Nicknamed "The Hiwassee Route" for a scenic portion of the railroad along the Hiawassee River, the Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railway was chartered in 1896 as a successor to the Marietta and North Georgia Railway, which had entered

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

in 1891. It was part of a railroad system that ran from the community of Elizabeth near

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, northward to

Murphy Murphy () ( ga, Ua Murchadha) is an Irish surname and the most common surname in the Republic of Ireland. Origins and variants The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac ...

in far

western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United ...

, and to Delano just south of Etowah in south

east Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

History

Originally incorporated in 1854 as the Ellijay Railroad after the town of

Ellijay, Georgia Ellijay is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,619 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Gilmer County. Agriculture is important in Gilmer County, known as the "Apple Capital of Georgia." The city ...

, it was renamed the Marietta, Canton & Ellijay Railroad, and finally the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad, finally beginning construction in 1874. Beginning at the

Western & Atlantic Railroad The Western & Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia (W&A) is a railroad owned by the State of Georgia and currently leased by CSX, which CSX operates in the Southeastern United States from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was fo ...

in Elizabeth (now within Marietta city limits), it connected through Blackwells, Noonday,

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, Lebanon/Toonigh, Holly Springs, and

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

, taking until 1879 to do so. It continued to

Marble Cliff Marble Cliff is a village in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 634 at the 2020 census. Marble Cliff was one of the first suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, settled as a community in 1890 and incorporated as the "Hamlet of Marble C ...

in 1883, and to Ellijay in 1884. In 1887, it was completed to Murphy, and merged with the Georgia and North Carolina Railroad, causing another slight name change to the Marietta and North Georgia Rail''way'', rather than the previous "Rail''road''". It was converted from three-foot (775mm)

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

as far north as

Blue Ridge, Georgia Blue Ridge is a city in Fannin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,253. The city is the county seat of Fannin County. History Prior to European colonization, the area that is now Blue Ridge was in ...

in 1890, and from there to Murphy in 1897. This also allowed a continuous route from

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

Knoxville, Tennessee 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 stat ...

, with the completion of a route southward from the wye at Etowah/Delano by the Knoxville Southern Railroad, actually a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...

of the M&NGR. This route runs eastward along the Hiwassee River to Farner, Tennessee, then south along the Tennessee side of the North Carolina state line, through Ducktown, then the

twin towns A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

Copperhill, Tennessee Copperhill is a city in Polk County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 443 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Copperhill is located in a geological region known as the Copper Ba ...

and McCaysville, Georgia, then through Epworth before meeting the existing line at Blue Ridge. In order to meet the construction deadline, engineers designed a double switchback, which required that

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...

s be brought up or down four at a time to and from the river elevation to make the turn out of or into the valley. Extremely inefficient and time-consuming, it was replaced by what is known as the Hiwassee Loop, taking trains nearly twice around Bald Mountain, with the train passing over its own tracks on a wooden

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

. This gave the route the " Hook and Eye Line" nickname, with the "hook" being another switchback in Georgia, and the eye being the loop. (Both were later bypassed before ceasing original operations.) Most of the AK&N's stock was purchased by the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of t ...

in 1902, which gave the L&N a complete route from Atlanta to Cincinnati via Knoxville. L&N moved its Atlanta division headquarters to Etowah, where the

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

now serves as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

owned by the city. After

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. ...

was formed in the 1980s, the old M&NGR/AK&N lines were mostly sold off. The entire main line from Marietta to Etowah is in use by two companies today, the

Georgia Northeastern Railroad The Georgia Northeastern Railroad is a short line freight railroad which runs from the town of Elizabeth, Georgia (now within Marietta, northwest of Atlanta) to the city of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Goods hauled are mostly timber, grain, poultry, ...

for freight from Elizabeth Yard to

Ellijay Ellijay is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,619 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Gilmer County. Agriculture is important in Gilmer County, known as the "Apple Capital of Georgia." The city h ...

, since 1998 the

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway is a heritage railroad in northern Georgia. Based in Blue Ridge, Georgia, United States it follows the former Marietta and North Georgia Railroad line along the Toccoa River north to McCaysville, Georgia, and its ...

(owned by GNRR) from Blue Ridge to McCaysville, and since 2004 the Tennessee Valley Railroad from Copperhill to Delano. The Georgia portion north of Ellijay is actually owned by the

Georgia Department of transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a limited role in develop ...

having been purchased from the GNRR. The historic trestle and loop at Bald Mountain were saved by Glen Sprigs Holdings, along with the rest of the railroad from the McMinn/Polk county line all the way to the Tennessee/Georgia State Line, and then leased to the Tennessee Overhill Association. Except for the east/west portion along the Hiwassee River, the entire route follows one road, numbered as

Georgia 5 State Route 5 (SR 5) is a state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Carroll, Douglas, Cobb, Cherokee, Pickens, Gilmer, and Fannin counties in the western and northern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. The h ...

and Tennessee 68.

References

External links

Atlanta, Knoxville and Northern Railway (RailGA.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta Knoxville Northern Railway Defunct Georgia (U.S. state) railroads Predecessors of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Railway companies established in 1896 Railway companies disestablished in 1902 Defunct North Carolina railroads Defunct Tennessee railroads 1896 establishments in North Carolina American companies established in 1896 1902 mergers and acquisitions 1896 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1902 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)