East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad
Encyclopedia
The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad , affectionately called the "Tweetsie" in reference to the sound of its steam whistles, was primarily a (narrow gauge) railroad established in 1866 for the purpose of serving the mines
at Cranberry, North Carolina
.
The narrow gauge portion of the ET&WNC was abandoned in 1950, however the 11 miles (17.7 km) (standard gauge
) segment of the line from Johnson City
to Elizabethton, Tennessee
still exists today as the East Tennessee Railway
.
on May 24, 1866. Lack of financial backing led to the venture's failure, and the railroad was abandoned in 1874. The Cranberry Iron Company acquired the line between 1876 and 1879, and designated the railroad one of its subsidiaries. The initial 14.1-mile (2.25-kilometer) run through the Appalachian Mountains
from Johnson City
to Hampton, Tennessee via Elizabethton
was completed on August 22, 1881 by Pennsylvania
-based financier Ario Pardee, and the technical expertise of Thomas Matson (the noted railway engineer); a line extension to Cranberry
opened on July 3, 1882. Soon dubbed by mountain residents as the "Railway with a Heart" as railroad personnel often performed errands for the locals (and even allowed passengers to ride for free during the Great Depression
), its tickets were even validated with a heart-shaped punch.
The ET&WNC had five (Baldwin Locomotive works) 4-6-0 Ten Wheelers the #9, #10, #11, #12, #14. The #9 had slightly smaller valves and smaller wheels. The valves work like the valves on a car there is an intake valve that forces steam into the cylinder pushing the piston out. This motion turns the side rods which moves the wheels. The force of the wheel moving pushes the piston back in, forcing the steam out of cylinder into the smoke box. In the smoke box the steam and smoke are mixed and forced out the smoke stack. This creates a draft that pulls the heat from the fire through the boiler. All the engines where painted black. But Clarence Hobbs chose to paint the engines green to mimic the Southern Railway standard gauge engines. In the midst of WWII passenger service rapidly declined so there was no reason to run a full passenger train day to day. The ET&WNC used car 15 which was a passenger car, post office, and baggage compartment then behind car 15 was one or 2 of 3 piggy back cars. The ET's passenger station was next to the trucking depot and the railyard was another mile down the track. So to save time they got car 15 then the piggy back because there was no reason to get the train then the piggy back.
The ET&WNC (sometimes referred to as the "Eat Taters & Wear No Clothes" Railroad) hauled iron
ore
from the Cranberry mines, pig iron from the local forge
, and lumber from the forests of western North Carolina. CIC purchased the Linville River Railway (LRR, known as the "Arbuckle" line) in 1913, a line originally constructed in the 1890s specifically to haul lumber between Cranberry and Saginaw, North Carolina. The LRR line was subsequently extended to Boone, North Carolina
; the tracks suffered heavy damage from a 1940 flood, and the line was abandoned following Interstate Commerce Commission
approval on March 22, 1941. The damage to the track looked like somebody put a picket fence in the middle of the field. The ties where sticking out of the ground with the dual gauge track still on the ties.
The ET&WNC was one of the major rail lines to haul both passengers and freight in the region during World War II
, though business declined dramatically after the War. The narrow gauge track from Elizabethton was soon abandoned, though the ET&WNC retained service between Johnson City and the rayon
plants of Elizabethton. The tracks in and around Johnson City (where most of the company's industrial customers were located) were dual gauge
to allow for interchange with other railroads; the ET&WNC purchased three standard gauge
2-8-0
consolidation locomotives (204, 207, and 208) to switch cars throughout the area. The ET&WNC Railroad Company officially ceased operations on October 16, 1950.
