The Tennessee and Pacific Railroad was a 19th-century

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company that operated a rail line from

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

, to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The state of

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 ...

chartered the railroad on May 24, 1866. The original plans were to build a line from

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

westward through Lebanon, Nashville, and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, where it would interconnect with westward-leading railroads to the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. Hauling coal from the nearby

Cumberland Mountains The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the ...

to western markets was an important intended source of operation income, as well as from passenger service and produce and freight hauls. Among the early investors and executives was former

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general

George Maney Brigadier-General George Earl Maney (August 24, 1826 – February 9, 1901) was an American soldier, politician, railroad executive and diplomat. He was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a postbellum ...

, who would serve for nine years as the president of the Tennessee & Pacific, starting in 1868 when he succeeded the late James D. B. DeBow, the well known publisher of ''

DeBow's Review ''DeBow's Review'' was a widely-circulated magazine "DEBOW'S REVIEW" (publication titles/dates/locations/notes), APS II, Reels 382 & 383, webpage of "agricultural, commercial, and industrial progress and resource" in the American South during t ...

''. Plagued by difficulties in raising enough financing, the company finally began construction in June 1869 of the 29-mile line between Lebanon and Nashville. Funds were generated to commission the

Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the w ...

to manufacture two

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s for the new T&P, which were delivered in 1870. These were named the "Wilson County" and the "J.D.B. DeBow." The segment opened in September 1871 in time to convey passengers to the Wilson County Fair. Headquartered in Lebanon, the fledgling railroad erected a sprawling Victorian-style passenger and freight station, combined with the general offices. Major cargo from local farmers included lumber, butter, flour, and other agricultural products which were shipped to markets in Nashville, where another station house was erected in 1872. However, the financial problems resurfaced and management could not repay the railroad company's debts. In 1877, the state revoked the charter and seized the Tennessee & Pacific. The company and its assets were sold on March 1 to the

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company that operated in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville on December 11, 1845, ...

. The T&P stayed in operation under its old name until 1888, when it became the NC&StL Lebanon Branch. Passenger service continued on the old line until 1935, when the last train departed Lebanon.Trainnet.org: Tennessee & Pacific Railroad
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References

* Prince, Richard E., ''Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway: History and Steam Locomotives''. Indiana University Press, 2001. .
Trainnet.org: Tennessee & Pacific Railroad

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennessee Pacific Railroad Defunct Tennessee railroads History of Nashville, Tennessee Wilson County, Tennessee Lebanon, Tennessee Predecessors of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway Railway companies established in 1866 Railway companies disestablished in 1877 1866 establishments in Tennessee