Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway traces its origins to December 1845 when the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad was chartered. The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad was Tennessee’s first railroad. Following the Civil War, the railroad began to acquire other lines, and in 1873, the company’s name changed to the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. However, the railroad never reached St. Louis. The line’s major competition was from the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. In 1880, the Louisville & Nashville gained a controlling interest in the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, but the two lines remained

TENNESSEE RIDGE, Tenn. – April 27, 1898, marked the beginning of a very obscure railroad that was built to serve the community’s iron industry. That day, the Tennessee & Cumberland River Railroad was incorporated, and the 13.95-mile line was built at a cost of $110,000. The railroad remained in operation until 1917. According to Elmer Sulzer’s 1975 book “Ghost Railroads of Tennessee,” the railroad owned one locomotive, one passenger coach and 13 freight cars. In Tennessee Ridge, the Tennessee & Cumberland River Railroad had a junction with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. On the other end, the railroad terminated in

The Tennessee Central Railway connected Nashville, Tenn., and Hopkinsville, Ky. The railroad operated until it went bankrupt in 1968. It was taken over by the Illinois Central Gulf, which operated trains through Clarksville until the early 1980s.