Laurel Fork Railway
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The Laurel Fork Railway was a small, standard-gauge logging railroad that operated entirely in Carter County, Tennessee from 1912 to 1927. Built by the Pittsburgh Lumber Company to serve a double-band sawmill at Braemar, in present day Hampton, Tennessee.
The Laurel Fork Railroad at its peak totaled no more than 17 miles of rail. Lines and spurs carried timber from 12,000 acres (48,000 km²) of the mountainous watershed of the Laurel Fork of the Doe River that was estimated to contain 150 million board feet (350,000 m³) of lumber.
A proposed interchange with the East Tennessee and North Carolina Railroad failed over inability to negotiate rates favorable to both companies. As a result, the Laurel Fork was incorporated as a common carrier and a six-mile line into Elizabethton, Tennessee was built to carry finished lumber to an interchange with the Virginia and Southwestern Railway.
A June 13, 1924 flood on the Doe River washed away much track and roadbed along the floodplain. Coupled with diminished production from the mill, this led to a November 7 filing for abandonment that year with the Interstate Commerce Commission. Some operations continued after the flood, but all virtually all logging along the Laurel Fork ceased by 1927. Parts of the railroad grade are used by the Appalachian Trail in the Pond Mountain Wilderness Area through the Laurel Fork valley between Dennis Cove and Hampton.[1]
[edit] Laurel Fork Railway stock
The Laurel Fork Railroad locomotive roster included three 70-3 Shay geared steam locomotives, road numbers Nos. 1, 2, and 3 (c/n 2390, 2391, and 2760, respectively) and two 13-2 Shays (c/n 187 and 2195.) The equipment roster for the rail company also included two log loaders; a steam shovel; 40 flat cars; 12 service cars; and a Model T Ford on dump car wheels that was used for inspection trips. As a freight-only carrier, the Laurel Fork Railway owned no passenger equipment.
| Road no. | Shay Class | c/n | Ship/purchase date | Fuel | Cylinders | Gauge | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-2 | 2195 | 1910 | wood | 2-6x10 | 36" | Shipped 7/3/09 to White Lumber Co., Elk Park, N.C. Bought by Laurel Fork Railway in 1910. Converted to standard gauge at LF shops. Sold to E. L. Bruce & Co., Memphis, Tennessee in 1914. Operation was on Jefferson Hardwood Lumber Co., Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Subsequent owners were the Norton Wheeler Stone Co. and Wheeler Lumber Co., both of Almyra, Arkansas. 2195 was offered for sale 4/19/22; no record thereafter. | |
| 1 | 70-3 | 2390 | November 23, 1910 | coal | 3-12x15 | std. | Shipped new to Laurel Fork Railway. Sold to Conasauga River Lumber Co., Conasauga, Tennessee. Date of sale unknown. Records confirm engine at Conasauga on 1/13/28. 2390 was still operating in 1949: scrapped in 1954. |
| 13-2 | 187 | 1911 | wood | 2-7x12 | 36" | Shipped 9/29/1887 to Rice & Lummis, Montgomery, Texas. Bought by Pittsburgh Lumber Company in 1911. Converted to standard gauge by Laurel Fork Railway shops. Listed in Lima dead file in 1922. Scrapped in Elizabethton, Tennessee. | |
| 2 | 70-3 | 2391 | June 1, 1911 | coal | 3-12x15 | std. | Shipped new to Laurel Fork Railway. Transferred to Freehold Lumber Co., Flinn, Virginia. by 7/1/22. (Records indicate attempt to acquire loco as early as 3/14/22 and expressed interest a year earlier.) Loco was advertised for sale 9/10/24. No record thereafter. |
| 3 | 70-3 | 2760 | April 28, 1914 | coal | 3-12x15 | std. | Shipped new to Laurel Fork Railway. Sold to Lutcher & Moore Lumber Co., Orange, Texas., 4/21/26 through Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. Operations were in Fal, Louisiana. This operation moved to New Mexico in 1929 but fate of No. 3 is unknown. |
[edit] References
- Waskiewicz, Fred. “Logging Along the Laurel Fork.” National Railway Bulletin. Vol. 63, No. 1, 1998.
- ^ Trail for 2003. Appalachian Trail Adventures (2003-03-30). Retrieved on 2008-01-18. “Laurel Fork Valley was timbered from 1911 to 1925. In 1911, a railroad was built from Braemar up through the gorge into the valley, requiring three high trestles and 32 miles of track. Spur tracks were moved from place to place as the timber was removed. (The railroad bed now serves as the route of the A.T. for some distance through the gorge.)”
