Eastern Railroad Discussion > Follow-up to Nashville... Line south via Murfreesboro?

I looked and I guess the CSX line south of Nashville along I-24 is a line that I am going to be living near. I have an old BN system map that shows the line going to Stevenson, Alabama and towards Chatanooga. What is this line like? When I visited the area, I remember seeing a couple fast trailer trains, so I am assuming this line is relativly important. Can anyone inform me on traffic patterns, frequencies, etc... Thank you. And thanks for all those who responded to me previous inquiry on Nashville. And for the poster who gave me his email, I would like to contact you soon... as soon as I found out where I wrote your address down!

It's only a Class One mainline-the main route for the CSXT Mid-West traffic between Chicago and Miami. In otherwords, it's busy and everything and anything can be expected at any time. Also, the east end of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis is mountaineous and pretty inaccessible at points. Almost all trains will stop at Sherwood or Tantallon westbound to pick up the helper and eastbounds stop at Cowan. Best train watching spots on the Chattanooga Division are Wauhatchie (AGS and CSXT), Bridgeport and Stevenson. The depot at Bridgeport is a museum and is located just west of the drawbridge. The depot at Stevenson is a city owned railroad museum located between the CSXT and NS main lines. Stevenson is where the NS Memphis line connects and a remnant of the old Pikeville Branch connects at Bridgeport. Up the ways towards Nashville you can do decent train spotting in Winchester, Dechard and Tullahoma. CSXT owns both depots in Dechard and Tullahoma. Dechard is where the now abandonded Huntsville Branch connected and they connect with the Caney Fork at Tullahoma. One of the unique operations of the Huntsville Branch was the car float between Gunter's Landing and Hobb's Island-20 miles of river travel.

That line has its share of train wreck tales, the two big ones being the Christmas wreck of 1915 when a passenger and freight collided head on in a cut between Sherwood and Tantallon killing 15 employees. That wreck was attributed to a false clear signal caused by energization of the signal wire by a foreign current (most reports suspect the Western Union line that was being moved at the time). The other story is about NC&StL 901's crownsheet failure while shoving a train over the mountain. 901 was one of three 2-8-8-2s owned by the railroad for the sole purpose of pusher service. It was rebuilt and all three were scrapped during WWII.

One of the most interesting NC lines is the old Tracy City Branch which ran from Cowan up the mountain to Tracy City. It had sharp curves and 3-4% grades all the way up and crossed the NC main on a bridge just outside the north portal of the Cumberland Mountain tunnel. It has since been abandoned-1985/86 but portions are still accessable and walkable though you might be able to access them with either a horse or 4wd.

> I looked and I guess the CSX line south of
> Nashville along I-24 is a line that I am going to
> be living near.

If you want to get into the swing of things in the Nashville area you should consider joining the Tennessee Central Railway Museum. The museum has something for everyone, from excursions to history to models. http://www.tcry.org

It's now a good time for L&N fans. Quite a few books have been published about the L&N in recent years. (L&N took over the NC&StL in 1957.) If you're interested in L&N or NC&StL history you should look into the L&N Railroad Historical Society.
http://www.rrhistorical.com/lnhs/index.html

There is also an L&N / NC&StL email list for history (but not modern operations).
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lnrr

1957's only significant in that it was the offical merger of the L&N and the NC. They had effectively taken over the NC in the 1880s through strongarming the principals of the NC. Their method of coercion was to threaten to build a competing line if the NC didn't sell out to them. Had the NC's principals known the true extent of the L&N's financial ability to carry out it's threat, they would never had sold out and the NC possibly would have remained a separate railroad (the L&N didn't have half the money needed to actually carry out their threat).

Don't rule out looking into the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum as well as the TC. Even though TVRM is in Chattanooga, they are a heavy operator-running every day between now and the end of November. Some weekends see two or three trains operating simultaneously (local, Chickamauga and Summerville). Members have the opportunity to do essentially any type of work they want to, from escorting tour groups to working on restoration projects in the shops or train/engine service. I spent ten years in train service, working as a NS qualified conductor before relocating out west. All trains except the local are interline, operating over foreign railroads with TVRM crews. The last year that I ran was the last year that we scheduled operations out of Terminal Station (now the Chattanoooga Choo Choo). Those trains ran over the NS from East Chattanooga to Terminal Station using the NS East Chattanooga Belt (now leased by the East Chattanooga Belt Railway) and the NS proper. TVRM members from out of town can use the railroad's bunkhouse free of charge but you have to check with the shop foreman in advance to ensure that space will be available or you can stay at a local hotel that the railroad gets corporate rates at.

IMHO, the Chattanooga sub is the best line for railfanning out of all the lines that radiate from Nashville. I would agree that the Tennessee Central RR musuem is a great place to interact with other rail enthusiasts. I am a member, and can attest to this. Dues are only $30 per year and one can involve themselves with HO and N scale model railroad groups, as well as take part in an active excursion train program. Contact me at wehmancj@lipscomb.edu for more info.

Chris
K8CRQ

So, let me see if i get this right. Looking online at the bullsheet CSX train schedules, everything train that is operated between Nashville and Atlanta will run on this line? I guess it is busy then. What I saw was mostly a single track line. Correct?

> a remnant of the old Pikeville Branch connects at
> Bridgeport.

This is the Sequatchie Valley Railroad. It was originally a seperate railroad before the NC&StL took over.

> CSXT owns both depots in Dechard and Tullahoma.

I thought the fire department burned the Dechard depot as an exercise several years ago.

> One of the most interesting NC lines is the old
> Tracy City Branch which ran from Cowan up the
> mountain to Tracy City.

This is another branch that was originally built as a seperate railroad and later taken over by the NC&StL.

That's about the sum of it. However, CSXT only owns the line from Nashville to Chattanooga. The line from Chattanooga to Atlanta is the state-owned Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (not Western and Atlantic Railroad as is often thought). Its lease was renewed in the early 1990s and runs for fifty years. Southern Railway almost got the lease in the 1950s and may try again later on.

As for the branch lines, the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. built the Tracy City Branch. I don't remember which company was engaged in building the Pikeville Branch. Work on it didn't commence until about 1867 and it wasn't until the 1880s that it reached Pikeville. Most of it is gone now-the tracks end south of Jasper. There's some interesting derelict equipment in the SV yard but not much else. I don't know the present status of the Dechard depot but I know the Winchester depot was gone by the 80s. Only depot I know of that burned recently in that area was the James County depot-moved into storage and then burned by arsonists. It was stored on property owned by the Hamilton County Department of Education but I don't remember the school's name. James County was absorbed into Hamilton County around 1915.

Essentially all of the main line from Nashville to Atlanta is single track main line. No true double track, only extended passing sidings except for the double track that runs from NS 23rd Street Interlocking to Wauhatchie Yard.

Yup with lots of sidings.A chinese restaraunt is at Cowan right across the street from the main,so a great place to eat.

Get yourself a copy of "Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis - A History of 'The Dixie Line'" by Dain L. Schult
from TLC Publishing. VERY, VERY detailed and aside from some minor typos' a very good read.

http://www.tlcrailroadbooks.com/cgi-bin/tlcstore.pl

Later,
Jollymon (who is still waiting on the Tennessee Central book from TLC.....)