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Tennessee Travels Before the 2017 National Railway Historical Society convention in Nashville 6/16/2017

This year's National Railway Historical Society Convention was in Nashville, Tennessee. I was asked to be a bus host again for the each of the events, namely Summerville Steam trip, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, Heritage Tour to Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's Home, the General Jackson Showboat and the Tennessse Central excursion to Cookeville.

I planned my trip to include the Southern Railway 154 Photography Charter in Knoxville, the Big South Fork Scenic Railway, chasing the Lhoist Railroad, riding the Nashville Music City Star commuter train and visiting the Casey Jones Museum in Jackson before the convention began. Afterwards, I would visit downtown Nashville and Bowling Green before flying home the next day. It promised be a great trip, with Bob and Elizabeth Alkire joining me Monday through Sunday before they flew home.

I arose, had breakfast and waited for Super Shuttle to arrive, which was later than planned due to traffic, but I arrived at the airport in plenty of time. I was TSA-approved but my CD case caused me to have a secondary search that only took a few moments. The TSA agent was very apologetic, saying that it should not have happened as all I had in there was music and music should not have flagged the system. My knees were hurting so I was pre-boarded which allowed me to choose a better seat and I chose the second row which allowed for a very easy exit when I arrived in Las Vegas. This flight was one of those up, level off and down flights. We arrived at the B Terminal in Las Vegas but my connecting flight was at C25 so I walked over to that terminal with plenty of time to spare. This plane was having a significant problem in the fact that the crew was not there. Shortly thereafter, the cabin crew arrived but we could not board the plane until both pilots arrived, so the first pilot arrived off a flight that came in from Phoenix and the main pilot arrived from Houston, which had been delayed by weather.

This flight, while leaving ten minutes late, was smooth sailing and I arrived in Nashville on time, went to the Dollar Rental Car counter, filled out the paperwork and was led on a wild goose chase to the rental car terminal. Finally finding the Dollar Rental car kiosk on the second level, I was told to pick a mid-size car of my choosing so I decided upon a Nissan Versa. I then drove to the Days Inn, which was called the Days Inn Airport, although it was not close and was given Room 641, which was very comfortable and I had a good first night.

6/16/2017I arose at 5:45 AM, packed up and drove out across Tennessee, taking Interstate 24 south to an exit to Smyrna.

The Louisville & Nashville station, formerly Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis, at Smyrna, built in 1873. From here I drove to Murfreesboro.

The Murfreesboro Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis station built in 1898.

Also on hand was the CSX local power. I then took a wrong turn and was pointed southwest and once I crossed Interstate 840, knew I was on the wrong road so turned left at the first opportunity, which took me back under the freeway. This was a T-junction and that road took me south where I joined US 41A, the road I needed to take to to Tullahoma.

CSX 5277 West at Tullahoma.

The Tullahoma Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis station built in 1884. Tullahoma was founded in 1852 as a work camp along the new Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad.

Louisville and Nashville caboose 1092, built by the railroad in 1964. I made my way to Winchester where I stopped at McDonald's for breakfast, after which I drove on to Cowan.

The 1904 Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis wood-frame depot at Cowan.

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis speeders 7276 and 7299, both built by Fairmont, on display beside the depot.

Cherokee Brick and Tile 2-4-2 1 built by H. K. Porter in 1920 for the Bibb Brick Company in Macon, Georgia. The Bibb Brick Company was started in 1902 with a plant in Macon and its own railroad with spur tracks to the Central of Georgia and Southern railroads. After suffering adverse financial conditions, the plant and railroad were acquired by the Cherokee Brick & Tile Co., including 1, in the late 1930s. In 1964, the steam engine was sold to Cole & Marion Walters in Charleston, South Carolina, who at some stage sold it to the amusement park Pirateland in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where it ran over a mile- and-a-half line through the fair grounds. It was then sold to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who next sold it to the City of Cowan in 1979.

Louisville and Nashville flat car 24536.

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis bay window caboose class NE8 153, built in 1943 from boxcar 89 built in 1913. It was used as Radnor work train 42335.

The display train.

