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 Virginia to ...

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

, 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 th ...

. It was formerly part of the Huntington West Division. It became part of the CSX

Florence Division The Florence Division is a railroad division operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia & West Virginia. The Florence Division has 60 Subdivisio ...

on June 20, 2016. Running from

Elkhorn City, Kentucky Elkhorn City is a home rule-class city in Pike County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 982 at the 2010 census. The city is located in proximity to the Breaks Interstate Park. History Elkhorn City was first settled by William ...

, 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– Kingspo ...

, 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 segment ...

; the south half, from Erwin to

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

, is now the

Blue Ridge Subdivision The Blue Ridge Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington West Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division o ...

. 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 The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

; trains can then continue to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and other

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

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 the ...

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, and to ...

, 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 The Russell Fork, 1975 Board on Geographic Names decision is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 13, 2011 tributary of the Levisa Fork in southwestern Virginia and sout ...

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 park ...

Haysi, Virginia Haysi ( ) is a town in Dickenson County, Virginia, United States. The population was 498 at the 2010 census, up from 186 at the 2000 census, over which time period the town's area tripled. History Haysi is located at the confluence of Russell P ...

. 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 Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

and

McClure Creek McClure may refer to: * McClure (surname) * ''McClure's Magazine'', a popular United States illustrated monthly magazine at the turn of the 20th century * McClure (crater), an impact crater on the Moon In geography: * McClure, Illinois, USA * M ...

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 Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...

. At Dante, the line follows Lick Creek southerly to

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, 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 (31 ...

(NS)

Clinch Valley Division Clinch may refer to: * Nail (fastener) or device to hold in this way * Clinching, in metalworking * Clinch fighting or the clinch, a grappling position in boxing or wrestling, a stand-up embrace * Clinch County, Georgia, USA * Clinch River, near T ...

. 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 Ki ...

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 Gr ...

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 Possum Creek is a small stream in northern Polk County, Missouri, United States. Its source coordinates are , and its confluence coordinates are . It is a tributary of the Pomme de Terre River entering the south end of Pomme de Terre Lake. The st ...

. 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 con ...

to reach their

Cumberland Valley Subdivision The Cumberland Valley Subdivision ( CV Subdivision) is a railroad line owned and operated by the CSX Railroad (CSX Transportation) in the U.S. states of Kentucky and Virginia. The line runs from Corbin, Kentucky, east to Big Stone Gap, Virgini ...

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 The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

and then the

South Fork Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

into downtown Kingsport. 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 Erwin may refer to: People Given name * Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist * Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2 * Erwin Hauer (1926–2017), Austrian-born American sculptor * Egon Erwin Kisc ...

, where the

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, a ...

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 historic ...

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