Ohio River & Charleston Railway
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Ohio River & Charleston – Clinchfield Predecessor
The Ohio River & Charleston Railway (OR&C) was the second try at building a line across the Appalachian Mountains, bridging the Ohio River and the Atlantic Ocean. After receivership, the Charleston Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad was purchased by Charles Hellier for $550,000 in 1893 and renamed the OR&C.
There were actually four Ohio River & Charleston Railway companies…..one each for Tennessee, for Virginia, for North Carolina, and for South Carolina. The four were combined in 1894 to form a singular OR&C Railway Company.
Ashland KY to Wilmington NC
Hellier initially retained the goal of building a railroad from Ashland KY to Charleston SC. But because of political headwinds in South Carolina, he changed his plan to use the Atlantic Ocean port of Wilmington NC. His new plan was to access the port at Wilmington utilizing a connection with the Seaboard Air Line at Bostic NC.
Minimal Construction and Operation
During the mid-1890s, the OR&C was able to extend the line south of Erwin TN through the Nolichucky/Toe River gorge southward past Huntdale NC. But, the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains was never crossed. Eventually time and money ran out for the OR&C, and like the CC&C, it was forced into foreclosure.
Divestitures
At some point during the 1890s, the old CC&C roadbed in Virginia was sold to the South Atlantic & Ohio Railway between Moccasin Gap and Clinchport. In the early 1900s, the Southern Railway acquired the SA&O which gave it access to the Virginia coalfields via the Natural Tunnel.
Hellier sold the South Carolina portion of the OR&C south of Marion NC to the South Carolina and Georgia Extension Railroad in 1898, which eventually became part of the Southern Railway in 1902.
In 1900 the northern part of the OR&C in Kentucky was sold to the C&O Railway.
Third Time’s A Charm
And finally in 1902, the Tennessee section was sold to George L. Carter, who temporarily named it the South & Western Railway. It eventually became the Carolina Clinchfield & Ohio, and finally just the Clinchfield Railroad.
Ohio River & Charleston Map
Due to pushback from Charleston and South Carolina, the OR&C had to change their plans substituting Wilmington NC as their Atlantic Ocean port. The map below reflects the new plan for the railroad.
(To view map with greater detail, use the zoom feature on your browser)
Ohio River & Charleston Additional Links
Clinchfield.org Sources and Resources
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia – Documents, maps and track charts that I have from the CRR, CC&O, and S&W
- Archives of Appalachia
- Book – Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book – Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’
- Book – Goforth: ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’
- Book – Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’
- Book – Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields’
- Book – Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’
- Book – King: ‘Clinchfield Country’
- Book – Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’
- Book – Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book – Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’
- Book – Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’
- Book – Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’
- Article – Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Article – Flanary: ‘Men Against Mountains, Running Trains on the Clinchfield‘ October 2001
- Video – Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1
- Video – Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
- Articles – ‘Johnson City Comet‘
- Article – Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Article – Classic Trains: ‘Remembering the Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Article – Railway Age: ‘This Coal Road Is Also A Speedy Bridge Line,’ Sept 1, 1952 edition
- Article – ‘Railway Signaling and Communications‘
- Website – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website – StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website – RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- Website – The Radio Reference Wiki
- Website – SteamLocomotive.com
- Website – Clinchfield Railroad 1982 Track Chart at Multimodayways.org
- Website – Newspapers.com
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3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org