Photo Runby at Appalchia Siding - Photo by Charles Williams

There are approximately 720 participants in this year's convention in Chattanooga, Today Chattanooga is served by two Class 1 Railroads, Norfolk Southern (former Southern Railway lines) and CSX (former Louisville & Nashville– nee Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad). NS lines from Birmingham, Memphis, Knoxville and Atlanta enter from all directions. CSX lines from Nashville and Atlanta enter from the southwest and south. Other railroads which served Chattanooga included the Central of Georgia and the Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia railroads. Today, a local short line, Chattanooga and Chickamauga Railroad (CCKY) operates the former Central of Georgia line to Summerville, GA and the former Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia Railroad (TAG) to Hedge, Ga. The main CSX yard is Wauhatchie and the main NS yard is DeButts. Passenger trains of the L&N (N.C.& St.L) and TAG used Union Depot while the passenger trains of Southern Railway and Central of Georgia used Terminal Station. The last scheduled passenger train to serve Chattanooga was the L&N’s Georgian which operated between St. Louis and Atlanta until the formation of Amtrak in May 1971.

Hiwassee River as viewed from the vestibule of one of the train's cars.

Tuesday's main event was a ride on the the famous “eye” of the Hiwassee Loop around Bald Mountain. We left the hotel via deluxe motor coach at 7:45 AM for an hour bus ride to Etowah, Tennessee, where our train was waiting for us. The train consisted of four vintage diesel locomotives, four air conditioned coaches, two open air cars, and two deluxe service coaches with well appointed interior. Most of the equipment is used regularly by either the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway or the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum.

The route was originally part of a line extensions of the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad Company (M&NG). Chartered as the Knoxville Southern Railway Company in 1887 the line was to be build from Knoxville south to Etowah and then up the Hiwassee River to the North Carolina State Line. The lines were to meet at Murphy, NC. unfortunately a critical piece of property lay in the way of the railroad construction and the owners were unwilling to sell. At this point the line owners were forced to convert the planned Ducktown branch into the mainline and continue northward to a connection with the original planned line along the Hiwassee River north of Farmer, TN.

Our train at Blue Ridge, GA

Construction continued from both Blue Ridge, GA and Knoxville, TN throughout the winter of 1889-1890. The city of Knoxville had promised a bonus if the line was completed by July 1, 1890. The construction became more difficult for the crews coming from Knoxville as they headed up the Hiwassee River Gorge. The narrow confines of the Gorge forced the work to be completed with hand tools, black powder, and mules.

In the race to join the two railroads together they drew close but only then, as the northward working crew got two miles past Farmer, did the greatest obstacle facing the railroad become an issue. There was a two foot vertical separation between the two railroads. It was decided that the two railroads should come together at Bald Mountain, a point along the river where it made a sharp turn at the base of the mountain.

 

 

 

We began our climb on the the lower line here.

Then we looped around the mountain til we crossed back over the line on this trestle 62 feet high.

Because of the impending deadline for the bonus the decision was made to tie the two lines together using two switchbacks. This line would have grades over 3% but the connection was made by the deadline. On June 30, 1890 trains traveling from both points met in the gorge. Passenger service between Knoxville and Marietta began on August 18, 1890. The Marietta and North Georgia railroad became the name of the railroad connecting the two end points.

From the beginning the swtichbacks proved to be an operational headache. With steep grades and short tail tracks the arrangement rapidly became a costly headache. In 1891 the M&NG went into receivership. It was purchased and renamed the Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern. The difficulties of the switchbacks continued and it was determined that a solution would need to be found.

In 1897 an engineer was brought in from the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to improve the situation. He proposed a double loop around Bald Mountain with a 1% grade. Although railroad officials approved of the loop concept, they reduced the design to a single loop with a grade between 1.5 and 2%. The line would take almost six miles to travel the one mile separating the horizontal mile and two hundred vertical feet separating the two grades. The loop was finished in 1898, eliminating the switchbacks.

Thus the famous "Eye" of what would become known as the "Hook and Eye" route came to be. The :Hook" was located north of Jasper, GA as the line descended the steep grade of Tate Mountain.

In 1902 the line came under new ownership when the Louisville and Nashville Railroad purchased the Atlanta, Knoxville, and Northern The purchase was part of a strategy to connect Cincinnati with Atlanta. Improvements to carry more freight over the line were completed, but they could not change the fact that the line was still a curving, mountainous right-of-way that would offer operating challenges for any mainline operations. In 1904 the L&N begin constructing a new line from Etowah South to Tennga and onto Cartersville where the line would join with the leased Western and Atlanta to run into Atlanta. In 1986 the line through Copperhill immediately became known as the "Old Line."

The industrial operations at Copperhill kept the line profitable through the 20th century. It was however, WWII and the coming of the TVA that made the last changes to the line. It was determined that the TVA would place a dam on the Hiwassee River just upstream from the Loop. Modifications were made to the tracks in the vicinity of Farmer to accommodate the arrival of construction material, much of which was delivered by rail. Regularly scheduled passenger service operated until 1951.

No. 7562 leads the train at our second photo runby of the day.

No. 7562 leads the train at our second photo runby of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although mining of copper had ceased in the 1960's, production of by-products and Sulfuric Acid continued until 2000. With the end of this production came the end of the line, which was now owned by L&N successor CSX. CSX filed to abandon the line. Their request was granted in 2001, but local interests working under the banner of the "Old Line Coalition" wanted to save it for future use, to perhaps include an excursion train. The $1.6M price tag made the future of the line appear bleak until the Glenn Springs Holding Company entered the picture. A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum (the successor company of the Tennessee Copper Company), Glen Springs was created to spearhead the restoration of the Copper Basin. Glen Springs management grasped the significance of the line to the local communities and offered to carry a mortgage so that the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association (a local multi-county non profit promotional agency) could conclude the line's purchase.

Attempts to attract an excursion operator were thwarted by the condition of the line. Although much of the line was laid with heavy rail the end of the CSX era had seen a declining amount of line maintenance.

During the 1990s the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) set out to upgrade the hydro electric generating facilities across its territory. By 20002 planning for work at the Appalachia powerhouse was underway. It rapidly became apparent that the railroad would be need to move the new transformers into place. TVA agreed to rehab the line as far as the power house approximately thirteen miles up the line.

TVRM's No. 710

Seizing the opportunity the Tennessee Overhill partnered with the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) to operate excursions from Gee Creek to the powerhouse during the spring and fall of 2004. In late 2004 Tennessee Overhill was approached with a proposal to haul iron ore (a by product of copper smelting) from Copperhill to Etowah for forwarding over CSX to a port for export. The proposal included a substantial overhaul of the line. The line was rapidly cleared all the way from Wetmore to Copperhill, thousands of ties were replaced, the siding at Appalachia was rebuilt and the yard at Copperhill saw improvements. For six months 75 car unit trains traveled the line from Copperhill to Wetmore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photos by J. Lilly unless otherwise noted.

today's story continued on next page.