Nicknamed "The Hiwassee Route" for a scenic portion of the railroad along the

Hiawassee River The Hiwassee River is a river in the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain (Georgia), Rocky Mountain in Towns County, Georgia, Towns County in n ...

, 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" – especia ...

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

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess 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 is an Irish surname meaning "Sea Warrior". Origins and variants The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac Murchaidh"/" Mac Murchadh" (son of "Murchadh") derived ...

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 S ...

, 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 coun ...

History

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

Ellijay, Georgia Ellijay, occasionally spelled Elijay, is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 1,862 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Gilmer County. Agriculture is important in Gilmer County, known as the "Appl ...

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

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

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

, Lebanon/Toonigh, Holly Springs, and

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

. This took until 1879, and then it reached

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 ...

in 1883 and Ellijay in 1884. By 1887 it had been completed to Murphy. Merging with the Georgia and North Carolina Railroad necessitated another slight name change, to the Marietta and North Georgia Railway rather than the previous Railroad. 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 (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

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 in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

as far north as

Blue Ridge, Georgia Blue Ridge is a city in Fannin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,253. The city is the county seat of Fannin County and the largest city in the county. History Prior t ...

in 1890, and from there to Murphy in 1897. This 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 (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the M&NGR) provided a continuous route from

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

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. The path ran eastward along the Hiwassee River to

Farner, Tennessee Farner is an unincorporated community in Polk County, Tennessee, United States. Farner is located in a mountainous area along Tennessee State Route 68 near the North Carolina border, north-northeast of Ducktown. Farner has a post office with Z ...

, then south along the Tennessee side of the North Carolina state line, through Ducktown and 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 inte ...

Copperhill, Tennessee Copperhill is a city in Polk County, Tennessee, Polk County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 443 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Cleveland, Tennessee, Cleveland Cleveland, Tennessee metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistica ...

and

McCaysville, Georgia McCaysville is a city in Fannin County, Georgia, Fannin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 1,149 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the second largest city in Fannin County after Blue Ridge, ...

, and finally through Epworth before meeting the existing line at Blue Ridge. To meet the construction deadline, engineers designed a double switchback. This allowed only four

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or 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 coa ...

s at a time to be brought up or down when making the turn out of the valley. Extremely inefficient and time-consuming, it was replaced by what is known as the Hiwassee Loop. Trains went nearly twice around Bald Mountain, passing over their own tracks on a wooden trestle. This gave the route the "

Hook and Eye A hook-and-eye closure is a simple and secure method of fastening garments together. It consists of a metal hook, commonly wire bent to shape, and an eye (or "eyelet") of the same material into which the hook fits. History 1898 Richardson & ...

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 ...

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, railroad station, or railway station 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 suc ...

now serves as a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

owned by the city. After

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

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 three 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, an ...

for freight from Elizabeth Yard to

Ellijay Ellijay, occasionally spelled Elijay, is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 1,862 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Gilmer County. Agriculture is important in Gilmer County, known as the "Apple ...

, the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway (owned by GNRR) from Blue Ridge to McCaysville since 1998, and the Tennessee Valley Railroad from Copperhill to Delano since 2004. The Georgia portion north of Ellijay is 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 (U.S. state), Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a li ...

, having been purchased from the GNRR. Glen Sprigs Holdings saved the historic trestle and loop at Bald Mountain along with the rest of the railroad from the McMinn/Polk county line to the Tennessee/Georgia State Line, which then was 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)