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis 44-ton switcher 100, built by General Electric in 1950. In 1962, this was the first US locomotive to be equipped with radio control in such way as to not require an engineer in the cab.

A display train.

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis boxcar 22524, built by Pullman Standard in 1952.

Museum scene. As I was driving away, I heard a whistle coming so I crossed the street, parked and stood in a bandstand to photograph the train.

CSX 7827 West at Cowan. From here I drove to Chase, Alabama to the Northern Alabama Railroad Museum, who knew I would be there this morning and even though the main gate was closed, the pedestrian was open.

The museum began life in 1966. In the early days, NARM rallied around its own steam locomotive No. 77 and after much hard work, it was used to power several mainline excursions. For over two decades, NARM sponsored mainline railroad excursions (usually) to Chattanooga, Tennessee behind such steam locomotives as Southern 4501 and eventually Norfolk and Western 1218. In the mid-1980's, the museum had the opportunity to purchase its own railroad track and right-of-way, so NARM sold steam locomotive 77 as a way to finance the purchase. Today, we provide train rides on our own Mercury & Chase Railroad.

The Southern Railway/Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis station, built in 1937. The location of the depot is unique in the fact that it is located at a place where two railroads converge to within a few feet of each other. One line, what is now Norfolk Southern Railroad, ran between Memphis and Chattanooga, Tennessee and beyond. The other railroad, the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, ran between Dechard, Tennessee and Gadsden, Alabama (with the help of a ferry boat that traversed the Tennessee River from Hobbs Island down to Guntersville). When the ferry was unloaded at Guntersville, the passengers re-boarded the train and traveled through the towns of Albertville, Boaz and Attalla on their way to Gadsden. Here the NC&StL met up with a heavily travelled main line railroad.

The fact that the Chase Depot was located here was no accident nor whim. One of the Chase brothers, who was in the nursery business in the 1880’s, was said to have been travelling through the area by rail and noticed that the spot would make a very good place on which to locate a nursery and ship his stock via rail in multiple directions. The depot was used for several purposes in the past, including a U.S. Post Office and was also used as a storage area for the Chase Nursery. Some of the internal walls had been removed and the ticket window was covered.

After the North Alabama Railroad Museum took possession of the depot, it was restored to its original configuration with two waiting rooms, freight room and agent’s office with ticket window being replaced. Since the depot served more than one railroad, that made it a union depot. The Chase Depot is possibly the smallest remaining union depot in the country. To further complete the depot motif, a signal post was erected and a train order semaphore was placed atop the pole. The semaphore arms are moved by levers located inside the depot, connected by a cable system. Originally, this signal had a lantern at the top of the post that shown through the lenses. This train order signal with red and green lenses was only used to signify if the train was to stop at the depot and receive orders, it did not indicate the position of trains.

Mr. Chase bought the property and built a depot in 1908 (not the one standing today) and so the Chase Depot and the Chase area got its name. At one time, the Chase Nursery was one of the largest nurseries in the southeast. Rumour was the original depot was partially destroyed by fire, but from original documents recently uncovered, there was no mention of a fire or other destruction, only the need to enlarge the Chase Depot and create a more improved facility. To that end, after much correspondence with the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway and the Southern Railway, the Chase Depot was re-built by the Chase family in 1937. In an effort to recycle materials, some of the wood from the original depot can be seen in the freight room of the present depot.

In recent years, the North Alabama Railroad Museum was formally given the deed to the Chase Depot by Madison County and on February 15, 2023, the deed was entered into record with Probate Court.

Southern Railway bay window caboose X3087, built by the railway in 1950.

Mercury and Chase S-2 484, nee Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 484, built by American Locomotive Company in 1949.

North Alabama Railroad Museum RSD-1 8652, nee United States Army 8652, built by American Locomotive Company in 1945.

New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad coach 4673, nee Southern Railway 1665, built by Pullman in 1926. The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad, designated with no reporting mark, was a Class I railroad operating in Louisiana and Mississippi, functioning over a distance of 196 miles from its establishment in 1883 until its acquisition by the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Southern Railway, in 1969. The railroad was incorporated in Louisiana in 1868 under the name Mandeville & Sulphur Springs Railroad, which was changed in 1870, and in Mississippi in 1871. However, no tracks were constructed during this period, and the company's land remained undeveloped until 1881, when the Alabama, New Orleans, Texas & Pacific Junction Railways Company took control. Construction commenced in 1882, and the line was inaugurated in 1883, connecting New Orleans to Meridian, Mississippi over a span of 196 miles.

