1896 – Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis and partner railroads – Paducah KY to various Atlantic ports
  • 1902 – Louisville & Nashville and partner railroads – Cincinnati (via Knoxville) to various Atlantic ports
  • 1915 – Clinchfield and partner railroads – Charleston SC to Cincinnati OH

Blue Ridge Crossings

  • Baltimore & Ohio – 1842 – River Gap: Potomac River
  • Norfolk & Western (Virginia & Tennessee) – 1852 – Air Gap: Buford’s Gap near Roanoke VA
  • Chesapeake & Ohio – 1858 – Mountain Gap: Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro VA – 1900′ elevation
  • Southern Railway – 1879 – Mountain Gap: Ridgecrest near Asheville NC – 2600′ elevation
  • Southern Railway – 1879 – Mountain Gap: Saluda Mountain, Saluda NC – 2550′ elevation
  • Clinchfield Railroad – 1909 – Mountain Gap: McKinney Gap near Spruce Pine NC – 2628′ elevation
  • Note: Louisville & Nashville (L&N) and Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis (NC&StL) did not cross the Blue Ridge, but rather skirted west through the Chattanooga/Cleveland TN area.

Appalachian Plateau Crossings

  • Baltimore & Ohio – 18?? –

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 collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • 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‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • 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:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org