The Little River Railroad is a historic

class III railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

that operated between Maryville and Elkmont, Tennessee, during the period 1901 to 1939.

History

The Little River Railroad ("the LRR") was established as a subsidiary of the Little River Lumber Company on November 21, 1901. Colonel W. B. Townsend was the owner of both entities. The LRR was primarily a logging railroad. The Little River Lumber Company owned over of prime forest land in Blount and Sevier counties. By the time Little River Lumber Company completed operations in 1939, it had harvested two billion board feet (4,700,000 m³) of lumber from the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

watershed. The LRR typically would build a line into an area, complete the logging, then remove the line. In all, the LRR built of track, none of which remains. The LRR operated several forms of equipment during its lifetime. The primary logging locomotive was the Shay. The LRR also utilized the 4-6-2 Pacific and the first

2-4-4-2 In Whyte notation, 2-4-4-2 refers to a railroad steam locomotive that has two leading wheels followed by four coupled driving wheels, a second set of four coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. Equivalent classifications Other equival ...

Mallet articulated. In addition, the LRR owned a rail bus and Col. W.B. Townsend utilized a rail car. In 1925 Col. Townsend agreed to deed all of the holdings of the Little River Lumber Company to the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...

for $273,557, or $3.58 an acre. This purchase represented a milestone in the eventual creation of the park. The purchase permitted the Little River Lumber Company to continue logging within the park boundaries until 1938. In 1939 the LRR ended operations. Today, the Little River Lumber Co & Railroad Museum in

Townsend, Tennessee Townsend is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The city was chartered in 1921 by persons who were involved with the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company. The population was 244 at the 2000 census and 448 at ...

, preserves the history of the LRR.

Route

The LRR had a main line which ran from Maryville, through Walland and Sunshine to

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

. The line of the LRR roughly follows

US 321 U.S. Route 321 (US 321) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Lenoir City, Tennessee; with both serving as southern termini. It reaches its northernmost point at Elizabethton, Tennessee. Because ...

and TN 73 today. Townsend was the site of the Little River Lumber Company's sawmill. The main line continued to the confluence of the

and the West Prong of the Little River at a spot now known as the Townsend Y. The western branch led to Tremont, where a small logging community was located. The eastern branch led to Elkmont, where a larger logging community and a recreational community were located (see Wonderland Hotel). The LRR roadbed still winds its way along the Little River from Townsend to Elkmont as the Little River Gorge Road or TN 73. Within this section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are numerous trails that owe their existence to the LRR. All of the "Quiet Walkways" except

Bote Mountain Bote Mountain is a mountain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee, in the United States. Bote Mountain is located in the Great Smoky Mountains, which began forming in the late Carboniferous and through the early Triassic, approxim ...

Road between Gatlinburg and

Cades Cove Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park. Today Cades Cove, the single most popular destinati ...

are former LRR road bed.

References

Little River Lumber Co & Railroad Museum
*''Birth of a National Park'', Carlos C. Campbell,

University of Tennessee Press The University of Tennessee Press is a university press associated with the University of Tennessee. UT Press was established in 1940 by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. The University of Tennessee Press issues about 35 books each ...

, Knoxville, 1960 *''At Home in the Smokies'',

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...

, 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Little River Railroad Tennessee Defunct Tennessee railroads Great Smoky Mountains National Park Transportation in Blount County, Tennessee Transportation in Sevier County, Tennessee Townsend, Tennessee Railroad museums in Tennessee