Soon thereafter, Tweetsie Locomotive No. 12 (a 4-6-0
ten wheeler built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1917, and the last of the original 15 coal-fired ET&WNC steam-powered units) was purchased by a group railroad enthusiasts and shipped to Virginia
. Movie cowboy Gene Autry
later bought the unit, intending to transport it to California
for use in his films. After a lengthy restoration, the locomotive returned North Carolina on May 23, 1957 along with a few pieces of the original rolling stock. That summer, the "Tweetsie Railroad
" became the state's newest travel attraction and family theme park. The train travels over a scenic 3-mile (4.8 kilometer) loop through the mountains near Blowing Rock
, close to the original end-of-the-line station in Boone. The park operates two steam locomotive
s: in addition to former ET&WNC No. 12, in 1960 the company acquired No. 190 (the Yukon Queen, a type 2-8-2
locomotive) from the State of Alaska
and restored it for operation. Tweetsie is also home to an authentic wooden coach, former East Broad Top Railroad
#5, which is run on special occasions such as their annual Railfan Weekend event.
The Green Bay Packaging Company of Green Bay, Wisconsin
ultimately acquired the railroad properties and reorganized the company as the East Tennessee Railway
(ETRY). Since 1996, the railroad has been owned by Genesee and Wyoming, an international operator of short line railroads, as part of its Rail Link group. The standard gauge line continues to operate switching operations in Johnson City for freight arriving via the CSX and Norfolk Southern Railways.
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
at Cranberry, North Carolina
Cranberry, North Carolina
Cranberry is an unincorporated community in Avery County, North Carolina, United States. The community was founded in 1850 and was named after Cranberry Creek, which flows in the area...
.
The narrow gauge portion of the ET&WNC was abandoned in 1950, however the 11 miles (17.7 km) (standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
) segment of the line from Johnson City
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...
to Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...
still exists today as the East Tennessee Railway
East Tennessee Railway
The East Tennessee Railway is a short line railroad linking Elizabethton, Tennessee to CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway in Johnson City, Tennessee, away. Since 1996, the railroad has been owned by Genesee and Wyoming, an international operator of short line railroads, as part...
.
History
The ET&WNC Transportation Company was chartered by the Tennessee General Assemblyon May 24, 1866. Lack of financial backing led to the venture's failure, and the railroad was abandoned in 1874. The Cranberry Iron Company acquired the line between 1876 and 1879, and designated the railroad one of its subsidiaries. The initial 14.1-mile (2.25-kilometer) run through the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
from Johnson City
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...
to Hampton, Tennessee via Elizabethton
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...
was completed on August 22, 1881 by Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
-based financier Ario Pardee, and the technical expertise of Thomas Matson (the noted railway engineer); a line extension to Cranberry
Cranberry, North Carolina
Cranberry is an unincorporated community in Avery County, North Carolina, United States. The community was founded in 1850 and was named after Cranberry Creek, which flows in the area...
opened on July 3, 1882. Soon dubbed by mountain residents as the "Railway with a Heart" as railroad personnel often performed errands for the locals (and even allowed passengers to ride for free during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
), its tickets were even validated with a heart-shaped punch.
The ET&WNC had five (Baldwin Locomotive works) 4-6-0 Ten Wheelers the #9, #10, #11, #12, #14. The #9 had slightly smaller valves and smaller wheels. The valves work like the valves on a car there is an intake valve that forces steam into the cylinder pushing the piston out. This motion turns the side rods which moves the wheels. The force of the wheel moving pushes the piston back in, forcing the steam out of cylinder into the smoke box. In the smoke box the steam and smoke are mixed and forced out the smoke stack. This creates a draft that pulls the heat from the fire through the boiler. All the engines where painted black. But Clarence Hobbs chose to paint the engines green to mimic the Southern Railway standard gauge engines. In the midst of WWII passenger service rapidly declined so there was no reason to run a full passenger train day to day. The ET&WNC used car 15 which was a passenger car, post office, and baggage compartment then behind car 15 was one or 2 of 3 piggy back cars. The ET's passenger station was next to the trucking depot and the railyard was another mile down the track. So to save time they got car 15 then the piggy back because there was no reason to get the train then the piggy back.
