The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad , affectionately called the "Tweetsie" as a verbal

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

of its initials (ET&WNC) but also in reference to the sound of its steam whistles, was a primarily

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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. The segment of the line from Johnson City to Elizabethton, Tennessee, operated as East Tennessee Railway until 2003. In 2012 the rails and ties were removed to make way for a rail-trail. This trail was named the Tweetsie Trail.

History

The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Transportation Company was chartered by the Tennessee General Assembly 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 segment through the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

from Johnson City to Hampton, Tennessee via Elizabethton was completed on August 22, 1881, by

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

-based financier Ario Pardee, and the technical expertise of Thomas Matson (the noted railway engineer); a line extension to

Cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not th ...

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 The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

), its tickets were even validated with a heart-shaped punch. The ET&WNC had five

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

Ten Wheelers: #9 (1911), #10 (1916), #11 (1916), #12 (1917), and #14 (1919). All the engines were painted black, but Clarence Hobbs chose to paint the engines green to resemble the Southern Railway standard gauge engines. In the midst of WWII, passenger service rapidly declined to make it unprofitable to run a full passenger train every day. The ET&WNC used car 15, which was a passenger car equipped with both a post office and baggage compartment. Behind car 15 was either one or two of the railroad's three piggyback flat cars. The ET&WNC's passenger station was next to the trucking depot, while the railyard was another mile down the line. In order to save time, crews picked up car 15 before picking up the piggyback flat cars. The ET&WNC hauled

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

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 to haul lumber between Cranberry and Saginaw, North Carolina. The Linville River Railway was then subsequently extended to Boone, North Carolina, but later suffered heavy track damage from a 1940 flood. The line was eventually abandoned following

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

approval on March 22, 1941. Subsequently, much of North Carolina Highway 105 was built along the former route of the LRR. 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 or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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, also called viscose and commercialised in some countries as sabra silk or cactus silk, is a semi-synthetic fiber made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose fiber, cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has t ...

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 railroad track has three or four rails, allowing vehicles of two track gauges to run on it. Signalling and sidings are more expensive to install on dual gauge tracks than on two single gauge tracks. Dual gauge is used when there i ...

to allow for interchange with other railroads. The ET&WNC purchased three

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

locomotives: #204 (former AT&N ), #205 (former RF&P ), and #206 (former Illinois Central ). These locomotives were used to switch cars throughout the Johnson City area. The ET&WNC Railroad Company's narrow gauge lines officially ceased operations on October 16, 1950, with scrapping commencing the following year. In 1952, the last of the narrow gauge engines (#9, #11, and #12) were put up for sale. #9 and #11 were offered to be put on display in Elizabethton and Johnson City, but this offer was turned down. The #9 and #11 were scrapped but the #12 was purchased by a group of railroad enthusiasts and shipped to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Movie cowboy

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

later bought the unit, intending to transport it to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for use in his films. After a lengthy restoration, the locomotive returned to 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 kilometers) loop through the mountains near Blowing Rock, close to the original end-of-the-line station in Boone. The park operates two

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

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 Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

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 Railroad Heritage Weekend event. The ET&WNC continued operations of the standard gauge lines well after the narrow gauge closures. In 1952, the railroad sent a representative to the Southern Railway roundhouse in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, to look for some new motive power. The representative was first offered Ks-1 2-8-0s #685 and #835, but he instead chooses engines #630 and #722 because they were in better condition. The 630 and 722 were renumbered to 207 and 208, respectively. They served the ET&WNC until December 8, 1967, when the Southern Railway traded two ALCo Rs-3s for the two Ks-1 locomotives to run in their new steam program along with Savannah & Atlanta #750 and

Southern Railway 4501 Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved 2-8-2 "Mikado"-type steam locomotive. Built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, No. 4501 was the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (U.S.), ...

. The 630 is now at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, and the 722 is now at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in

Bryson City, North Carolina Bryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The population was 1,558 as of the 2020 census. Located in what was historically the land of the Cherokee, Bryson City was founded as Charleston to serv ...

. The Green Bay Packaging Company of

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, 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 continued to operate switching operations in Johnson City for freight arriving via

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

and Norfolk Southern, until October 10, 2003. In 2012 removal of the remaining ten-mile section of the ET&WNC between Johnson City and Elizabethton began, as part of
Rails to Trail
conversion project. The first seven miles were completed in August 2014, with the remaining three miles completed in August 2015. Tweetsie Trail Origin and Narrow Gauge Track Reconstruction-Johnson City TN

Tweetsie Trail Origin and Narrow Gauge Track Reconstruction-Johnson City TN

In 2016, Carter County began efforts to "extend" this trail to Roan Mountain by marking existing roads. For the most part, this extension does not follow the original ET&WNC right of way but does include a few more miles of the original roadbed along Old Railroad Grade Road. As a result, the East Tennessee Railway now operates very little trackage to serve the remaining industries around the Johnson City yard.

Roster

Historic designations

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

br>#NPS–92000147
— East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad Locomotive No. 12

References

— accessed on November 26, 2005.

— accessed on November 14, 2005.

article by John Preston Arthur (1914) — accessed on November 14, 2005.

External links

ET&WNC Railroad Historical Society
official website
ET&WNC Area Photos
A Modern Day Photo Album

* ttp://southern.railfan.net/ties/1957/57-10/twet.html "Tweetsie Comes Home"article in the October 1957 issue of ''Ties'', the Southern Railway System magazine.
Tweetsie Railroad History

East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Transportation Company Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Tennessee Western North Carolina Railroad Defunct North Carolina railroads Defunct Tennessee railroads Transportation in Appalachia East Tennessee Western North Carolina Narrow-gauge railroads in North Carolina Narrow-gauge railroads in Tennessee 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Transportation in Avery County, North Carolina Transportation in Carter County, Tennessee Transportation in Watauga County, North Carolina Elizabethton, Tennessee Hampton, Tennessee Johnson City, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Watauga County, North Carolina Railway companies established in 1881 Railway companies disestablished in 1950 1881 establishments in North Carolina 1881 establishments in Tennessee 1950 disestablishments in North Carolina 1950 disestablishments in Tennessee Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places Rail infrastructure on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina

History

Roster

See also

Historic designations

References

Further reading

External links