Eastern Railroad Discussion > Johnson City, Tennessee

I will be in Johnson City, Tennessee in for a few days during the next week.

Is there any heavy railroad traffic close to town?

How much traffic does the ex-SR NS line have?

I know that the CSX (ex-Clinchfield main) is on a bypass west of town, so I will have to drive a bit to get there. Any other railroad must-sees in Johnson City?

Finally, have the Fall colors started in Tennessee yet?

Thank you for your help.

csx has a nice car shop in johnson city i do believe
the old clinch runs close to there
article in this months trains talks all about it

No, CSX doesn't have a car shop in Johnson City. The Erwin car shop is about 20 miles south of JC. The East Tenneesee Railway does have a little shop area in town but traffic is minimal. NS runs right thru downtown paralelling State of Franklin Road, traffic isn't great....4-6 trains a day....22A, 111, 112, 15T, 16T, 236 are normal trains during a 24 hour period. CSX does bypass town but you wouldn't have to drive THAT far to see it...from downtown JC, you can be to the CSX mainline in less than 2 miles. JC doesn't have alot to offer in order of photography...get out of town on CSX and especially NS for your better shots. The Piney Flatts area east of JC is neat on NS, lots of cool curves. The CSX is pertty busy....Q695 runs south in the EARLY AM....Q690 runs north in mid morning, coal trains run all day long.

ns-csx2000

The East Tennessee Railway operates from Johnson City to Elizabethtown, this is a portion of the original East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR Co.(E.T.& W.N.C., sometimes referred to as the "Tweetsie"). This was originally a narrow gauge operation. I believe the line between Johnson City and Elizabethtown was standard gauged in the early 1900's. The original narrow gauge Tweetsie has a steam train operation and a steam loco shop in Blowing Rock,NC, east of Johnson City, it's also an amusement park, don't too much about it, they do have a web site:www.tweetsie-railroad.com Tom L,Austin,TX

Some more info on the railroad history in the Johnson City-Elizabethton area can be had at:

http://www.et-wnc.com/contentsx.html
http://www.et-wnc.com/cartercox.html Interesting stuff here
http://www.urbaneagle.com/slim/etwnc.html