Dubuque Packing Company ice bunker refrigerator car 63601, built by General American in 1954.

Museum scene. I was going to continue to photograph down this line when I noticed a sign on a pole, warning about being filmed if trespassing. As I did not want to take any chances, I went to another area of the property.

The Mercury Express passenger train.

Mercury and Chase coach 6082, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 6082, built by Budd Company in 1939.

Mercury and Chase coach 6072, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 6072, built by Budd Company in 1947.

North Alabama Railroad Museum concession/diner 1000, nee United States Army hospital car 89444, built by American Car and Foundry in 1943.

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis S-2 213, nee Terminal Railroad of St. Louis 571, built by American Locomotive Company in 1941

Museum scene, after which I departed and stopped at Walmart to buy a tripod since mine would not fit in my suitcase. Back on the road, I attempted to find Pigeon Forge but as I neared Chattanooga, lost 45 minutes due to bumper-to- bumper traffic so made my way to Townsend, Tennessee and my next scheduled stop.

The Little River Railroad is a historic class III railroad that operated between Maryville and Elkmont, Tennessee between 1901 and 1939 and was established as a subsidiary of the Little River Lumber Company on November 21, 1901. Colonel W. B. Townsend was the owner of both entities. Primarily a logging railroad, the company owned over 76,000 acres of prime forest land in Blount and Sevier counties. By the time Little River Lumber Company completed operations in 1939, it had harvested two billion board feet of lumber from the Little River watershed.

The railroad's general methodology was to build a line into an area, complete the logging operation, then remove the line. In all, they built 150 miles of track, none of which still exists. They operated a number of different types of locomotives, the primary one being the Shay, but also utilized a 4-6-2 Pacific and the first 2-4-4-2 Articulated Mallet. A rail bus was part of their roster and Colonel W.B. Townsend utilized a rail car.

The main line ran from Maryville through Walland and Sunshine to Townsend and roughly follows US 321 and Tennessee Highway 73 today. Townsend was the site of the Little River Lumber Company's sawmill. The main line continued to the confluence of the Little River and the West Prong of the Little River, at a spot now known as the Townsend Y. The western branch led to Tremont, where a small logging community was located and the eastern branch led to Elkmont, where a larger logging community and a recreational community were established.

The LRR roadbed still winds its way along the Little River from Townsend to Elkmont as the Little River Gorge Road or Tennessee Highway 73. Within this section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are numerous trails that owe their existence to the railroad. All of the "Quiet Walkways", except Bote Mountain Road between Gatlinburg and Cades Cove, are former roadbed.

In 1925, Colonel Townsend agreed to deed all of the holdings of the Little River Lumber Company to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for $273,557, or $3.58 an acre. This purchase represented a singular milestone in the eventual creation of the park, permitting the Little River Lumber Company to continue logging within the park boundaries until 1938. In 1939, the LRR ended operations.

Today, the Little River Lumber Company and Railroad Museum in Townsend preserves the history of the the railroad.

The sign and the water tower.

Little River Lumber Company three-truck shay 2147, ex. Little River Lumber Company Historical Society 2147 1982, exx. Graham County Railroad 2147 1986, exxx. Conasauga River Lumber 2147 1960, exxxx. John J. Craig Company 2147 1935, exxxxx. Little River Lumber Company 2147 1935, exxxxxx. Bond Wolf and Company 2147 1934, nee Tellico River Lumber Company 2147, built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1909.

Log loader.

Portable steam engine.

A logging car.

The restoration shop. I went into the office and introduced myself to the gentleman behind the desk and chatted briefly as I had planned to visit Pigeon Forge. However, there were no signs to Dollywood on the highway and since it was late afternoon, and I had a night photo shoot to attend, I gave up and drove to Knoxville, where I checked into the Super 8 for the night.

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