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East Tennessee Railway
The East Tennessee Railway, L.P. is a short line railroad connecting CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway in Johnson City, Tennessee. Since 2005, the railroad has been owned by Genesee and Wyoming, an international operator of short line railroads, as part of its Rail Link group. The railroad uses a single diesel locomotive, SW1200 #214, to serve a small number of industries and a transloading facility, as well as to provide interchange services between NS and CSX. The current regular gauge railroad is a remnant of a larger, narrow gauge railroad, the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad, chartered in 1866 to haul iron ore from Cranberry, North Carolina to Johnson City across the Appalachian Mountains. Through an acquisition and track extensions, the railroad grew to serve Boone, North Carolina and Saginaw, North Carolina. ET&WNC used dual gauge tracks between Johnson City and Elizabethton; eventually the railroad ceased all narrow gauge opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. Johnson City is the principal city of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which covers Carter, Unicoi, and Washington counties and had a combined population of 200,966 as of 2013. The MSA is also a component of the Johnson City– Kingsport–Bristol, Tennessee–Virginia Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the " Tri-Cities" region. This CSA is the fifth-largest in Tennessee with an estimated 500,530 residents. History William Bean, traditionally recognized as Tennessee's first white settler, built his cabin along Boone's Creek near Johnson City in 1769. In the 1780s, Colonel John Tipton (1730–1813) established a farm (now the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site) just outside what is now Johnson City. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines the ''Appalachian Highlands'' physiographic division as consisting of 13 provinces: the Atlantic Coast Uplands, Eastern Newfoundland Atlantic, Maritime Acadian Highlands, Maritime Plain, Notre Dame and Mégantic Mountains, Western Newfoundland Mountains, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, St. Lawrence Valley, Appalac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genesee & Wyoming Inc
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates more than of owned and leased track. G&W owns or leases 116 freight railroads organized in locally managed operating regions with 7,300 employees serving 3,000 customers. The company had its roots in the Class III Genesee and Wyoming Railroad, which began in 1899. G&W's four North American regions serve 42 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces and include 113 short line and regional freight railroads with more than 13,000 track-miles. G&W's UK/Europe Region includes the U.K.’s largest rail maritime intermodal operator and second-largest freight rail provider, as well as regional rail services in Continental Europe. G&W subsidiaries and joint ventures also provide rail service at more than 30 major ports, rail-ferry service between th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tweetsie Railroad
Tweetsie Railroad is a family-oriented heritage railroad and Wild West amusement park located between Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States. The centerpiece of the park is a ride on a train pulled by one of Tweetsie Railroad's two historic narrow-gauge steam locomotives. The park also features a variety of amusement rides, live shows, a zoo and other attractions geared towards families with children. The park also hosts a variety of special events throughout the year including their Halloween and Christmas-themed events. Park history Opened on July 4, 1957, Tweetsie Railroad began as an excursion train ride pulled by coal-fired steam locomotive #12, the only surviving narrow-gauge engine of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC). Built in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, #12 is a narrow gauge coal-fired locomotive that ran from 1918 to 1940 carrying passengers and freight over the ET&WNC's line through the Appalachian Mountai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail-trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcars (rails with trails), or with disused track. As shared-use paths, rail trails are primarily for non-motorized traffic including pedestrians, bicycles, horseback riders, skaters, and cross-country skiers, although snowmobiles and ATVs may be allowed. The characteristics of abandoned railways—gentle grades, well-engineered rights of way and structures (bridges and tunnels), and passage through historical areas—lend themselves to rail trails and account for their popularity. Many rail trails are long-distance trails, while some shorter rail trails are known as greenways or linear parks. Rail trails around the world Americas Bermuda The Bermuda Railway ceased to operate as such when the only carrier to exist in Bermuda folded in 1948. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railbank
Railbanking is the act of preserving railroad Right-of-way (transportation), rights-of-way for possible future use. Railbanking leaves the rail corridor, railbed, bridges or bridge right-of-way, and other infrastructure intact. This relieves the railroad's operator from the responsibility of maintenance, and from taxation. Existing rails may or may not be maintained intact on the railbed, depending on their condition or any planned interim use of the railbed. Often the rail corridor is put in custody of a state transportation agency, which then seeks a new operator for possible rehabilitation or reactivation. This helps ensure the possibility of future restored rail service when new economic conditions may warrant resuming operation. In the United States In places with many environmental laws and other governmental regulations as the United States, it is very difficult to restore an abandoned line, but it is easier with a railbanked line than one that has undergone a "total abandonm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dual Gauge
In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to carry railway vehicles with wheels matched to two different gauges. Such track is described as dual gauge – achieved either by addition of a third rail, if it will fit, or by two additional rails. Dual-gauge tracks are more expensive to configure with signals and sidings, and to maintain, than two separate single-gauge tracks. It is therefore usual to build dual-gauge or other multi-gauge tracks only when necessitated by lack of space or when tracks of two different gauges meet in marshalling yards or passenger stations. Dual-gauge tracks are by far the most common configuration, but triple-gauge tracks have been built in some situations. Background The rail gauge is the most fundamental specification of a railway. Rail tracks and whee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boone, North Carolina
Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster and medical relief organization Samaritan's Purse. The population was 19,092 at the 2020 census. The town is named for famous American pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, and every summer from 1952 (except 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) has hosted an outdoor amphitheatre drama, ''Horn in the West'', portraying the British settlement of the area during the American Revolutionary War and featuring the contributions of its namesake. It is the largest community and the economic hub of the seven-county region of Western North Carolina known as the High Country. History Boone took its name from the famous pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, who on several occasions camped at a site generally agreed to be within the present city limits. Danie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cranberry, North Carolina
Cranberry is an unincorporated community in Avery County, North Carolina, United States. The community was founded in 1850 and was named after Cranberry Creek, which flows in the area. The community is located one mile south from the town of Elk Park, along US 19E. History Before the settlement of Cranberry, the area was already known for one of the largest veins of iron ore in the United States. During the Civil War, iron was produced for the Confederate Army. In 1882, the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad ("Tweetsie") linked Cranberry with Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...; it was later extended on to Montezuma in 1904, eventually reaching Boone by 1919. During this time, Cranberry was incorporated as a town ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Line Railroad
:''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the U.S., railroads are categorized by operating revenue, and most shortline railroads fall into the Class III or Class II categorization defined by the Surface Transportation Board. Shortlines generally exist for one of three reasons: to link two industries requiring rail freight together (for example, a gypsum mine and a wall board factory, or a coal mine and a power plant); to interchange revenue traffic with other, usually larger, railroads; or to operate a tourist passenger train service. Often, short lines exist for all three of these reasons. History At the beginning of the railroad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Tennessee And Western North Carolina Railroad
The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad , affectionately called the "Tweetsie" as a verbal acronym of its initials (ET&WNC) but also in reference to the sound of its steam whistles, was a primarily narrow gauge railroad 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 segmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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