The Kingsport Subdivision (also KP Subdivision) is a 133.2-mile (214.4 km)

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line owned and operated by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

in the U.S. states of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. It was formerly part of the Huntington West Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. Running from

Elkhorn City, Kentucky Elkhorn City is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Pike County, Kentucky, Pike County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 982 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located in proximity to the ...

, south to

Erwin, Tennessee Erwin is a town in and the county seat of Unicoi County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,097 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport ...

, it forms the north half of the former

Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile se ...

; the south half, from Erwin to

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

, is now the Blue Ridge Subdivision. From Elkhorn City, the line continues north as the Big Sandy Subdivision to

Catlettsburg, Kentucky Catlettsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The city population was 1,856 at the 2010 census. Catlettsburg is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

, on the Ohio River; trains can then continue to

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and other

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

points. From Spartanburg, trains can continue to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, or other

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

states.CSX Huntington West Division Timetable
/ref>

Route description

The line begins at

, at the south end of the Big Sandy Subdivision. It continues southeast alongside the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River through

Breaks Interstate Park Breaks Interstate Park is a bi-state state park located partly in southeastern Kentucky and mostly in southwestern Virginia, in the Jefferson National Forest, at the northeastern terminus of Pine Mountain. Rather than their respective state pa ...

to Haysi, Virginia. The line uses the valley of the

McClure River The McClure River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 13, 2011 tributary of the Russell Fork in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located in Dickenson County in th ...

from Haysi to Nora and McClure Creek from Nora to Trammel. Between Trammel and

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

, the line crosses under the Sandy Ridge (

Tennessee Valley Divide The Tennessee Valley Divide is the boundary of the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and its tributaries. The Tennessee River drainage basin begins with its tributaries in southwestern Virginia and flows generally west to the confluence of t ...

) using the Sandy Ridge Tunnel. At Dante, the line follows Lick Creek southerly to St. Paul, where it interchanges with the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (3 ...

(NS) Clinch Valley Division. Then it heads southwesterly along the

Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in K ...

to Speers Ferry, heading south through

Clinch Mountain Clinch Mountain is a mountain ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains. From its southern terminus at Kitts Point, which lies at the intersection of Knox, Union and Gra ...

in the Clinch Mountain Tunnel to Kermit. From Kermit east-southeasterly to the

state line, the railroad generally heads cross-country and alongside small creeks, most notably Possum Creek. After crossing into Tennessee, the line crosses the NS

Appalachia Division Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Can ...

at Frisco. This junction allows CSX trains to use NS

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may c ...

to reach their Cumberland Valley Subdivision at

Big Stone Gap, Virginia Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,643 at the 2010 census. History The community was formerly kno ...

and NS trains to use CSX trackage between Frisco and St. Paul. The Kingsport Subdivision continues southeast from Frisco, picking up the valley of the North Fork Holston River and then the South Fork Holston River into downtown

Kingsport Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire ...

. The line continues generally southeasterly through the South Fork valley, but also cross-country, to Johnson City. Then it heads south-southeast to Okolona and south-southwesterly near Buffalo Creek to Unicoi and North Indian Creek to its end at Erwin, where the Blue Ridge Subdivision continues. On October 15, 2015

announced it was closing the Erwin yard facility, with a loss of 300 jobs. All through traffic trains would cease using the Clinchfield Route, aka Kingsport Subdivision. Industries around Kingsport and Johnson City, TN would still be serviced by trains coming North from Spartanburg, SC and Bostic, NC, as would the Alpha Natural Resources (now part of Contura Energy) coal preparation facility in McClure, VA by trains coming south from Shelbiana, Ky. Norfolk Southern would still use the line from St. Paul to Frisco, VA via a trackage rights arrangement with the CSX. The line between St. Paul and McClure (19.4 miles) would be idled immediately, effectively ending the use of the Kingsport Subdivision as a functioning bridge route between Spartanburg and Elkhorn City. It has been reported, however, that there have been instances of equipment running between Shelbiana, Ky and Dante, Va. The line officially retains its mothballed status as of Spring 2017, even though several through freights have used the line in recent weeks running from Shelbiana, KY to Kingsport, TN and points south. The "Santa Claus Special," a decades-long CSX-Clinchfield Railroad tradition of distributing toys, candy and gifts to the residents along the line during the Christmas season, continues to this day from Shelbiana and Elkhorn City to the yard at Kingsport. The ""Santa Claus Train" normally runs the Saturday before Thanksgiving every year.

References

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

s{{which, date=August 2021 CSX Transportation lines Rail infrastructure in Kentucky Rail infrastructure in Virginia Rail infrastructure in Tennessee Transportation in Pike County, Kentucky