The Western North Carolina Railroad was a 19th century railroad that ran from Salisbury to Murphy, North Carolina.
Future American Civil War officer Samuel McDowell Tate was instrumental in planning and sponsoring the construction of the first leg of the railroad in 1855, then in managing it in the post-war era. The state helped finance, build, and operate the new railroad. In the 1880s, the railroad was sold to the Richmond and Danville Railroad, and the WNCRR livery was removed.