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
from the Cranberry mines, pig iron from the local forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
, and lumber from the forests of western North Carolina. CIC purchased the Linville River Railway (LRR, known as the "Arbuckle" line) in 1913, a line originally constructed in the 1890s specifically to haul lumber between Cranberry and Saginaw, North Carolina. The LRR line was subsequently extended to Boone, North Carolina
Boone, North Carolina
Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, United States. Boone's population was reported as 17,122, as of 2010...
; the tracks suffered heavy damage from a 1940 flood, and the line was abandoned following Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
approval on March 22, 1941. The damage to the track looked like somebody put a picket fence in the middle of the field. The ties where sticking out of the ground with the dual gauge track still on the ties.
The ET&WNC was one of the major rail lines to haul both passengers and freight in the region during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, though business declined dramatically after the War. The narrow gauge track from Elizabethton was soon abandoned, though the ET&WNC retained service between Johnson City and the rayon
Rayon
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic or artificial fiber. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry...
plants of Elizabethton. The tracks in and around Johnson City (where most of the company's industrial customers were located) were dual gauge
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...
to allow for interchange with other railroads; the ET&WNC purchased three standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
2-8-0
2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
consolidation locomotives (204, 207, and 208) to switch cars throughout the area. The ET&WNC Railroad Company officially ceased operations on October 16, 1950.
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
ten wheeler built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1917, and the last of the original 15 coal-fired ET&WNC steam-powered units) was purchased by a group railroad enthusiasts and shipped to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Movie cowboy Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
later bought the unit, intending to transport it to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for use in his films. After a lengthy restoration, the locomotive returned North Carolina on May 23, 1957 along with a few pieces of the original rolling stock. That summer, the "Tweetsie Railroad
Tweetsie Railroad
Tweetsie Railroad is a family oriented railroad and Wild West theme park located between Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States. In addition to a ride aboard an authentic steam locomotive, the park features amusement rides and other attractions geared towards families with...
" became the state's newest travel attraction and family theme park. The train travels over a scenic 3-mile (4.8 kilometer) loop through the mountains near Blowing Rock
Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Blowing Rock is a town in North Carolina, USA, situated in both Caldwell and Watauga counties. The population was 1,418 at the 2000 census. However, during the summer the town's population increases to about 10,000.]]\\...
, close to the original end-of-the-line station in Boone. The park operates two steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s: in addition to former ET&WNC No. 12, in 1960 the company acquired No. 190 (the Yukon Queen, a type 2-8-2
2-8-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
locomotive) from the State of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and restored it for operation. Tweetsie is also home to an authentic wooden coach, former East Broad Top Railroad
East Broad Top Railroad
The East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company is a for-profit heritage railroad headquartered in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, north of Interstate 76 and south of U.S. Route 22, the William Penn Highway. The railroad operates excursion trains on a seasonal schedule.-History:The East Broad Top...
#5, which is run on special occasions such as their annual Railfan Weekend event.
The Green Bay Packaging Company of Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
ultimately acquired the railroad properties and reorganized the company as the East Tennessee Railway
East Tennessee Railway
The East Tennessee Railway is a short line railroad linking Elizabethton, Tennessee to CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway in Johnson City, Tennessee, away. Since 1996, the railroad has been owned by Genesee and Wyoming, an international operator of short line railroads, as part...
(ETRY). Since 1996, the railroad has been owned by Genesee and Wyoming, an international operator of short line railroads, as part of its Rail Link group. The standard gauge line continues to operate switching operations in Johnson City for freight arriving via the CSX and Norfolk Southern Railways.
Historic designations
- National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
#NPS–92000147 — East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad Locomotive No. 12
External links
- ET&WNC Railroad Historical Society official website
- ET&WNC Area Photos A Modern Day Photo Album
- Slim Rails: East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad
- "Tweetsie Comes Home" article in the October, 1957 issue of Ties, the Southern RailwaySouthern Railway (US)The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
System magazine. - Tweetsie Railroad History
- Cy Crumley ET&WNC Photo Collection (johnsonsdepot.com)