Holston River Railroad
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- Cities: Bristol TN/VA
- Related Lines: Embreeville Branch | Johnson City & Carolina | Johnson City Southern
- Notable People: Dr. Samuel B. Cunningham | Samuel Spencer | W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
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- Related Websites: Rails Across the Appalachians | Clinchfield.org
Holston River Railroad – HRR
Holston River Railroad Stats
- Founded/Chartered: 1905 Operated: 1910 – Present (Leased/Operated by Norfolk Southern)
- Initial Route: Moccasin Gap VA to Bulls Gap TN (Persia Junction). Followed the Holston River.
- Purpose: A much direct and easier route for coal, southward and westward from the Virginia mines to the Southern Railway lines to Knoxville TN and Asheville NC.
- Final Length: 38 miles
- Constructed: 1908 and adjacent years
- Cities: Gate City VA and Bulls Gap TN
- Headquarters: Knoxville TN
- Purchased: 1908 by the Virginia & Southwestern Railroad
- Successor: Virginia & Southwestern Railroad, Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway
- Today: Norfolk Southern Railway.
Virginia & Southwestern Railroad
In 1899 and 1900, George L. Carter bought the South Atlantic & Ohio Railway (Bristol to Big Stone Gap via Appalachia and Natural Tunnel) and the Bristol Elizabethton & North Carolina Railroad (Bristol to Mountain City TN). Its name was changed to the Virginia & Southwestern Railway. The northern segment was focused on coal, the southern segment on timber. Over the few years that Carter owned the railroad, he acquired a few spur railroads. The V&S eventually was sold to the Southern Railway once Carter started making plans to build the Clinchfield Railroad.
Holston River Railroad Acquisition
Soon after the purchase of the V&S, Southern also bought the Holston River Railroad in 1908. The line, which was under construction connected the Virginia and Southwestern Railroad at Moccasin Gap with the Southern Railway at Bulls Gap TN. This allowed the railroads a much easier route for westbound or southbound coal. It also changed the balance of power in the the coalfields, adding a competitor to the L&N.
Southern Railway
For many years the Southern has been using the Holston River line to transport coal, and to also serve the Tennessee Eastman Chemical plant in Kingsport, a major rail customer originating and receiving hundreds of rail cars each day.
As I research history of the region and railroads, there is limited history on the Holston River Railroad. However, the line has been a major revenue generator for the Southern Railway and the Norfolk Southern Railway over the past decades. Most of the operation of the line originates out of Knoxville TN. In the late 1900s, the Norfolk Southern (Appalachia Division) consummated a deal with CSX allowing for trackage rights and mutual use of the two companies’ lines that parallel each other from Frisco Jct TN northward into the Virginia coal fields.
More Southern Railway information will be added to this page and others in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any edits that should be made or any content you are willing to share by utilizing the comment form below. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in the railroads, the region, or model railroading.
Links for More Information
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/rail/vasouthwestern.html
Southern-Railroads.org Sources and Resources
The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Southern Railway and its predecessors. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Southern-Railroads.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.
- Association: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Personal maps, timetables, track charts, and memorabilia
- Book – Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi: The Southern Railway
- Book – Graybeal: The Railroads of Johnson City
- Book – Harshaw: ‘Trains Trestles & Tunnels, Railroads of the Southern Appalachians’
- Book – Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review’
- Book – Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book – Reisweber: ‘Southern Railway Power’
- Book – Scales: Natural Tunnel, Nature’s Marvel in Stone’
- Book – Stout: ‘Southern Railway: Through Passenger Service’
- Book – Ward: ‘Southern Railway Varnish 1964-1979’
- Book – Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History’
- Book – Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Southern Railway Handbook’
- Book – Withers & Sink: ‘Southern: A Motive Power Pictorial’
- Book – Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazines – ‘Trains‘ , ‘Classic Trains‘
- Website – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website – Hawkinsrails.net
- Website – Johnson’s Depot hosted by StateOfFranklin.net
- Website – Multimodalways.org: Norfolk Southern Track Charts
- Website – RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City
- Website – SteamLocomotive.com
- Website – TheDieselShop.us
- Website – VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia
Contact Us
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the Southern or Model Railroads.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
