need information on the ET&WNC Railroad Company

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Southern Railway : One Thread

I'm searching for information on a railroad company called the East Tennessee and the Western North Carolina. I also would like any informaion about a railroad operating from Lenoir NC to Edgemont NC. from the time of the early 1900's to 1936

-- Eric Kincaid (kincaid@vvi.net), September 08, 2000

Answers

There have been two books published on the history of the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR, the latest being TWEETSIE COUNTRY by Mallory Hope Farrell (Pruet Press 1976).

As to the Carolina & Northwestern Ry.(Lenoir-Edgemont, NC), there is a chapter on this company in the book A HISTORY OF RAILROADING IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, by C. F. Poole (printed by Overmountain Press in 1995).

A search for copies of these books can be made with the used book dealers who advertise in the classified ads in the rear of TRAINS magazine available on the magazine racks of the major chain bookstores (Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.), or on the Internet from eBay, www.abebooks or www.bibliofind.

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), September 08, 2000.


Regarding the Carolina & North-Western, if you want more than a chapter, there is a full length history of the line, "The Legacy of the Carolina & North-Western Railway" published by Overmountain Press, 1997 and still in print. Go to www.piedmontpress.com for this book, and other North Carolina shortline books.

-- 9725 (stealthnfo@aol.com), September 08, 2000.

There is a lot of info on the ET&WNC RR on the net. Here are a couple links that I've found. http://www.mindspring.com/~cfordart/etwnc/home.html http://www.urbaneagle.com/slim/etwnc.html There is also an e-mail group for the ET&WNC. You can find a link to it on the urbaneagle page. Hope this helps. I know very little about the railroad myself, due to the fact that I just started to enjoy trains and modeling. Have a good one.

Joley

-- Joley Ferguson (jomoferg@swbell.net), November 03, 2000.


Any info on railroad from lenoir to edgemont can be gotten firsthand from Walker's store in Hutboro just down the road from Mortimer and Betsey's Ole Country Store at Mortimer. (Betseysstore@yahoo.com) Old reservoirs, tresle pilings, track beds and some bldgs. still exist. Tracks ran from Lenoir to Edgemont and on to Pineola, I think? Go to Mortimer, N.c. on web, will give pictures of industry and trains in area and some history.Some people in area still remembers trains, routes and local history.

-- james douglas quinn (pidgieq@ncfreedom.net), January 14, 2001.

I found info about Mortimer & Edgemont by surfing the web (that's how I fould this page).

The History of Mortimer & Edgemont (including pictures of the railroad!)-- http://web.utk.edu/~jeparks/history.htm

Also, go to www.ghosttowns.com click NC and you'll see Mortimer listed. Quite interesting.

-- Rob Ridings (rob.ridings@ncmail.net), June 27, 2002.



For ET&WNC info, suggest you contact archives at Sherrod Library,East Tennessee State University. I grew up on the south side of Johnson City very near tracks and have vivid memories of both ET&WNC and Clinchfield (CSX) . Had many photos, but all were destroyed. When young children asked what "ET&WNC" meant, adults would invariably answer: "Eat taters and wear no clothes".

-- (jimmoyer007@hotmail.com), October 16, 2002.

i have many photos of the railroad, hotel, church and many other photos from edgemont and moitimer. have been working on this for over 2 years, even have some exclusive photos borrowed in digital form, from coffeys general store, will keep you posted until site is done! soon, a friend of mine will be saleing paper weights made from a section of track pulled from wilson creek about 1/8 a mile up from the hwy 90 end at the cross road near the church. section was about 15 foot long, but i no where much more is! i have been a semi resident (vacationeer) for 29 years, my family has owned property there for sometime now. even have a photo of a 1924 ford chassi and body that was lost in the flood of 40, one day i hope 2 return there and retreive it, wanna help?

-- greg solomon (ncpreps@hotmail.com), August 07, 2003.

Curious if anyone can help me find the old roadbed from where the existing tracks end at the Sealed Air plant, to the town of Colletsville. Hard to identify in this section. Farms, shrub growers have taken a large part of this area. Also from Colletsville to Brown Mtn beach road.

BTW. I have a copy of The Legacy of the Carolina and North-Western Railway. Excellent book, great pics. Good work Matt Bumgarner. I highly recommend this book to all explorers.

Mark Mashburn

-- Mark Mashburn (mashburn_vette@vol.com), December 25, 2003.


The roadbed roughly parallels Hwy 90 to the left traveling from Valmead to Colletsville. Setzers Gap, just beyond the end of the current line, is the trickiest to navigate. I go to Mortimer/Edgemont often. Call me if you would like to ride along and I will gladly share what I know of the area. I am in the Hickory phone book.

Matt Bumgarner

-- Matt Bumgarner (stealthnfo@aol.com), December 25, 2003.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