Company History: The Tennessee Central Railway was founded in 1884 as the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad by Alexander S. Crawford. It was an attempt to open up a rail route from the coal and minerals of East Tennessee to the markets of the midstate, a service which many businessmen felt was not being adequately provided by the existing railroad companies. They also wanted to ship coal and iron ore to the Northeastern US over the Cincinnati Southern Railway, which was leased to the Southern and operated as the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway [CNOTP], through their Cincinnati gateway. The N&K was only completed between Lebanon, where it connected to a Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway branch from Nashville, and Standing Stone (now Monterey).
Wartime traffic in the early 1940s brightened the financial picture, but after that hard times returned. Despite losses in 1946, a group of investors led by J. L. Armstrong bought out the Davis group. The last of the steam engines were pulled from service in 1952 due to the arrival of four diesel locomotives (along with 200 coal hoppers) financed by a Reconstruction Finance Corporation loan in the amount of $2.2 million. 1954 saw the opening of the first unit of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston coal-fired power generating plant, which was largely fed coal from TC's own on-line coal mines operators. The company dropped money-losing passenger service on July 31, 1955, also in that year, the TC ended operations of their steam locomotives. 1956 saw the TC purchase more diesel locomotives and coal hoppers with another RFC loan. Brief profitability was restored from 1949 through 1956. In 1957 the TVA began awarding contracts to non-TC coal mine operators and their traffic boom went bust. Although the program of right-of-way improvement and new equipment acquisition had been carried out, the firm at length was unable to repay the RFC loans and fell into its third and final receivership in 1968. Its assets were sold off. Much of the Nashville beltline south of Nashville had already been sold to the state to build I-440. The Western Division from the western end of the I-440 right of way in Nashville to Hopkinsville, KY was purchased by the Illinois Central Railroad. The eastern end of the line from Harriman to the siding just west of Crossville went to the Southern Railway. The remaining middle portion from Crossville to Nashville went to its old and not at all friendly rival, the Louisville & Nashville.
From Wikipedia
Wartime traffic in the early 1940s brightened the financial picture, but after that hard times returned. Despite losses in 1946, a group of investors led by J. L. Armstrong bought out the Davis group. The last of the steam engines were pulled from service in 1952 due to the arrival of four diesel locomotives (along with 200 coal hoppers) financed by a Reconstruction Finance Corporation loan in the amount of $2.2 million. 1954 saw the opening of the first unit of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston coal-fired power generating plant, which was largely fed coal from TC's own on-line coal mines operators. The company dropped money-losing passenger service on July 31, 1955, also in that year, the TC ended operations of their steam locomotives. 1956 saw the TC purchase more diesel locomotives and coal hoppers with another RFC loan. Brief profitability was restored from 1949 through 1956. In 1957 the TVA began awarding contracts to non-TC coal mine operators and their traffic boom went bust. Although the program of right-of-way improvement and new equipment acquisition had been carried out, the firm at length was unable to repay the RFC loans and fell into its third and final receivership in 1968. Its assets were sold off. Much of the Nashville beltline south of Nashville had already been sold to the state to build I-440. The Western Division from the western end of the I-440 right of way in Nashville to Hopkinsville, KY was purchased by the Illinois Central Railroad. The eastern end of the line from Harriman to the siding just west of Crossville went to the Southern Railway. The remaining middle portion from Crossville to Nashville went to its old and not at all friendly rival, the Louisville & Nashville.
From Wikipedia
Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.
Item Links: We found: 2 different collections associated with Tennessee Central - Railroad
- Collection N Scale Model Trains: 16 different items.
- Collection HO Scale Model Trains: 6 different items.
Item created by: gdm on 2017-10-12 12:26:15. Last edited by gdm on 2017-10-13 14:15:40
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