Clinchfield Line Closure by CSX

In 2015, CSX announced they were shuttering the Erwin rail operations and buildings, as well as greatly reducing usage of the old Clinchfield mainline. Coal traffic was declining, and CSX was in a cost cutting mode. CSX said that rail traffic would be diverted to parallel CSX rail lines that ran through Knoxville and through central North Carolina.

Press Coverage of Clinchfield Closure

CSX cuts fall first in Tennessee NEWSWIRE

Click here for an article in the Johnson City Press about the Clinchfield closure.

Clinchfield Revival

However, two-trains-a day-continued to run on the Clinchfield (Savannah to Kingsport and back) in the following years after the CSX announcement. By 2017, CSX started to slowly add back both coal and merchandise trains. From various reports, as of 2022 there are 4 general freight trains per day, plus some unit coal trains. While not back to the level of traffic 1950-2010, the old Clinchfield mainline is far from dead.

The Erwin facilities is a different story. The buildings, shops, and yard were closed, 300 jobs were lost. More of the buildings were slated for demolition in 2022, including the locomotive shop.

Photos of Erwin Yards and Buildings 2016

In 2016 during the supposed Clinchfield mothballing, I traveled through Erwin and stopped by to take pictures just in case the buildings would not survive.

Clinchfield.org Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Clinchfield Railroad. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Clinchfield.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.

• Associations: Carolina Clinchfield Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society, George L. Carter Railroad Historical Society, Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society
• Personal maps, timetables, track charts, and memorabilia
• Archives of Appalachia – ETSU, Johnson City TN
• Books – Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway,’ Drury: ‘The Historical Guide to North American Railroads’, Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’, Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’, Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields’, Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’, King: ‘Clinchfield Country’, Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’, Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’, Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’, Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’, Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’, Wolfe: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘ and ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division,’ and Young: ‘Appalachian Coal Mines and Railroads in Color.’ Volume 1: Kentucky, Volume 2: Virginia
• Magazines – ‘Trains‘ , ‘Classic Trains‘
• Newspaper Articles – Newspapers.com
• Online Article – Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘, Classic Trains: ‘Remembering the Clinchfield Railroad‘, Railway Age: ‘This Coal Road Is Also A Speedy Bridge Line,’ Sept 1, 1952 edition, ‘Railway Signaling and Communications‘, Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘, Flanary: ‘Men Against Mountains, Running Trains on the Clinchfield‘ October 2001
• Online Videos – Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1, Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
• Websites – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads, Johnson’s Depot hosted by StateOfFranklin.net, RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin, The Radio Reference Wiki, SteamLocomotive.com, VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia, Multimodalways.org

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3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org